Outline planning permission was granted by Mendip District Council in February 2021. The application described Saxonvale as ‘5.16 ha of previously developed land and lies within Frome town centre’ so this was the last significant portion of employment land in the town centre where new job creation could be sought.
The planning application passed promises a mixed-use development to provide:
• Up to 300 dwellings to be made up of 266 flats (60 to be retirement flats and 10 live work units) and 34 houses. 67 will be affordable housing – 47 for social rent.
• 4,181sqm (45,000sq ft) is proposed for mixed non-residential uses including office workspace, small scale retail facilities, food and drink, cultural, leisure and community uses, and the potential to accommodate creche, nursery and education/training uses
• a riverside park
• re-provision of a public car park (71 spaces)
• other parking provision (a total of 403 car parking spaces to be provided across the site – 351 to serve the proposed residential uses and 52 to serve the proposed commercial uses)
• access road and pedestrian and cycle routes, including a footbridge across the River Frome (The details show a new highway corridor that runs through from Garsdale and exiting out onto Saxonvale. The access arrangements also include a footbridge across the River to Willow Vale, a pedestrian/cyclist only link from Vicarage Street along with improvements proposed to the Garsdale junction and the pedestrianisation of the upper section of Saxonvale.)
What Frome Chamber wants to see on the Saxonvale site:
A thriving commercial space that is a seamless extension to the existing town centre
This is a very long awaited and vital development for Frome which will bring a drastic change to the shape of the town centre. It is therefore imperative that it contributes a lively, thriving, well-used space that works for the people of Frome, fits the ‘personality’ and ethos of the town and is a seamless extension of the current town centre.
Unfortunately, Mendip has a history of allowing change of use for employment land to become housing (see Appendix 1). In recent years Mendip has allowed this on the express understanding that the Saxonvale site would replace that lost employment land.
Within Mendip’s Local Plan there is a commitment to provide employment space for around 500 jobs in Frome town centre by 2028. Realistically Saxonvale is the last available space for that to happen. We understand there is interest in building another work hub which might create an additional 350 jobs on the site. That is a highly admirable aim which we support but start-up businesses also need move-on space when they grow and Saxonvale is the last available place within the town centre to provide this.
It also still leaves 150 jobs to be created in Frome Town Centre in seven years. We remain concerned that Mendip has no clear plan on how to create those jobs and we are keen to hear how it will make this happen.
We would also welcome more properties designed for people to both live and work in to meet the new demand for different types of home working, created from the changing work patterns we have faced during 2020. It will also be important to preserve those live/work spaces into the future and even increase the number because we believe demand for those spaces will exceed what is planned.
A thriving community that offers viable housing solutions
People who work in the town need somewhere to live so this development must play its part in solving the housing crisis the town faces and offer homes that people can live in and employment spaces they can work in. The Chamber is concerned about the high density of flats within this development. Frome is becoming an increasingly popular weekend trip destination and flats are often snapped up for AirBnBs or second homes. We need the housing on this development to be lived in, not rented out for the weekend. We want Mendip to be brave and look at ways to incorporate leasehold arrangements into the housing to ensure under-occupancy cannot occur.
We should all be planning for a bright future
Mendip as a district council will not exist within a few years. This is an opportunity for Mendip to leave a long-lasting legacy for the town by delivering a truly fantastic scheme that is not just another profit driven development but one that sets Frome up for a bright and prosperous future for all.
Appendix 1
Employment sites in Frome lost to housing over the past 20 years. Information provided by Frome Civic Society.
1999 Singers 136 houses
2002 Vallis Mills (Redrow) 204 houses
2005 Coloroll 129 houses and flats
2006 Cuprinol 116 houses
2009 Slipps 74 houses and flats
2009 Matbro 187 houses (1 shop)
2014 Police and Magistrates Court 61 houses
2014 T.H.White 58 houses
2017 Western Vinyl 64 houses
2018 Braeside Joinery 10 houses
2019 Transport Depot 9 houses
2019 Selwood Print Works 157 houses, (1 shop)
2021 Saxonvale 300 houses and flats (4,180sqm non residential)
HOMES: 1,500
EMPLOYMENT: 2 shops & 4,180sqm non residential