Homes that are affordable, imaginative, reflective of Frome’s built heritage, high quality, and empowering self-build options.
A development led by community, not profit
- Maximise affordable housing provision
- Diverse and imaginative design, respecting Frome’s character and topography
- Housing that caters to all sectors of Frome’s community
- High quality and energy efficient housing
- Delivering self-build residential opportunities
- Live Work opportunities
- Co-housing to develop community
Affordable Housing
Mendip District Council set a requirement in their Local Plan that a minimum of 30% of new dwellings are affordable units.
Mayday will develop the Saxonvale site on a non-profit basis. We will use the sale of properties at open market values to cross-subsidise the provision of affordable homes.
Together this enables us to deliver at least 30% affordable homes, well above Mendip District Council’s requirement of 30% of dwellings.
Acorn Property Group’s original proposal was for 17.5% affordable dwellings. By using a Homes England Grant of £3.95m it increased only to 21.5%, still well below Mendip District Council’s own requirement of 30%.
‘All new residential development should maintain, provide or contribute to a mix of housing tenures, types and sizes to help support the creation of mixed, balanced and inclusive communities.‘
Imaginative Design
The Masterplan provides a mix of dwellings of distinctive character and design. Our design approach references the historic street pattern and roofscapes of central Frome.
Hill Village is sited in the upper area of the site with dramatic views across Frome. Modelled on textile housing on Innox Hill, with communal gardens and balconies. Sightlines and views are preserved with the plan working with, and not against, the natural topography of the site, enhancing pedestrian and cycle path connectivity.
In comparison – Acorn Property Group:
High Density, Profit Led
Acorn Property Group has taken a simple and effective route to maximise profits: high density residential space using multi-storey apartments. Acorn lays out blocks of apartments, parking, and roads that will entirely dominate the site. This is not how communities are built.
At present, we only have outline drawings of the buildings, but the images to the left show identical grids of apartments in Bradford-on-Avon by Acorn’s architects, Edward Nash Partnership.
Building Communities
Each distinctive residential zone in the Mayday plan is designed to build communities.
The Hill Village and East Residential Quarter includes shared outside central space. Tiny Homes will naturally sit in their own communal space.
In comparison – Acorn Property Group’s plan is composed of rows of multi-storey apartment blocks. Not how communities are built.
Self Build
Tiny Homes offers exceptional low-cost housing to owner’s designs in a sustainable land.
In other areas, such as the East Residential Quarter, Mayday and our partners will guide self-build owners in forming groups that will govern the final design of the exterior of their dwellings. This is a crucial part of building the community. Owners will have full control over the interior layout and fittings of their home.
In comparison – Acorn Property Group’s plan includes no self-build options.
Live Work
In both the Central Mixed Use Quarter and Commercial Zone, live work units are a key part of the sustainable Mayday vision. Providing residents with a more flexible opportunity to start local businesses in combination with their affordable living arrangements.
Jobs are created in Frome whilst reducing commuting travel out of the town.
