Please find below the statement from Frome Area Community Land Trust, Selwood Housing Group and Mendip District Council regarding the Fair Homes Project:
“Following a public consultation exercise regarding the development of social housing on land in Frome, it has been decided to withdraw the plans in their entirety.
We listened to residents who fed back via our online consultation, by email and by post. We spoke to local people, and with councillors at district, town and parish level. We collated, noted and considered all views before coming to a final decision.
The Fair Homes Project proposed that up to 30 social rented homes be built across several, small plots across the town to meet the desperate need for homes, including young people who have grown up in Frome, those with family and friends in the town, carers and the cared-for, and people working and contributing to the community.
Our hope was to leave a lasting legacy of sustainable, high-quality homes offering fair rents for local people. If realised, the project would have also created jobs, improved skills and boosted the local economy. And it would have strengthened community resilience by enabling local people to continue living here.
During the consultation, some people said they share our ambition to build social rented homes in Frome. However many others neighbouring the sites said, in their view, they were too precious to be used for this purpose.
We know this announcement will be welcomed by some, but we are also mindful there are still more than 500 households looking to find affordable housing in the town, and that demand is likely to increase.
Frome Area Community Land Trust, Selwood Housing Group and Mendip District Council will continue to seek to improve the supply of much-needed social housing for the people of Frome. In the coming weeks and months we will be calling on those who said they support this aim – including councillors, community groups, and members of the public – to join us in this effort.”
Frome Town Council respect the decision to withdrawal of the Fair Homes Project, and we remain committed to working with the CLT to bring more social housing to Frome and working with partners to enable these conversations to happen. Please share your views on the housing situation in Frome by completing the Frome Housing Needs Survey. www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FromeHNS
