Claims to be meeting the housing needs of Frome rubbished by planning proposals

Housing company LiveWest has submitted planning permission to build 74 open-market houses on Packsaddle Community Fields, an 8 acre area of public green space on the northern boundary of Frome. If approved, the plans would permanently destroy the fields, which are a designated Asset of Community Value and listed Green Space, and which have been enjoyed by the local community for decades.

Local residents group, People for Packsaddle, have commented on the plans, saying they are "shocked and appalled that the current owners, Somerset Council, have colluded with developers LiveWest to bulldoze this much-loved community green space in favour of a climate-damaging plan which promises zero affordable or sustainable housing, and would pocket the developer at least £4.5m of profit."

Mendip housing policy states that any new housing developments are expected to provide at least 30% affordable housing. But LiveWest have said in their planning proposal that it is not financially viable for them to fund any affordable housing due to the difficult ground conditions of the site. "This underlines what we have always maintained, that this is not a suitable site for a housing development, for so many reasons" said Toby Culff, head of the People for Packsaddle group. "And even if it were, what is being proposed is mainly 3-4 bedroom houses which will be sold for upwards of half a million pounds. This proposal will do nothing to meet the housing needs of Frome whilst sacrificing a precious and well-used green space." Local residents were equally outraged to learn that all of the proposed open-market houses would be fitted with gas boilers, rather than using energy efficient heat pumps and solar panels. "This goes against Somerset Council's own Climate Emergency Strategy which states that all new developments should be at least zero carbon and climate resilient" said Stuart Hearn from People for Packsaddle. "Given that Somerset Council are the landowner, this is simply inexcusable".

The planning application is particularly controversial because Somerset Council cleared the land with bulldozers and mowers over the summer of 2022, during bird nesting season and shortly after LiveWest had commenced their 'baseline' ecological survey of the site. "The reckless clearance destroyed much of the wildlife which had developed over decades of the land being left to grow wild" said People for Packsaddle's Janet Hague. This is a crucial point because all developers are now required to prove that their schemes will enhance rather than damage existing biodiversity. "But if the land is cleared whilst the ecological survey is being carried out, developers can claim there was little wildlife there in the first place. This is what LiveWest are saying in their planning application. We'll be making it clear to the planning committee that the clearance invalidated the ecological survey by temporarily robbing the fields of their rich and varied wildlife" adds Hague. 

The planning application for Packsaddle fields is currently open for public comments on Somerset's planning website until 26th June. "We are urging the people of Frome make their voices heard and stand up to these unscrupulous plans which put profit before community, climate and ecology" says Culff. You can find the application on Somerset Council's website, reference 2023/0864/FUL or click here.

You can find out more about People for Packsaddle on their website here.