Somerset council has agreed a deal with a London-based real estate investment company for the Saxonvale development site in Frome, rejecting a community-led bid that raised nearly £1m from local residents.
More than 1,000 residents of Frome had contributed funds towards the Mayday Saxonvale project, which aimed to build homes, workspaces, a riverside park and a lido on the 5-hectare (12-acre) brownfield site in the town centre. However, instead of selling the site to Mayday, the council has chosen a preferred bidder based in Soho, central London.
The announcement of the preferred bidder's identity at a packed meeting in Frome town hall was met with shouts of “who?”, “shame on you” and “stitch-up”. Some who had worked on the Mayday project for more than five years were in tears.
Council defends unconditional sale
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 instead of a mixed development with a generous proportion of affordable homes, the prospective owners will be free to build expensive riverside houses and 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.”
Fiona Barrows, leader of the town council, said the Mayday plan was intended 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.
Residents' suspicions over process
Susie Jenkins Temple, who had put money into the Mayday project with friends, described the effort as extraordinary. “Across Frome, people reached into their own pockets because they believe this place matters,” she said.
Many local people suspect the council's executive had decided who to sell the site to before the meeting on Wednesday, which was meant to hear last-minute appeals from townsfolk. Within two minutes of the council announcing Newcore Capital as the preferred bidder at the end of the 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, Mayday had secured £1.2m from the social impact fund Resonance, in addition to money invested by local people, and said it had other investors interested. The agreed sale price for the land is thought to be about £3m.
Concerns over future development
Jon Rolls, 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.”
Newcore's other projects include a 3.2-hectare (8-acre) site in east London, where plans include 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.”
