• 4 days ago
Transcript
00:00Greetings once again, people of Somerset. It's Daniel Mumby, your local democracy reporter,
00:06here on the first Facebook Live from Froome as this part of the series. I'm standing outside
00:11Froome railway station, as you can probably see. It's a bit of a gloomy May day here,
00:16in one of the most eastern towns in Somerset, and as you can probably tell from the title of
00:21this video, we're going to be walking along the River Froome from the railway station,
00:25down in this direction, towards the Saxon Vale regeneration site. We're going to be taking in
00:30Rodden Meadow along the way, talking about all the different regeneration efforts going on,
00:36the rivalling proposals for regenerating this part of Froome. If you've never watched one of
00:42my Facebook Lives here on Somerset Live before, essentially this is our way of showing you more
00:47of the county that we cover, and that I love so dearly. If you have any questions or comments
00:53about what I'm discussing today, or any suggestions or things to keep an eye out whilst I'm out and
00:58about in Froome, please pop them in the comments and I will get to them, as many as possible,
01:03at the soonest possible convenience. It's, like I say, pretty gloomy here, but hopefully we will
01:09not get rained upon. The weather was supposed to be sunny this weekend, but I guess the met
01:14off is erred again a little bit. So let me just explain a bit why we're doing this today. As we
01:20come down past the entrance of the railway station and the busy A362, it was really busy getting into
01:29Froome today. A lot of people out and about doing their shopping, doing bits of DIY as we move
01:34towards the last bank holiday of this long month. So why are we talking about Saxon Vale today? Well,
01:40there are two rival proposals for how the Saxon Vale site, which is the last large,
01:47vacant, brownfield development site in Froome town centre, should be redeveloped. One of them
01:54is put forward by the Acorn Property Group, which is based not too far away from here in Bath,
01:59and that comprises turning the site into 300 homes, along with a certain amount of commercial
02:05space and possibly an arts and heritage venue in what's known colloquially as the Western
02:11Warehouse. I apologise for the traffic noise. Things will get a little quieter when we get
02:16towards the river itself, so just bear with me. The other rival proposal, put together by a local
02:23group called Mayday Saxon Vale, would see a smaller number of homes delivered on the site,
02:29a maximum of 182, along with a wider range of community facilities, much more commercial space,
02:35including live-work units, a new community Lido, some form of education provision on-site or off-site.
02:43There was talk at one point of relocating St John's School to the Saxon Vale area, but that
02:49may not be viable, so instead they are looking at other provision elsewhere. In addition to the Lido,
02:56there will also be riverside facilities near the river Froome itself, and we will come on
03:04in more detail about each proposal as we get closer to the area, but for now, as we head down
03:11from the railway station, you see we've come under the railway, and we'll be going back under the
03:16railway line multiple times on the way to our destination. I'm just waiting for a safe time to
03:21cross, and we can get on this little cycle route down these various housing estates at the back
03:30end of Froome, and these will eventually lead us along the river to our destination. We're not going
03:36into the Saxon Vale site itself per se today. The site is owned by the New Somerset Council,
03:43formerly Mendip District Council, and it is closed off to the public while remediation work is
03:49carried out, and you know, we don't want people getting hurt because it is a former industrial
03:53area, former home of Knott's Industries of course, along with many other firms over the years, so we
04:00won't be able to enter it ourselves, but what we will be able to do is show you where the planned
04:05footbridge linking this side of the river to the site will go, and one of the reasons that we're
04:11talking about Saxon Vale this weekend is that ACORN, who have got outline permission for the site,
04:18have just announced details of a new public consultation for the detailed proposals for
04:26the northern bit of the site, comprising the Riverside Park, the new footbridge, and a children's
04:32play area. We understand that further plans will be submitted in due course for the actual housing
04:38and employment elements of the site, and there will be a public consultation with a drop-in event
04:44on the 25th of May, that's not this coming Thursday, but the Thursday after, at the Froome
04:51Town Council offices on Christchurch Street West. We'll put all the details in the description once
04:56we've concluded our video here, and as with all of the Facebook Lives that we are doing here at
05:02Somerset Live every weekend, everywhere I am walking is a public right-of-way, whether it's
05:09a footpath, cycle path, or bridleway, so wherever I am walking you can explore yourself, and if you've
05:16never been to Froome, first of all you're missing out, because it's a beautiful town, but also I
05:22hope that instead of just taking my spoken word for it, this will actually encourage you to get
05:28out and about and explore these routes for yourself, as we head over our first little bridge.
