A GOVERNMENT planning inspector has ruled that plans for up to 150 houses on land at the western side of Marston Lane, Frome, should not go ahead.
Frome Town Council has welcomed the news and says that its Neighbourhood Plan has been tested, and hopefully will protect the town from other future “speculative” development.
Last April, the planning committee of Frome Town Council unanimously objected to the outline plans proposed by Gleeson Strategic Land Ltd, to build the houses on land which is outside the development limits of Frome, as set out in the Mendip District Council Local Plan. At the meeting, chair of the committee, cllr Steve Tanner said, “We thought that the application was purely speculative in its nature and that it would impact greatly on the landscape of Frome as you enter from the west – it is outside the town boundary and there was a huge strength of feeling amongst residents and councillors of all tiers against this opportunist development which would give nothing back to the town.”
The application was turned down by Mendip District Council’s planning board in June last year, who stated that the site cannot be accessed safely and would have a “significant adverse impact” on existing residents.
However, Gleeson Land then lodged an appeal against the decision, resulting in the public inquiry which commenced in January.
Following the inquiry, the Government planning inspector, Owen Woodwards, dismissed the outline planning application last month.
The town council issued a statement saying, “Frome Town Council welcome the inspector’s decision to dismiss the appeal and application. We would like to commend the district council for working with us and the residents of Marston Lane in defending this appeal.
“Frome town cllr Steve Tanner and Frome Town Council staff attended the five-day inquiry and were impressed by the presentations made to the inspector by the local residents, setting out the importance of the landscape to both local residents, the wider Frome community and all who travel into Frome from this western approach.
“The town council’s presentation to the inspector concentrated on the importance of the policy in the Frome Neighbourhood Plan which relates to skyline development. As Marston Lane is identified as a skyline area, all applications for new buildings or extensions to existing properties are required to demonstrate that there will be no unacceptable detrimental impact on the skyline in this area. The inspector concluded that the proposal would fail to comply with this policy and would result in significant harm to the character and appearance of the area, in particular landscape character, and this was the main reason for dismissing the appeal.
“Frome Town Council are pleased that having identified and highlighted the significance of this area, our Neighbourhood Plan has been tested, found to be robust and can help protect the town from speculative development.”
