My main motivation for taking on the role of Mayor was to better understand more of the amazing organisations that make Frome special. I’ve had lots of interesting visits over the last few weeks, starting with Sports Day at Rosetti House. It was a lovely event bringing together grandparents, parents and grandkids to chat and play in the sunshine-filled garden. I also had the honour of meeting Jim Cush on his 100th birthday!
I was delighted to be invited to join The Good Heart to celebrate their 6th Birthday with a ‘Kindness Pass the Parcel’ at Boyle Cross. Adults and children played the traditional party game, and each layer held a Kindness message like ‘clean up a mess you didn’t make.’ The final message ‘A treat for everyone’ revealed that there were ice cream cones for everyone involved!
August kicked off with ‘The Big Green Meet Up’ in Victoria Park. Bringing together the partners in Green & Healthy Frome with other groups working on multiple green initiatives, it was an enjoyable afternoon picnic in the sun, as well as a productive sharing of ideas and achievements, plus more (vegan) ice cream
The final event I’ll mention was at The Lucky Chance, in the old Methodist church on Portway. Wise Children have made that space their own, developing a rehearsal and performance space that attracts talent from across the UK and beyond. I was part of an invited audience to watch the culmination of this year’s Open Residency training programme, and it was amazing how much the team achieved in only five days of working together. Sponsored by the Noel Coward Foundation and Arts Council England, it’s a great resource to have on our doorstep.
At a town council level, for obvious reasons, the main topic of discussion recently has been Saxonvale, and specifically the Somerset Council Executive coming to Frome for a public discussion to decide how to move forward with the long-overdue development of that key town centre site. Some of my colleagues on the council and several other members of the public were able to speak at the meeting, giving a clear message in support of Mayday Saxonvale. After a long session in private, Somerset Council eventually came back with a decision in favour of Acorn Property Group, triggering dismayed protests from many of those present. The following day, Acorn announced that they were pulling out of the project, leaving Bill Revans, the Leader of Somerset Council, ‘flabbergasted’.
At the time of writing, it’s unclear what the next steps are for the decision-making process, but my personal hope is that the Mayday Saxonvale team willa now be asked to take the project forward.
