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We joined many in Frome in our disappointment with Mendip District Council’s decision to shorten weekday markets and stop the Saturday market in Frome. Below is the email sent to Cllr Joshua Burr by our President.

Dear Cllr Burr

I am sure you have had a lot of correspondence about Mendip’s decision to shorten weekday hours for the Mendip markets, and in particular to stop the Saturday market in Frome.
I have signed the stallholders’ petition in a personal capacity but after consultation with the committee I would also like to add Frome Chamber of Commerce’s voice officially to the general dismay and puzzlement being felt by this decision. Independent businesses are finding this third lockdown incredibly hard and need all the help they can get. While I applaud MDC for wanting to support the vaccination programme, there must be a way to do this without curtailing people’s livelihoods – and stopping local people being able to shop in a safe way.
I understand that Frome Town Council is working with Mendip to try to find a resolution to this issue and we will offer all support we can to FTC to help you both find a speedy conclusion to this. We understand there are plenty of volunteers who are happy to help, and many of whom no doubt will have the various training needed to operate at public events. There certainly seems to be a huge groundswell of ‘will’ (as you would expect in Frome) and now it’s up to Mendip to find the ‘way’. And we certainly hope this can be done so that the Saturday markets can be reinstated as quickly as possible.
If there is anything you think the Chamber can help with to get the markets back then please do email me.
With kind regards
Pauline Davey
President, Frome Chamber