On 16th February 2023, the Government Planning Inspectorate dismissed the outline planning application made by Gleeson Land, for a development of up to 150 residential dwellings on Marston Lane, Frome.
Frome Town Council’s Planning Committee had objected to the outline planning application in April 2022 and Mendip District Council’s Planning Board subsequently refused the application in June 2022. Gleeson appealed this decision; therefore, the final say was determined by the Government Planning Inspector.
Frome Town Council (FTC) welcome the Inspector’s decision to dismiss the appeal and application. We would like to commend the District Council for working with us and the residents of Marston Lane in defending this appeal. FTC Cllr Steve Tanner and FTC staff attended the 5 day inquiry and were impressed by the presentations made to the Inspector by the local residents, setting out the importance of the landscape to both local residents, the wider Frome community and all who travel into Frome from this western approach.
The Town Council’s presentation to the Inspector concentrated on the importance of the policy in the Frome Neighbourhood Plan which relates to skyline development. As Marston Lane is identified as a skyline area, all applications for new buildings or extensions to existing properties are required to demonstrate that there will be no unacceptable detrimental impact on the skyline in this area. The Inspector concluded that the proposal would fail to comply with this policy and would result in significant harm to the character and appearance of the area, in particular landscape character, and this was the main reason for dismissing the appeal.
FTC arepleased that having identified and highlighted the significance of this area, our Neighbourhood Plan has been tested, found to be robust and can help protect the town from speculative development.
