SANTA’S Grotto Frome has been celebrating after local councillors agreed that the grotto can stay – and Father Christmas, Mrs Claus and their elves will not be evicted and turned out into the cold.
The owners of Santa’s grotto, which welcomes children each year for a magical experience, said they were “amazingly happy.”
Earlier this year, Craig Gillett, Clare Perry and Gordon Perry were invited to move their Santa base to Critchill Manor Estate near Frome and they erected two timber cabins on the estate, after taking out a £22,000 loan. However, their planning application was turned down by Somerset Council in July, due to the lack of public transport access to the site.
The grotto lies within the parish of Selwood and the chairman of the parish council, Jim Dowling, spoke in support of the plans.
The grotto has been open since November. Under threat of enforced removal, the Santa team faced another showdown with the council when another planning application was considered on Tuesday 5th December. Despite council officers recommending refusal, this application was approved by councillors.
“We are so happy to be able to carry on giving local families magical experiences each Christmas,” said a spokesperson for the grotto.
“The planning officer from Taunton took the hard line with the policies on sustainability. The local councils who supported us were embarrassed that it had to get to this stage.
“The words used were that they would be a laughing stock if it didn’t get passed.”
“We are amazingly happy we can stay open; the elves were willing to build a wooden bus to get customers to the site! Happy days.”
News of the victory for Mr and Mrs Claus soon spread, with the national media telling the story of Santa’s close shave with planning law.
The grotto is now fully booked every weekend until Christmas.
