A MAJOR Frome regeneration site could soon be sold off as the unitary authority seeks to balance its books.
Somerset Council declared a ‘financial emergency’ in early-November, and has been working on various strategies to reduce both a projected in-year overspend of more than £18m and a budget gap next year of £87m.
The council’s executive committee confirmed in early-December that it would be looking to sell off significant amounts of its existing land, property assets and commercial investments, believing this could generate up to £20m by April 2025.
Councillors have now revealed that the sale of assets could include the Saxonvale regeneration site in Frome town centre, with one local member claiming a “cash offer” was about to be made by the locally-based Mayday Saxonvale site.
The council has around 1,300 individual land and property assets, along with a large number of much smaller parcels of utility land. A significant amount of these assets cannot easily be sold off since they deliver statutory services – such as schools and libraries – or are protected by legal conditions which make their sale unviable (including buildings constructed using government or EU funding).
Oliver Woodhams, the council’s service director for strategic asset management, told the council’s corporate and resources scrutiny committee in Taunton on Thursday 4th January, “We are being tasked by our chief financial officer to really put our foot down with regard to asset disposals. We don’t want to keep hold of empty buildings unless there’s a good reason for doing that.
“With our larger brownfield sites, we will be preparing parcels of those to be sold for regeneration efforts, such as Firepool and Saxonvale. We do not have a vast array of riches in our operational estates. We have a pretty healthy pipeline of £15m-£20m, and we know we could do more.”
Councillor Shane Collins, who represents the Frome East division, claimed that the council was already in the process of selling the Saxonvale site in Frome town centre to Mayday Saxonvale after the rivalling Acorn bid to develop the site was quashed by the High Court.
He said, “Saxonvale is of big interest to many of us. Since the Acorn application has been judged non-complaint, Mayday has put in a cash offer. For councillors in Frome, we would really like an update on what’s happening. It’s been sitting there for 20 years.”
Councillor Ros Wyke, portfolio holder for economic development, planning and assets, confirmed there were “ongoing discussions” with the relevant parties surrounding the future of the site, but declined to go into further detail.
She said, “There is ongoing discussions with developers – there is planning involved and discussions with the town council. This is not the forum to discuss this, but as and when it becomes a public discussion, you will be informed and involved.”
Mayday Saxonvale director Paul Oster stated after the meeting, “We are currently in discussions with Somerset Council regarding the Saxonvale site and are confident that the right decision will be made in due course.”
