People for Packsaddle is continuing a campaign to save a local green space from development. The former Somerset County Council made a decision to sell Packsaddle Fields to developers without entering into any consultation or tender process, in a move that People for Packsaddle believes was motivated by money and based on flawed assumptions and poor decision making processes.
Packsaddle Fields, on the Northern boundary of Frome, is a wild and beautiful green space used by generations of local people to walk safely in nature, meet with neighbours and enjoy the tranquility of the countryside. It has been awarded the rare distinction of Asset of Community Value, recognising its worth to the community, and is rich in biodiversity. The fields fall outside the development boundary for the town and were recently rejected by the Council in its own ‘call for development sites’.
An application to build 74 homes on the land was made in May 2023 and it’s expected a decision about the application will be made in the next few weeks by the Somerset Council Planning East Committee. People for Packsaddle are hoping the decision will fall in favour of the fields and stand ready with their own offer to buy the land themselves if this happens.
Toby Culff, of the People for Packsaddle group, said, “The decision by Somerset County Council to sell the land was made in a meeting attended by three people, two Councillors and the Somerset County Council Estates Officer. The meeting concluded that selling the land for development would not lead to negative implications for the Councils’ Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy, there were no Health and Wellbeing Implications and there was no Social Value to the fields. People for Packsaddle believe all three of these conclusions to be fundamentally flawed.”
Somerset County Council then made a deal with a developer, LiveWest, which was not subject to a tender process. Toby Culff said, “Part of the reason given for this was that LiveWest are a ‘partner specialising in the provision of social and affordable housing rather than a market-led sale open to private developers’. However, the first iteration of the planning application provided for zero social rent or shared ownership houses. This has since been amended and the application now provides 74 three and four bedroom houses, with only 15% social rent and shared ownership housing. This equates to just 8 social rent and 3 shared ownership dwellings. People for Packsaddle, and others who have objected to the application, believe this high level of ‘executive housing’ are not the homes Frome needs.”
Toby continued, “The Asset of Community Value status of the fields has also been downplayed and disregard throughout the planning process.. Furthermore, we have watched devastating mechanical clearances of the fields and the dangerous and badly managed introduction of cows for the first time in around 40 years. The Council thwarted our attempts to discover the reasons for instigating the clearances and eventually, after considerable delay, they rejected our Freedom of Information request about this on the grounds of costs. They have admitted though that the introduction of cows was to ‘to lower the biodiversity ahead of development’ even though no planning permission had been granted at the time.”
“We have pledges from local people, who want us to buy this precious space, amounting to a quarter of a million pounds and we have a plan in place to protect and enhance the biodiversity of the fields, as well as to manage them for the benefit of the people of Frome now and in the future. Had we been given the opportunity to engage with the Council in the beginning we could have made our intentions and commitment clear. However, we were kept in the dark and have been frustrated at every stage of the process. We believe a deal was made behind closed doors because the Council is broke and therefore motivated by money, and not the wellbeing of local people and the town it is meant to represent.”
Toby added “The permanent loss of these fields for what could amount to a mere £800,000 plug in the Council’s gaping sizeable financial deficit is decision making at its worst. It seems the Council is happy to asset strip, disbenefiting the local community of a precious Asset of Community Value for a one-off grab for cash. To us, the fields are priceless and we’ll do everything we can to protect them.”
The planning application will come before the Somerset Council Planning East Committee imminently. Followus on social media to stay informed and get involved in saving the Fields for Frome’s current and future residents.
