‘Devastating’: council rejects Frome residents’ bid for regeneration project

A bold bid by residents of a progressive town in the English West Country who raised almost £1m to create what could have been the UK’s largest community-led regeneration project is in tatters.

More than 1,000 residents of Frome in Somerset had clubbed together with the aim of building homes, workspaces, a riverside park and a lido on a brownfield area in their town centre.

But rather than selling the 5-hectare (12-acre) site to the community-led Mayday Saxonvale project, Somerset council has agreed a deal with a real estate investment company based in Soho, central London.

The announcement of the preferred bidder’s identity at a packed meeting in Frome town hall was greeted with shouts of “who?”, “shame on you” and “stitch-up”. Some of those who had worked on the Mayday project for more than five years were in tears.

The Liberal Democrat-led council said it hoped the prospective owners would work with Frome residents but admitted the sale was unconditional.

Some local people fear that rather than providing the sort of mixed development with a generous proportion of affordable homes they envisaged, the prospective owners will be free to build expensive riverside houses and lucrative accommodation for elderly people.

“It’s devastating news,” said Sara Butler, a Frome town councillor. “So many people have worked so hard on trying to ensure this site is developed with the best interests of Frome. It’s been a town-wide mission and this is a slap in the face.”

Frome is famed for its independent, renegade spirit and the leader of the town council, Fiona Barrows, said the idea of the Mayday plan had been to create homes that local people could afford and places where they could work.

She said the town council would work with the prospective owners but criticised the transparency of the process. “Saxonvale is simply too important to Frome to be treated as an ordinary land disposal,” she said.

Susie Jenkins Temple, who had got together with friends to put money up for the Mayday project, said it had been an extraordinary effort. “Across Frome, people reached into their own pockets because they believe this place matters,” she said.

Many local people suspect Somerset council’s executive had decided who to sell the site to before it met at Frome town hall on Wednesday to hear last-minute appeals from the townsfolk.

The way the identity of the successful bidder was revealed added to residents’ suspicions that the meeting was little more than a PR exercise.

Within two minutes of Somerset council announcing the identity of the preferred bidder – Newcore Capital – at the end of an impassioned meeting, it had issued a full press release on the deal. Less than 15 minutes later, Newcore released its own press release.

Paul Oster, an executive director of Mayday Saxonvale community benefit society, said the chance to create the UK’s largest community-led regeneration project had been lost.

The council argued it could not be sure Mayday had the full funds for the project. However, as well as the money invested by local people, Mayday had secured £1.2m from the social impact fund Resonance – the largest investment it had offered. Mayday said it had other investors interested. It is thought the agreed sale price for land was about £3m.

Jon Rolls, the head of developing communities at Resonance, said that without local ownership there was a “real danger” that Saxonvale would become another regeneration scheme done to a community, rather than by and with that community.

He said: “The people of Frome haven’t simply expressed an opinion. They organised behind this vision and invested their own money.”

Other Newcore projects include a 3.2-hectare (8-acre) site in east London, where the plan is to build a new supermarket, community health centre and childcare facilities alongside 1,047 new homes, and a care home and retirement living apartments on a brownfield site in Cambridge.

In its statement, Newcore said it was committed to working closely with the people of Frome “to understand local aspirations, discuss the opportunities and constraints and work collaboratively to develop the plans in partnership with the community”.

It added: “Emerging proposals are likely to include a range of new homes, intergenerational accommodation, community facilities including space for local artists, open space and new car parking.”