MEMBERS of the community had the chance to share their ‘bright ideas’ for Frome at the Annual Town Meeting earlier this month.
Five members of the community presented a three-minute pitch to councillors and fellow residents, sharing their ideas for the town, on Wednesday 3rd April, at the town hall.
Ideas included a wild corridor around the outside of Frome, improvements to the town’s railway station, bike cages, water fountains around the town centre and a meditation space.
One resident said, “I am a cyclist and I cycle around Frome and have an e-bike. I would really like the opportunity to cycle into Frome and leave my bike safely somewhere, but I feel very uncomfortable about tying it up at various points in the main part of the town.
“I was thinking, it would be really nice where you could maybe rent or sign-up for a year to borrow a space, maybe a cage of some kind, that you can sign up on an app and book your spaces. I just feel we’re lacking this and if we’re trying to encourage people to cycle more, I think that would certainly help me to feel safe about bringing my bike into Frome.”
Another resident said that as Frome’s population is growing, “I think we need upgrades to our facilities. I went to Frome Railway Station; it’s a quirky Grade II-listed building and it’s worth keeping, I think. But if you look at it now, weeds are overgrown along the track; it’s a single track; the other lines have been removed; the other platform is defunct.
“Perhaps the worst thing about it is the locked toilets; unless you’re going early in the morning, you are not going to go there. There is a sign that says ‘go to the booking office’ for a key but usually the booking office is closed by 11am or 12pm. When I went there this afternoon, all six doors were locked. It’s a very unwelcoming site for people who come [to Frome] for the first time.”
Water fountains around the town centre were also suggested, with the proposer saying, “There was one day on a very hot summer’s day when I was in the market and somebody had set up a stall offering water and there was a very, very big queue – everybody was pleased to see it!
“It’s a very important thing for human beings to have one or two water fountains in town for people to drink. It would be a great thing.”
Another resident had a ‘big idea’ to create a ‘wild corridor’ around the outside of Frome, connecting communities and nearby villages. The corridor would consist of 1,500 hectares of land, with the resident saying it would be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom.
“It would be as wide as possible to provide a realistically functioning corridor for biodiversity,” explained the resident. “It’s a place for people to experience nature, a shared use path, accessible for disabled people and a place to experience natural wildlife.
“If you have a look back in time, you’ll see how much Frome has developed over the last 100 years. What do you want Frome to look like in 100 years? What do you want the surrounding residential areas to look like? I think the current prospect is that no-one can say for certain, but there’s a very good chance that most of it is going to be developed into housing, industrial, or commercial. Why don’t we instead have a real wild area surrounding us, to separate out those developments and use those areas to facilitate development, rather than block it.”
“If not Frome, where else in the country is going to do that? I think it has to be us, and I think we should be the first.”
Another resident had an idea for a meditation space, saying, “We have many churches in Frome but many people express their spirituality through a diverse range, through esoteric meditation, and I was hoping it would be possible here. I want to establish a regular space and invite people to sit for unity and community and togetherness and to envision the beautiful dream that could be realised here.”
Frome’s mayor, cllr Philip Campagna thanked the residents for sharing their ‘big ideas’ and said the town council will now have further discussions about the ideas raised and explore these.