05:35You can just see the river beneath us, that gives you a bit of a better view, it takes care to not
05:43drop the iPhone into the river Froome, which is quite still today, and we take a bit of a hairpin
05:49bend. We'll be heading that direction very, very shortly. Saxon Vale has been a prominent issue in
05:58Froome for the last few years. Mendip District Council, as it was back in 2018, acquired the site
06:06with the intention of ensuring that they got the best possible development out of it, and they've
06:12been working with Acorn since around that time to put together proposals, which have gone through
06:19various iterations, but all of them have been driven in one form or another by residential
06:26development rather than commercial or cultural space. The Western Warehouse element of the Saxon
06:33Vale site was also part of a £10 million bid to the government's Leveling Up Fund. It was a joint
06:40bid along with South Somerset District Council to create co-working space in Wincanton Town Centre
06:48as part of the much-hampered regeneration efforts there. Fortunately, that bid was unsuccessful, so
06:55it's back to the drawing board. We're expecting a new bid to the third and possibly final round of
07:01the Leveling Up Fund later this year, but we don't yet know which projects will make the cut. Now that
07:06there's only one council for Somerset, if you exclude Baines and North Somerset of course, because
07:12they're different unitary authorities, then it's going to be a much more competitive process as to
07:17who gets to compete for how much. You can see we've just passed under the railway again, it's very peaceful
07:24here, and the river is flowing a little more freely as we head down the bank into what will
07:31become Rodden Meadow. So, there are rivalling things that the Saxon Vale site could be used
07:40for. We hope that as many of the industrial buildings that remain will be repurposed.
07:50Just let that group of people go past. If you have only just joined us, it's Daniel Mumby here, your
07:56local democracy reporter for Somerset Live. I'm walking along the River Froome, in Froome, on this
08:03very cloudy, slightly gloomy Saturday in May. We're talking about the Saxon Vale regeneration
08:09proposals, and I am walking this route to show you the site of the planned new footbridge that
08:15will link the Willow Vale area and that section of the Froome town centre to the development site.
08:23At the moment, of course, the easiest way to get to Saxon Vale is through
08:27the Merchant's Barton area near the Marks and Spencer store in town, but
08:31as we say, you can't walk through the site. It is former industrial land. They've done their best
08:36thanks to a very healthy grant from Holmes England, just under four million pounds, to get
08:41rid of a lot of the contamination. Clear vegetation from the land. A lot of that activity was carried
08:46out at the height of the pandemic when there was very little physically that could go on.
08:52And if it were not for the occasional housing development dotted around, you would swear
08:57we were walking through the middle of thick, teeming woodland. And we are coming towards
09:05Rodden Meadow. As you can see, we're already on
09:09a dedicated foot and cycle path. Now, we have a bit of a choice here.
09:13We could either go through the meadow itself, or we can stick to the footpath, which leads
09:19more directly to the bridge. But let's be honest, it's less picturesque. So I'm going to go through
09:24the meadow. We should point out, of course, that this green space, already owned by the community,
09:32is not going to be changed in any way, as part of whichever Saxon Vale vision
09:37ends up getting the rubber stamp. The situation in planning terms is that ACORN does have
09:42outline planning consent, including the relevant legal agreements, known as a Section 106 agreement
09:48in place. MENDIP's planning board also voted to give the Saxon Vale, the Mayday Saxon Vale plans,
09:56outline approval. We understand that the legal agreement for that has not yet been signed,
10:00but I will get that detail clarified for you. And the video that you're watching now is going
10:05to form a much wider feature on Saxon Vale, exploring both possible visions of the site,
10:15which we'll be publishing towards the end of next week. Yes, Sarah, I agree, it is a shame
10:19people spray painting where it doesn't belong. I think that there is a role for graffiti if it's
10:25artistic and tasteful and in the right surroundings, but just scrolling a little
10:29bit on a wooden sign, it does detract from an unspoilt green space like this. We're now walking
10:34through the heart of Rodden Meadow. Obviously, I'm going to avoid running into those very excitable
10:39dogs and not bothering the owners either as we head towards our destination. And again, it's so
10:50tranquil here, unspoilt, with mature trees, lots of new planting as well. I love the fact that
10:57we've got so much cow parsley still out, partly as a result of the policy of No Mo' May, which
11:05Somerset Council is pursuing. We'll just move past these good people, head towards what looks like a
11:14very mature tree. It could be an oak of some description. Don't worry, I'm not going to start
11:21the Dennis Moore Monty Python sketch of arguing what tree it is and whether I could hit it three
11:24times out of five on a good day. If you are old enough or cultured enough to get that reference,
11:30drop a comment below. If you've only just joined us, it's Daniel Mumby here at Somerset Live. We're
11:35not just talking about trees. We are walking through Rodden Meadow in Froome, just outside
11:39Froome Town Centre, and we are doing so because we are heading to our final destination, which is a
11:45view of the Saxon Vale Regeneration Site, the last brownfield site in Froome Town Centre. And as a
11:53result of that designation, it has been a big political hot potato.
12:04Excuse me for my fitness app barking in the background. It's making sure that I'm
12:08keeping the pace up, and so far so good. Maybe I'll just turn the volume down on that so we're
12:12not disturbed any further. Now, one thing that we should point out regarding the whole debate
12:20between Acorn and Mayday Saxon Vale is that it is actually subject to legal action at the moment,
12:27and I'll tell you all about that once we pass on the other side of this group of people.
