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.