“Interested in tiny homes, affordable housing, co-housing and self-build?”
“Are Tiny Homes suitable for Sidmouth’s housing needs?”
.
Would you like to live in a ‘tiny home’?
Tiny homes then and now… – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Turning shops and offices into ‘tiny homes’ – Vision Group for Sidmouth
High-quality zero carbon affordable homes – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Is this an answer to our housing problems?
Futures Forum: A solution to our housing problems: tiny houses
Futures Forum: A solution to our housing problems: tiny houses: part two
This link and observation has just been sent in by a correspondent:
See interesting AJ link for 182 houses in Frome, “including 27 plots on the north edge of the site allocated to custom-built ‘tiny houses’, which usually measure around 37m²”.
Are Tiny (miniature) Homes suitable for Sidmouth’s housing needs?
Council approves rival community-led lido and ‘tiny houses’ proposal in Frome
This is where it started, some two years ago:
Interested in tiny homes, affordable housing, co-housing and self-build? Join us to watch some tiny homes films, hear from people who live in them, and meet the organizers of the ‘Frome Tiny Homes Event’
Tiny Homes Meet-up – Discover Frome
And in March last year, there was more info and consultation:
Tiny Homes Frome Webinar – YouTube
Here’s the website:
Tiny Homes – Fair Housing For Frome
It all happened on Wednesday night:
Following a momentous decision for Frome from the planning board on Wednesday night where the Mayday Saxonvale application was approved subject to condition, the Chair of Frome Town Council Planning Committee, Cllr Steve Tanner said:
“I would like to thank the members of the Planning Board for their in-depth and detailed consideration of the Mayday Saxonvale application and also their passionate questioning of the officer recommendations. The level of the public support was also unprecedented and showed representation at its best, with the councillors really putting what was best for Frome at the heart of the decision, and acknowledging that the needs of Frome have changed.
“I would also like to congratulate the team at Mayday Saxonvale, the plan has certainly captured the imagination of the town as can be seen by the level of support. Wednesday night was a good step forward and we now call on the officers at Mendip and Somerset councils to fully engage with the team to enable this clearly popular development turn from a dream into a reality for the residents of Frome, to make a thriving town centre that we can all be rightly proud off.”
Latest from the Mayday Saxonvale planning application decision – Frome Town Council
Back to the Architects’ Journal which covered that decision:
Council approves rival community-led lido and ‘tiny houses’ proposal in Frome
Planning officers at Mendip District Council had recommended rejection of the ‘mixed-use town extension’ on the edge of Frome town centre. But, after a groundswell of local support, councillors voted instead this week to approve it. Around 1,300 residents emailed the council to back the project, which includes 182 homes, workspace and a lido in Saxonvale, a 5.16ha former industrial site on the south-eastern edge of Frome town centre.
The scheme has 40 per cent affordable housing and has put strong emphasis on homes for first-time buyers, including 27 plots on the north edge of the site allocated to custom-built ‘tiny houses’, which usually measure around 37m². Popular in America, where there are some 10,000 miniature homes, the movement has yet to take off in the UK…
The project, led by non-profit social enterprise Mayday Saxonvale, aims to provide an alternative vision to that offered by Acorn Property Group in its 2021 consented scheme. Acorn already has a development agreement with Mendip District Council, which owns the site. Acorn’s scheme, designed by Nash Partnership, included 300 homes with 72 affordable, offices, shops in buildings ranging between two and five storeys, as well as a riverside park. However, local community groups – and Frome Town Council – opposed the scheme over concerns it was too dense for the site, did not contain enough employment space, and would see local warehouses demolished…
The team behind Mayday Saxonvale is proposing to use a new kind of development model for the site’s transformation. The so-called ‘Mayday Model’ would involve creating a joint venture company with property development company Stories that would be ‘fully aligned on maximising social value’. It said: ‘This community-led development has never been done in the UK in a masterplanning context – it’s totally new and Frome could lead the way and initiate a tidal change towards civic improvement in UK communities.’
The group still has to try and win over Mendip Council, which already has a sale and overage agreement with Acorn. The scheme has been approved twice by its planning committee, but according to local newspaper reports, legal agreements have not yet been signed…
Council approves rival community-led lido and ‘tiny houses’ proposal in Frome
There has indeed been a bit of a difference of opinion between town and district councils:
Disappointment on the Mayday Saxonvale application recommendation – Frome Town Council