A FROME resident has expressed her anger at the ‘devastating’ damage caused to the Frome Showfield by work carried out to improve the children’s play area.
Debbie Andrews says that the Showfield has been destroyed by large vehicles used for work on the play area. “About 60% of the field has become a mud pit and a danger to the hundreds of dog walkers and people who use the field on a regular basis,” said Debbie.
“Grass has been destroyed. It’s total destruction and devastation, it’s horrendous. I spoke to one of the contractors who said that they shouldn’t be working in the current wet conditions and that the field needs proper drainage, but Frome Town Council has told them to carry on regardless and the damage will be repaired once they have finished. But this is not acceptable.
“Some of the tyre imprints are a foot and a half deep and are an accident waiting to happen. When it gets dark, someone will lose their step, trip and get hurt. Thousands of people use this field, it’s a valuable public space – it has been totally devastated.”
Chris Stringer, Frome Town Council’s environment manager, responding before Christmas said, “The weather and ground conditions have made things tricky for the team working on the play area – and because of this, they finished on site on the 21st December. They’ll be leaving things clean and tidy for Christmas – and returning to finish the improvements on Monday 8th January. And when the works are complete, Frome Town Council will work with our contractors making sure everything is reinstated as it should be.”
However, after the contractors departed before Christmas, Debbie says that conditions were not improved. “I was advised that the contractors would finish at lunch time on 21st December and would spend the afternoon making good and cleaning up the area until they return to complete the works after Christmas. It’s still a disgrace, they only made good the area near the car park.”