12:35It is so calm and peaceful out here, and aside from these desire lines, paths that people have
12:44naturally followed through the meadow, utterly unspoiled. So, back in February, Mayday Saxon Vale
12:53formally lodged what's known as a judicial review, which is a challenge in the High Court, claiming
12:59that Mendip District Council, just before it was abolished back in April, had not followed
13:05its official policies in terms of the Saxon Vale site. The Saxon Vale site is allocated in
13:12the council's local plan for a certain amount of housing, but also a certain amount of commercial
13:17development, whether that's offices, retail outlets, industrial units, or any other description along
13:23those lines. And Mayday Saxon Vale's contention is that by allowing the Acorn proposals to get
13:32planning permission, they were in breach of their own policies in terms of allowing a smaller amount
13:38of commercial land within the site, and too much residential land. Now, the High Court has ruled
13:45Mayday Saxon Vale can go to judicial review on that, and they have been crowdfunding to cover
13:50their legal fees. We do not yet have a date for that judicial review. If it ends up being successful,
13:57and we should find out one way or another by the end of the year, it could mean that Acorn will
14:03have to come back to the drawing board and seek approval all over again. But I am not a trained
14:09lawyer, so I shall not speculate further on that outcome, and the council, as you can understand me
14:16think, are not commenting either way on those active legal proceedings. As we just take one
14:21further look back towards Robben Meadow, and that's the footpath that winds all the way through,
14:27you can cycle the full length of that. It's part of the National Cycle Network. We've sort of
14:32skirted around Network Route 24, which runs into neighbouring Wiltshire, and we are not far
14:40from our final destination. As you can see here, they've had some very tasteful signage to
14:46direct people, and one of the reasons that I've chosen the start point that I did from the railway
14:51station is partly to show how easy it is to get from your local train station to this hidden gem,
15:00and what will become hopefully a focal point for the entire town centre,
15:04but also because with all the talk about enhancing active travel routes at the moment, and ensuring
15:11that people can walk and cycle as freely as possible as we come into Willow Vale,
15:16and the existing houses here, it's about advertising these closer links between the
15:24Saxon Vale site and onward travel, and making sure that whichever plan comes forward, and it's not my
15:30place to say which is the better vision, whichever plan comes forward is properly connected so that
15:37people who want to live there, work there, or visit there don't have to rely on the motor car.
15:44They can't, after all. Even if you're not the biggest fan of cycle lanes cropping up here and
15:49there and everywhere, if cyclists result in fewer cars on the road, and those of us who do need cars
15:55to get around, can do so with less congestion, and therefore everybody wins. We are rapidly heading
16:04towards Journey's End. Like I say, we're coming down Willow Vale. This is an existing residential
16:10area. It is a private road, but it's also still on the local footbath network, so we're not trespassing.
16:18So fret not, and you can just start to see there through the trees,
16:23the faintest glimpse of the old Knott's Industry buildings and all the other industrial space
16:29which has formed this area. We're going to go a little further along, just around this bend,
16:34and then we will show you our final destination and the rough location
16:41of the footbridge which Acorn has proposed. We understand it's also part of the Mayday plans,
16:47or part of joining up different sections of the town, and also ties in with the Froome
16:55Missing Links project which is going on at the other end of the town, which will provide better
16:59links between Froome and the neighbouring communities in Radstock, Midsomer Norton
17:05and Shepton Mallet. You can just see over here, if we go a little further towards the river,
17:11that is the Saxon Vale car park over there, or Merchant's Barking car park, I think technically
17:16speaking. The river is running a little slower here, and that beyond there, beyond those hoardings
17:23which people have clearly tried to climb around, is the Saxon Vale side. Let's just walk a little
17:28further back up so you can get a better view into, obviously it's quite hard to see through
17:32the tree line, but you get a decent idea of what lies beyond, as it were, the Saxon Vale side.
17:41Yeah, you can just see a few railings and so forth, and just imagine if you will, in a few
17:46years time, once consent to the chosen scheme has been granted, there could be a new bridge
17:54which you can walk all the way from the town centre, or from the railway station, taking you
18:01straight into Saxon Vale for work, to get home, or for a fantastic day out. I could say because it's
18:09such a thick tree line it can be a little hard to to picture it, but we will be popping details
18:14in the description of both the Acorn and the Mayday schemes, and hopefully the feature that
18:19we'll be running next week will be sufficiently illustrated that you will get a firm picture in
18:24your minds of what is planned. And there we go, that has been our short but hopefully informative
18:32journey between Froome railway station and the Saxon Vale site, and I hope if you're out and
18:39about in Froome today you will go and take a close glimpse for yourself, and it is a very pleasant
18:44route to walk as I hope this Facebook Live is illustrated. Like I say, there'll be a full
18:48feature at the end of next week talking about Saxon Vale and all the different issues surrounding it,
18:53but in the meantime this has been Daniel Numby for Somerset Live,
18:56and I wish you a happy time for the rest of your weekend.

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