What we suggest people should include in their response to Mendip's consultation on their Core Strategy

At the meeting at the Cheese And Grain on Wednesday 23rd, Duncan Skene highlighted the 'Your Mendip' magazine that most of us have received and the form inside asking for responses for the so-called Core Strategy of the Local Development Framework. The deadline for submissions is Thursday March 31st; if you haven't got a form, they should be available in Frome library. We're urging people to press the council to:

·      Specify the maximum size of the foodstore at Saxonvale that is compatible with the current Saxonvale Development Brief and to delete the imprecise wording, “small/medium”. 15,000 square feet should be specified as an absolute maximum.

·      Determine what proportion of the 70,000sq ft non-food retail space relates to Saxonvale and what to the re-developed Westway Precinct. This is not clear in the wording of the Core Strategy.  The Saxonvale Development Brief allocation for non-food retail (40,000 sq ft) should be regarded as an absolute maximum. Over-burdening Saxonvale with non-food retail space would run a real risk of establishing competing town centres and this should be avoided at all costs.

·      Make good the omission of any reference in the Core Strategy to the redevelopment of the Kingsway Precinct, which is appreciably more ‘tired’ than the Westway Precinct and which provides the major town centre link to the Saxonvale site. This appears to be a significant oversight. Any development at Saxonvale should be contingent on improving links to the existing town centre.

·      Be consistent. MDC permitted the expansion of out of town retail provision at Wessex Fields as recently as 2009 (yet to be built). If the main thrust of retail policy henceforth is the re-vitalisation the town centre, the Core Strategy needs to state that further retail expansion elsewhere will not be permitted.

Meeting at the Cheese & Grain, Weds March 23rd

Saxonvale:  the tipping point

The campaign against the large supermarket planned for Frome's town centre will hold another public meeting next Wednesday, March 23rd.

Following the demonstration of its proposed size in Victoria Park last month, the meeting in the Cheese and Grain will provide advice on how the local community can have its say.

"We're at a very critical point. The planning options for the Saxonvale site are now becoming much clearer, so we feel it's important to impart this information and help people to understand what they can do to have their voices heard," commented campaigner John Harris.

The meeting will include a talk from Max Wide, a director of strategic development at BT Government, who was responsible for a major change programme at Suffolk County Council.  He will draw on his experience at government level to advise Frome residents on the steps that can be taken to shape the future of the town.   

The development planned by St James Investments comprises a 40,000 square foot supermarket, plus a further 40,000 square foot of retail space and 500 car parking spaces.

John added:

"As a useful point of comparison, we understand that the ASDA store in Frome is approximately 65,000 square foot in size; M&S is roughly 12,000.  The new Tesco store in Shepton Mallet represents the scale of the supermarket planned for Frome.

"We will keep the length of the meeting short, but hope that people across all viewpoints on this planned development do attend."

The meeting next Wednesday will start at 7.30pm and close by 9.

For updates and more information on the plans for redevelopment site in the centre of Frome visit the blog, saxonvalesupermarket.blogspot.com, join the ‘No more big supermarkets in Frome’ Facebook group, or follow @Saxonvale on Twitter.

Important meeting on Wednesday

This Wednesday 9th March, 9am -8pm in the Cheese and Grain, Mendip District Council is running a consultation on the draft Mendip Core Strategy to 2026.  We encourage you to go along and to press them to change the draft document so that it specifies the maximum size of any foodstore at Saxonvale.

 

At the last public meeting, John Meeker of Mendip District Council highlighted the importance of the forthcoming consultation on the Mendip Core Strategy. That is now upon us. The council’s newssheet ‘Your Mendip’ came through your letter box recently and contains a high level overview of the strategy. The detail is available at the information point in the library and on the Council’s home page www.mendip.gov.uk and online feedback can be provided here http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/Organisational%20Development/LDF%20Consulation%202011/Web%20HTML/draft_core_strategy.htm 

 

This is an important document as it sets the framework for development in the town and its surroundings until 2026. It contains an expectation of a ‘small/medium foodstore’ on Saxonvale. The sense from the last public meeting was that people miss Somerfield in the Westway precinct and would like to see a similar or slightly larger foodstore return to the town centre at Saxonvale or elsewhere. The current M&S is about 12,000sqft or 1,200sqmeters, ASDA about 65,000sqft / 6,500 sqm. We believe that to avoid any misunderstanding, it is necessary to specify what is meant by small/medium ie a foodstore of 10 – 15,000sq ft.

We encourage you to visit the Cheese and Grain on Wednesday  to press home this point to the Council representatives.

The Lark In The Park

Sunday's event in the park was a success, and an object lesson about how big the proposed Saxonvale development will be: huge, frankly, and we didn't add the car park, delivery area etc. We also made it to the ITV regional news, which for one day only can be viewed here (it's at 9:20). Thanks to everyone who came and took part.