18/10/2026
SAXONVALE UPDATE. 14.10.26. Scrutiny Fails.
SAXONVALE UPDATE. 14.10.26 Scrutiny declines to refer Saxonvale decision back to Executive
The Somerset Corporate and Strategic Scrutiny committee voted 9-1 not to refer the decision back to Executive for reconsideration.
The packed on line Scrutiny meeting held 57 miles from Frome in Taunton had a packed days agenda, Cllr's had days to understand the controversial, confidential report papers from CBRE, which recommended the unconditional cash ready Newcore Capital offer.
Needless to say no one on the committee lived in Frome or the east and were only able to look at the process not the result, calls for a task and finish group to properly scrutinise were not taken up, it was the last chance with the first 'call in' in the Unitary Council - it failed and so the end of this version of Mayday Saxonvale.
Talks with Frome Town Council and Mayday and consultations will take place but with less options to protect against fewer and larger houses by the river, less work and community space and possibly sold on when planning permission is granted.
Cllr Shane Collins (Green, Frome East) said' This concludes a terrible decision for the future of Frome where mammon has yet again won. The unconditional sale always favoured the cash bidder, in debt Somerset Council need the money. This 'call in' was the last thread of hope in a locally grown idea of a community run development, which is what the Mayday Saxonvale plan had developed into. We applaud their work and the 1000's of supporters who have contributed, signed petitions, invested in, held hand hands around the site and dreamed of a better future for our town.
After the imposition of Selwood Garden Village and now confirmation of Saxonvale's for profit future, it is depressing that a planning system and cuts to government funding for Councils have meant we have ended up with two losers. Somerset paying back the £3.6m Homes England grant with no net gain from the sale and Frome gets a standard housing development.
Cllr Dominic Ellison (Green, Frome West) said: “I am disappointed that Scrutiny chose not to refer the decision back to Executive. I remain concerned that some of the questions we raised, particularly around the Homes England funding and how regeneration outcomes were considered, deserved further examination. However, the call-in did bring more information into the open and gave these issues proper public scrutiny.
“The decision now moves into a different phase. Saxonvale is already covered by an adopted Local Plan which sets clear expectations for comprehensive mixed-use regeneration. Our job now is to make sure those ambitions are not lost: that Newcore engages meaningfully with Frome before its plans are fixed, and that whatever comes forward delivers the homes, employment, community space, public realm and connections that this site and this town need.”
We are asking Somerset Council to review whether more of the confidential papers can now be published, with genuinely commercially sensitive information redacted.
We hope Newcore's consultations bear fruit with a positive planning application for the future of Frome.
The recording of the Scrutiny and Frome Cllr's reasoning should be here this monday 19th. https://democracy.somerset.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=959&MId=8107&Ver=4
The call in was requested by four Frome Somerset Councillors, Greens - Dominic Ellison, Martin Dimery, Shane Collins and Lib Dem Adam Boyden
