Saxonvale

Image courtesy of Garfield Austin

Partnership between FACLT and Mayday Saxonvale

We are delighted to announce the formation of a partnership between the Frome Area Community Land Trust (FACLT) and Mayday Saxonvale. The two organisations’ shared commitment to community-led development means that Frome will be put first at every stage of the development; social benefit will be emphasised over profit and sustainable homes, workspaces and community space will be ensured for the future. 

The Mayday Saxonvale plan will deliver 263 homes – including at least 30% affordable homes with a target of 50%– plus 10,000+ sqm of commercial and community space, new public spaces, a riverside park & playground, a hotel and a lido. 

FACLT will take ownership of the site’s freehold, with Mayday taking a leasehold to complete the development. By retaining the freehold, the CLT will act as the land custodian, providing security over community ownership of the site in perpetuity.

This new partnership sits alongside Mayday’s partnership with Stories, a socially responsible development company, who will act as Development Manager, running the development. Through the agreements between FACLT, Mayday, and Stories, the shared vision will be reinforced and cemented. This is a vision that will put Frome first at every stage, and prioritise sustainable development.

 

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Mayday, a developer that shares our values and aspirations. This partnership fulfils our core mission of providing genuinely affordable homes for the people of Frome. Crucially, FACLT will own the freehold of the social rented homes. This means these homes are secured for the community in perpetuity and not subject to the right-to-buy. Furthermore, owning the freehold will generate income that guarantees future financial stability for FACLT; income that will enable the growth of our organisation, creating opportunities to provide much-needed genuinely affordable housing for the most vulnerable members of our community."
"We believe that this partnership significantly enhances the social and community value of the Mayday bid for the Saxonvale site currently being considered by Somerset Council. We urge Somerset Council to recognise the Mayday Saxonvale bid as the best value for Frome and Somerset, delivering lasting benefits for our community."
John-Sebastian Clark
Chair of FACLT
“Bringing our local community land trust into our proposal for Saxonvale will solidify our commitments to putting Frome first, and provide additional security over the community ownership of the site. We are excited about what this will mean for FACLT, enabling them to expand their resources and capability to deliver more for Frome. This is just the start as we look to invite local groups and individuals to contribute to the development and enhance what it can mean for our town"
“As a Liberal Democrat council, we know they understand the benefits of community development, opting for community development of towns and cities in their Manifesto. Mayday Saxonvale’s development model could pave the way for genuine community-led development across the UK.  This scale of community-led development has never been achieved in the UK in a master planning context –  Frome and Somerset could lead the way and initiate a better way of building in our communities.”
Paul Oster
Mayday Director

Frome Community singing ‘Here Comes The Sun’ with Caroline Radcliffe and JACKDAWS , and Tamara Stubbs fantastic drone video footage.

Somerset Council’s Decision to Select Acorn Property Group

At a meeting on July 31, 2024, the Somerset Council Executive, hosted by Frome Town Council, made the pivotal decision to select Acorn Property Group as the preferred party to progress the 12-acre heritage site, Saxonvale. This decision followed advice from their legal team, independent advice from CBRE UK on viability and deliverability and a six-hour session featuring extensive input from public speakers and Somerset Councillors all voicing their support for the Mayday Saxonvale proposal. 

The Executive considered two unconditional offers (with no conditions added to ensure promises of affordable housing or commercial space were kept), ultimately choosing Acorn to meet their legal obligation of ‘best consideration’ for taxpayers. Somerset Council Leader, Cllr Bill Revans, acknowledged the overwhelming desire for site development and ‘spades in the ground’, while Frome Town Council Leader, Cllr Steve Tanner said “We must take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and commitment that Mayday have put into their vision for this site – although disappointing now, their entrance into this arena has ensured a much better outcome for the town.”

Further due diligence was to be undertaken, with a commitment to keeping local members informed.

The FACLT board of directors were of course extremely disappointed at the decision taken by Somerset Council to accept a higher bid from Acorn Property Group and it sparked outrage among locals who strongly supported the Mayday proposal. It also showed that it must be time to urgently seek a change to the current legislation (Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972) that ensures success to the highest bidder in asset sales. A change that would put community led regeneration initiatives on a level playing field with commercial developers who, in purely financial terms, can always outbid them. 

More information on Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/projects-and-regeneration/317-projects-features/14503-navigating-section-123-and-land-disposal-duties 

August 1st 2024. Acorn Withdrawal

Mayday Saxonvale’s sketch vision for Saxonvale in Frome by Studio Saar

In a surprising move, following a strong outcry from the local community, which was reported in local and national press, Acorn Property Group withdrew their proposal less than 24 hours after being selected by Somerset council leaders. 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/01/somerset-council-community-led-regeneration-project-saxonvale-frome

Acorn announced that “Acorn Property Group prides itself in working with local communities to provide much-needed regeneration through residential-led schemes.

