CAMPAIGNERS are fighting to save the former Locks Hill GP surgery building from demolition, as they say it is a building of architectural interest.
Plans have been submitted to Mendip District Council to demolish the building – which closed as a GP surgery in 2016 – and build 7 new houses.
According to the Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns to save “outstanding buildings”, the building – designed by architects and writers Jeremy and Caroline Gould and built between 1995 and 1996 – is identified as a building of interest in a Nikolaus Pevsner architectural guide.
A caseworker for the society, Coco Whittaker, says “The surgery is clearly an unlisted building of merit which makes a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the Frome conservation area.
“We believe it would be possible to convert the surgery into a workable single house, or perhaps a small office or community building. It should not be demolished.”
The plans have also been objected to by Mendip District Council’s assistant conservation officer, whilst Historic England has raised concerns about the application, suggesting that the district council should consider working with the applicant, Blue Homes Ltd, to realise a scheme that “creatively reuses” the former surgery building.
A date for a decision by Mendip District Council is yet to be decided.
About the designers of the building, Jeremy and Caroline Gould, the Twentieth Century Society say, “The Goulds have designed creative, well-composed buildings which are sensitive to their environment, such as the Library and Resource Centre at Millfield School (1980) in Street.
“Lock’s Hill was one of a number of doctor’s surgeries built by the Goulds in the 1990s, the others located in Street, Crewkerne and Budleigh Salterton.
“The Goulds have also written extensively about modern architecture, and co-authored the critically-acclaimed Coventry: The Making of a Modern City 1939-73.”
A spokesperson for the district council told Frome Times, “This application is currently being assessed by the LPA. It is not possible to provide a definitive decision date on any application, as there are a number of processes that must be followed, which would include consideration of the application by a senior officer and also as to whether the application was required to be presented to Planning Board.”
