A JUDGE has ruled that a Judicial Review challenge of Mendip District Council planning board’s decision to approve Acorn Property Group’s outline planning application for Frome’s Saxonvale site will now proceed to be heard by the High Court.
The challenge centres on the misrepresentation of local planning policy, which directed that a required level of employment space be provided within the Saxonvale site.
Local business owner and Mayday Saxonvale director, Damon Moore, who lodged the challenge said, “The Acorn plan for Saxonvale goes against the council’s own local plan for employment space in Saxonvale. Now a judge has agreed that there is an arguable case and that it will go to a hearing.
“This gives myself and the thousands of Frome residents who support Mayday the hope that the Acorn plan, which Frome has roundly rejected, will not be imposed on the town, and that we are one step closer to bringing the right plan for Saxonvale to our town – the Mayday Plan.
“Mendip District Council’s plan for Frome says that providing more jobs and reducing commuting is the biggest challenge facing the town and that housing needs to be limited to achieve this. Despite this being their own policy, the reverse is being implemented, with employment site after employment site being lost to housing. Mendip bringing forward the Acorn scheme will be the final nail in the coffin, ending any chance of delivering their own policy.
“Frome needs to bring businesses and people into the central district of our town, increase local jobs, and reduce the need to commute, whilst supporting trade and retail outlets with increased footfall, keeping them afloat in these hard times.
“Within only a few weeks of opening, our expressions of interest for employment space were oversubscribed. The demand is real. Frome continues to incubate small businesses, who then get to a certain size and have premises within which to grow, and so leave the town, taking their jobs with them. We are seeing business after business leaving Frome because there is no space to grow. The council’s policy was written to boost local business and our economy, but with the Acorn plan, we will again see jobs moving to neighbouring towns like Trowbridge and Westbury.”
The Acorn plan, which is made up primarily of high-density grids of four to five storey apartments, offers a minimal allocation of commercial space in one corner of the plan, say the group behind the Mayday proposals.
They say that the Mayday Saxonvale plan will fully extend the town centre by a quarter and will provide almost three times the commercial space. The plan offers multiple non-residential spaces and uses, including offices and studios, community space, light industrial, shops, restaurants, and co-working spaces.
Damon Moore previously challenged Mendip District Council’s misrepresentation of their own planning policy, resulting in the Acorn plan being sent back to planning board for the second time, in September 2021. The planning officer had highlighted that “there was a lack of clarity in the policy wording” when it was then narrowly approved by one vote, seven votes to six.
“The council now has two options,” Damon Moore continued, “they can defend the claim or simply decide to save everyone a lot of time and tax-payers’ money by stepping back, giving Acorn Property Group the opportunity to defend their own application.
“Acorn additionally could submit to judgement, amend their application and return it to the planning board for the third time. Given Mendip recently lost a Judicial Review, brought by the communities of Norton St Philip and Beckington, and given Mayday has full planning parity with Acorn, I hope that the council will not subsidise Acorn yet again, with so much at stake for the future of Frome.
“To find out more about the Judicial Review challenge and to pledge towards the case visit https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/may-sax/ ”
