Major Somerset regeneration site could be purchased by local residents
A major regeneration site in one of Somerset’s largest towns could be purchased by local people through the purchase of community shares.
Mayday Saxonvale has been seeking to implement its vision for the brownfield Saxonvale site in Frome town centre, which includes more than 260 homes, commercial space, a cultural centre and a lido.
Attempts to redevelop the site have been subject to numerous delays, with Somerset Council’s executive committee voting in late-October 2025 to put the land on the open market after Mayday Saxonvale struggled to come up with the necessary funds to acquire it.
Following an initial announcement in late-December 2025, Mayday Saxonvale, backed by central government funding, has now launched a community share scheme, giving local residents a chance to part own the site when it officially goes up for sale.
The Mayday Saxonvale proposal includes the following elements:
263 homes, of which at least 30 per cent will be affordable (with a stretch target of 50 per cent)
At least 10,000 sq m of commercial and community space, including an enterprise centre and a “community kitchen”
A cultural centre within the ‘western warehouse’
A riverside park and children’s play area
Improved cycle links between the site and Vicarage Street
The realignment of the A362 Garsdale roundabout and £246,000 towards improving the Gorehedge junction
New public open spaces
A hotel and spa
A lido
Nearly £828,000 for improving local schools
As par of its “competitive bid” for the site, Mayday Saxonvale has already secured £1.2m from the Resonance Community Builders Fund, and is hoping to raise at least £1.5m extra by issuing community shares.
The new scheme has received the Community Shares Standard Mark, the national quality mark for community share offers awarded by the Co-operative and Community Capital Committee.
Mayday Saxonvale chair Brigid Clarke said: “For years, people have asked whether communities can genuinely take a leading role in shaping and owning the future of the places they live.
“Today, we are publishing a serious, deliverable and nationally significant answer to that question.
“Saxonvale will shape our town for generations. What happens here matters – not just what gets built, but who owns it, who benefits and where the long-term value goes.
“Opportunities like these rarely come along for towns like ours. And this is it, this is our moment.”
The community share scheme will operate as a community benefit society, with each investor having a vote on key decisions and a “statutory asset lock”, meaning future surpluses must be reinvested for community benefit.
More than 600 people have already pre-registered ahead of the investment launch via Crowdfunder on June 8.
Ms Clarke continued: “For too long, communities have watched major sites sold off to speculative development models where value leaves the town and decisions are driven by short-term return.
“We believe communities can do better than this. We can do better than this.
“Places like Frome can build long-term resilience, affordability and opportunity through local ownership.”
Individuals can buy community shares from as little as £250, with individual investments being capped at £50,000 and organisational investments capped at £100,000.
Mayday Saxonvale is targeting investor returns of five per cent per annum and withdrawals from year five, although these are not guaranteed.
Mayday Saxonvale director Holly Lawton said: “This moves Saxonvale from something that we in Frome have debated for years into something tangible that people can properly engage with.
“We completely empathise with the feeling of frustration about how long Saxonvale has sat empty and how many plans and proposals have come and gone.
“What matters now is that people can see the detail behind a serious community-led approach for the regeneration of the site.
“Receiving the gold standard mark for community share offers ensures that our offer is transparent, honest, and meets national standards of good practice.”
Full details about the community share offer, including Mayday Saxonvale’s business plan, can be viewed at www.maydaysaxonvale.co.uk.
The initial £2.7m being raised through the share offer and already secured grants is intended to secure the site and “unlock the next stage of delivery, including detailed planning for the first phase”.
As with conventional regeneration schemes, construction funding would be raised separately once planning consent is secured.
If the council does not accept Mayday Saxonvale’s bid, all community share capital will be returned.
Ms Lawton added: “Buying community shares is not a donation. It is an investment, with the opportunity to earn a five per cent return, while helping determine what Saxonvale becomes over the long term.
“For me personally, there is something incredibly powerful about investing in the future of the town where I was born, where my children are growing up, and where I hope their children will want to grow up too.
“Development has changed the face of Frome over the years, with much more on the horizon.
“Wouldn’t it be incredible, just for once, to have an actual say, an actual stake, in a major development project here? One right in the middle of town, one that we could all use and benefit from.
“Yes, it’s ambitious – but we are simply taking a proven model, a community benefit society, and scaling it. And what’s most powerful of all is that we’re doing this together.
“Why shouldn’t we get the chance to shape the town we call home?”