Close to the historic town centre of Frome in Somerset the large former industrial site of Saxonvale has been the subject of several commercially led redevelopment proposals over the last twenty years, but none has progressed. In late 2018 it was acquired by Mendip District Council, keen to see such a central site put to good use in this compact, but remarkably energetic town. Working with the Council’s selected developer Acorn Property Group our current planning application is built around the models of living and working Climate Change mitigation and now the COVID-19 virus experience are suggesting we might have to get used to. Many of its 300 dwellings will be designed to optimise the practicalities of working from home, alongside a range of live/work opportunities. There will be areas where planning designation will encourage a healthy flexibility of uses. All is being conceived in the context of 40,000 sq ft of new managed workspace, cultural activity space and other active street frontages. The opening up of this long private site will stitch together new pedestrian and cycle networks across the town, some via the new riverside public park and river crossing that will have links to networks out into open country. Central to this vision has been the understanding that such flexible living and working will demand more of this new urban neighbourhood. In the quality and utility of the public realm, the biodiversity capacity of its landscaped streets and spaces. The project is being audited by the Bio-Regional Sustainability Consultancy for both technical and socio-economic sustainability capacity over the long term.
