A high court judge has quashed the planning permission of a developer which was meant to be regenerating a key part of Frome town centre.
By Ruth Bradley www.bbc.co.uk
Saxonvale has been derelict for decades and in recent years there have been two rivals proposals for the ten-acre site.
Somerset Council owns the land and Acorn Property Group is its preferred developer.
A judge quashed Acorn’s planning consent, due to an issue with the allocation of land for employment.
That court case had been brought by rival community-based developer Mayday Saxonvale which also has planning board approval for its own plans for the site.,
More than 250 people opposed the Acorn plan ahead of it being passed by Mendip District Council in 2021
Amy Proctor, strategic partnerships manager at Acorn Property Group, said the company remained “committed and positive” to its vision for Saxonvale.
“We are disappointed with the outcome of the judicial review, which ultimately centred on a procedural technicality,” she said.
“For over two decades it has lain vacant, having faced ongoing challenges at the planning stage. The technical challenges for this site cannot be underestimated and events like this will only cause further delay.
“Like so many of the residents of Frome, we are all keen for development to commence.”
Local business owner and Mayday Saxonvale director, Damon Moore, who lodged the challenge, said: “We are incredibly happy with the outcome of this judicial review.
“The decision by the judge acknowledges the critical importance of Saxonvale in providing a genuine town centre extension.
“Judge Jay ruled that Acorn’s scheme for Saxonvale failed to provide the requirement of the council’s own local plan for much-needed employment space to be located on the Saxonvale site,” Mr Moore said.
Acorn Property Group said it was going to put in a revised planning application to the council as soon as possible and it remains in a contractual relationship with Somerset Council.
Mayday Saxonvale said it wanted the council to now talk to it instead.
A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: “We are always disappointed if the Courts decide we got a decision wrong, so we will be carefully considering the technical issues on which this judgment hinged before deciding on our next steps.”
East Devon Watch 
Frome is supposedly a hotbed for local “flat-pack” democracy.
So what is surprising about this is that it is apparently a spat between two major developers – who both have the deep pockets necessary to fund or fight a judicial review – but without a single comment or input from Frome local residents about which development plans they would prefer to see happen.
It appears at face value that Somerset CC have decided what the local residents want by choosing a developer to go with – what is unclear is just how much say Frome residents had had when Somerset County Council made this choice.
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Paul
Saxonvale aren’t a “major developer”, but the owners of the old Silk Mill which is rented out to local small businesses. Acorn on the other hand are major developers. Acorn were granted planning permission against substantial local opposition, whereas a counter proposal was then submitted by Saxonvale with a high level of public support. Both applications were subject to the usual rounds of public consultation.
I’ll declare an interest, I advised Saxonvale’s opposition to the Acorn proposal. And, for once, this is an example of local democracy (with a little help from the High Court) actually working!
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I am glad to hear that this IS an example of local democracy at work, but surprised to learn that a small community developer was able to afford a Judicial Review.
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