It has become abundantly clear that in this case, despite our best endeavours to work with all the stakeholders, the local community does not wish to work with Acorn and on that basis we have decided to withdraw from the process.

Acorn wishes Frome and the local community the best of luck going forward in developing this wonderful site in whatever way they choose to take the matter forward”.

Shane Collins, a Somerset councillor in Frome, said: “This is unprecedented news. In nine years of being a councillor, I’ve never heard of a developer pull out due to community feeling. This shows the power of community in Frome. Fantastic news, from the depths of depression yesterday to elation today.”

John Sebastian Clark, Chair of FACLT said ‘We are delighted that Acorn recognised that the community of Frome is not behind their development proposals and has withdrawn their bid, and we are confident that Somerset Council will seek positive and open discussions with us to achieve a satisfactory outcome for both Somerset and the community of Frome.’

In response to alarms about the delays that the Acorn withdrawal would cause and the comments that ‘we are no further on with plans for Saxonvale than we were 20 years ago’, Tim Cutting,  FACLT Treasurer, said ‘I’ve been involved in Saxonvale in various ways since around 2010, and as part of the Mayday bidding team I can assure you that we are SO much further on than 20 years ago – The Mayday bid is fully funded with an experienced, professional development team and a plan that has planning approval. If Somerset now approves their bid the sale agreement will take 4-5 months to go through the contractual process and the County would then have the agreed sale price paid to them in full. Frome Area Community Land Trust will be the part of the partnership that will pay Somerset and will retain the freehold of the site through the development phases and of the affordable homes in perpetuity. This will mean that these homes will be available for social rent by Frome people for ever. I know all this as treasurer of FACLT and can assure you – and all of Frome – that Mayday are ready and willing to go right now. It will only take Somerset to make the right decision’

Mayday’s response: ‘Acorn withdrawing from the bid was a complete shock to us all. As recognised by Acorn, a scheme of this size and strategic importance cannot proceed without a strong level of community support. Frome has now made it abundantly clear that our community-led approach is what our town wants. We are ready to work with the council, to purchase the site, and develop Saxonvale in the way that Frome deserves. 

Somerset Council have stated that they will now consider how to proceed, and we look forward to hearing from them soon. Comments by the Executive Councillors before their decision had an absolute focus on there being the minimum delay before redevelopment could begin. There is now no other developer with planning consent, or ready “to get spades in the ground”, but us. 

The initial decision was very hard for us all to hear, however, we need to acknowledge and empathise it was also difficult for the council to make. Our hope is that we can now all move forward, for the future of our town, together.’

September 2024. Ongoing Discussions with Somerset Council

“We have had an initial positive meeting with Somerset Council. We look forward to continuing an open dialogue and moving forward with the sale of the Saxonvale site for our community.
 
Community-led development at scale is relatively new, and therefore our aim is that through these discussions the council will fully appreciate the resilience of the model we are putting forward. Compared to a conventional developer, we are lower risk. With one project we have only one focus, one which is not leveraged and we have more diverse sources of funding available.
 
Our aim is to transform Saxonvale as a mixed-use urban regeneration project in a way that puts Frome first at every stage. We are in it for the long term. The future impact on Frome is central to all our thinking, and our plan will enhance the future resilience of Frome through community ownership.
 
By retaining and reinvesting profits for the benefit of our town, we will generate social, economic, and community wealth to ensure Saxonvale contributes to the health and vitality of Frome and Somerset.” Mayday Saxonvale
 
Somerset Council said ““Following confirmation from Acorn that they were withdrawing their proposal for the Saxonvale site, we opened discussions with the alternative developer, Mayday Saxonvale Development Ltd.
 

We will work over the coming months with Mayday Saxonvale and their partners to discuss the benefits and risks of their proposal in more detail, with a view to taking a decision on the site later in the year.”

 

January 23rd 2025. A landmark decision for Frome.....

Like many in Frome we are excited by the Somerset Council decision to sell Saxonvale to Mayday. 
At last Mayday can start on their ambitious community-led plans for an extraordinary development at the heart of our town. We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Mayday on the affordable homes that make up a significant part of the project and hope that it will not be much longer before ‘spades are in the ground’ and new homes materialise. 

We applaud the commitment and dedication of the Mayday team over the past seven years, in particular Damon Moore, Kate Moore and Paul Oster, and Paul Clarke from Stories.  We recognise the widespread community support for the Mayday scheme on land which has been neglected for over 25 years. 

We eagerly anticipate a period where the people of Frome have their say about what they would like to see on the site and look forward to being part of a sustainable development which regenerates and breathes new life into our town centre.

What we need now...

We need as many people as possible to become a member of FACLT (for a minimum of £1) to grow our numbers, to show how strong the Mayday development is, and how supported Frome Area Community Land Trust is, and if you have any spare time and skills to offer please do contact us. See below for more details on how you can get involved.

Please help strengthen our position by becoming a member of FACLT, it costs a minimum of £1.

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