MANY concerns were raised about plans for 325 homes on the edge of a Somerset town, during a meeting last month.

Frome Town Council (FTC) agreed unanimously to object to the three planning applications on February 17.

Two of the sites - one consisting of 131 homes (land south of Keyford Field) and one of 124 homes (Land east of The Mount) - are controlled by David Wilson Homes.

A third site is controlled by Wainhomes (land at Keyford Field).

Somerset County Gazette: Plan for The Mount and Little Keyford, Frome. Pic: Pegasus Group

READ MORE: Developments at Little Keyford and The Mount in Frome to be discussed

Many councillors objected to the applications due to the following:

  • Plans contained no strategies for access and transport
  • There are no plans for habitat, drainage or landscaping
  • Plans had no standards for design, materials or sustainable build
  • There are also no parameter plans
  • And there's no site sections or landscape analysis across the FR3a site

As all three developments have separate planning applications, and so FTC also said there is no indication of how the developments "will evolve in relation to each other".

"If this was a true masterplan we would have one application that set out the phasing for the development, not two full applications and one outline," said planning and development officer for FTC, Jane Llewellyn.

"At the very least for the three applications, we would expect to see, a single traffic impact assessment, ecology impact assessment, resource efficiency statement, design and access statement, drainage (looking at alternatives to the attenuation ponds), flood risk assessment, landscape impact assessment and bat surveys to cover all three applications as a whole."

Somerset County Gazette: Plan for The Mount and Little Keyford, Frome. Land South of Keyford in Frome.Pic: Pegasus Group

FTC also had concerns about the sustainability measured proposed for the sites. They do not support connection to the gas grid for new homes - as gas boilers will be banned in new homes from 2025. They have also pointed out that there is a legal requirement to provide electric vehicle charging points in new builds.

Mendip District Council are currently consulting on these plans, but the consultation period for all sites is set to end in the next few weeks.

To view and comment on the planning applications visit the MDC website with reference 2020/0341/OTS (land South of Keyford Field), 2020/0451/FUL (land at Keyford Field) or 2019/3076/FUL (land east of The Mount).