A local community group, People for Packsaddle, is continuing its campaign to save a local green space from development. The group says they are ready to buy Packsaddle Fields, on the northern boundary of Frome, if the planning application is rejected by Somerset Council at the planning east committee meeting on Tuesday 6th August.
An application to build 74 homes on the land was submitted to Somerset Council by the developer, LiveWest in May last year.
However, the local campaign group People for Packsaddle have been trying to save the fields from development. They say the area is used by generations of local people to walk safely in nature, meet with neighbours and enjoy the tranquillity of the countryside.
“We have pledges from local people who want us to buy this precious space, amounting to a quarter of a million pounds and we have a plan in place to protect and enhance the biodiversity of the fields, as well as to manage them for the benefit of the people of Frome now and in the future,” explained a member of the group, Toby Cluff.
Last year, Packsaddle Fields was awarded the rare distinction of Asset of Community Value, recognising its worth to the community and its rich biodiversity.
Another member of the group, Nicola Cretney said, “The former Somerset County Council made a decision to sell Packsaddle Fields to developers without entering into any consultation or tender process, in a move that People for Packsaddle believes was motivated by money and based on flawed assumptions and poor decision-making processes.”
The group says the fields fall outside the development boundary for the town and were recently rejected by Somerset Council in its own ‘call for development sites.’
Toby said, “The decision by Somerset County Council to sell the land was made in a meeting attended by three people, two councillors and the Somerset County Council estates officer. The meeting concluded that selling the land for development would not lead to negative implications for the council’s climate emergency and sustainability strategy, there were no health and wellbeing implications and there was no social value to the fields. People for Packsaddle believes all three of these conclusions to be fundamentally flawed.
“Somerset County Council then made a deal with a developer, LiveWest, which was not subject to a tender process. Part of the reason given for this was that LiveWest is a ‘partner specialising in the provision of social and affordable housing rather than a market-led sale open to private developers.’
“However, the first iteration of the planning application provided for zero social rent or shared ownership houses. This has since been amended and the application now provides 74 three-and-four-bedroom houses with only 15% social rent and shared ownership housing. This equates to just eight social rent and three shared ownership dwellings. People for Packsaddle and others who have objected to the application believe this high level of ‘executive housing’ is not the homes that Frome needs.
“The Asset of Community Value status of the fields has also been downplayed and disregarded throughout the planning process. Furthermore, we have watched devastating mechanical clearances of the fields and the dangerous and badly managed introduction of cows for the first time in around 40 years.
“Somerset Council thwarted our attempts to discover the reasons for instigating the clearances and eventually, after considerable delay, they rejected our Freedom of Information request about this on the grounds of costs. They have admitted though that the introduction of cows was ‘to lower the biodiversity ahead of development’ even though no planning permission had been granted at the time.
“Had we been given the opportunity to engage with the council in the beginning, we could have made our intentions and commitments clear. However, we were kept in the dark and have been frustrated at every stage of the process. We believe a deal was made behind closed doors because the council is broke and therefore motivated by money and not the wellbeing of local people and the town it is meant to represent.
“The permanent loss of these fields for what could amount to a mere £800,000 plug in the council’s gaping sizeable financial deficit is decision-making at its worst. It seems the council is happy to asset strip, disbenefiting the local community of a precious Asset of Community Value for a one-off grab for cash. To us, the fields are priceless and we’ll do everything we can to protect them.”
The planning application will come before the Somerset Council Planning East Committee on Tuesday 6th August.
You can visit the People for Packsaddle website at https://peopleforpacksaddle.org/ or follow the group on social media to stay informed and get involved in saving the fields for Frome’s current and future residents.
