Packsaddle Fields: Frome, Somerset
Fifty years of community green space.
Ask anyone in Frome about Packsaddle Fields and they’ll tell you what the place means to them. Families have walked here for nearly fifty years. The hedgerows are ancient, the fields home to bats, hedgehogs and owls. The land sits just outside the town’s agreed development boundary and is registered as an Asset of Community Value. For many residents, it’s the countryside on their doorstep – ordinary in the best possible sense, but also extraordinary in its wildness.
Somerset Council, which owns the fields, quietly entered into an agreement with a developer to build houses on them. People for Packsaddle – a tenacious local group supported by CPRE Somerset – raised thousands of pounds through coffee mornings, plant sales and quiz nights to fund legal fees and specialist advice. A planning application was refused. An appeal was dismissed. Everyone thought it was over.
Then the developer threatened legal action against the council for breach of contract. Rather than stand its ground, Somerset Council fenced off the permissive path through the fields, removing access to eight acres of open space overnight. People for Packsaddle took King’s Counsel advice – confirming the fencing makes no difference to the legal position – and are now pursuing other legal and campaigning avenues to get the fences removed.
The battle isn’t won yet. But the community hasn’t stopped fighting either.
Visit www.peopleforpacksaddle.org to find out more
On the Edge
We believe every town and city should be surrounded by countryside that is protected, properly planned and able to thrive — for nature, climate and wellbeing. Stand up for the countryside near you by adding your name to our vision.
