The Extraordinary Town Council meeting on Thursday 5th June featured a number of passionate voices from the local community, with strong, but divergent, views. Before the town councillors: a decision about whether to lease Badgers Hill to a private investor, with an option to buy.
Following a lengthy confidential session (due to the commercially sensitive information under discussion), councillors voted by majority in favour of a third way forward:
As the private operator’s proposal stands, we consider that the legal criteria for best consideration has not yet been met. We would like to leave the door open for the private operator to improve their offer in relation to guaranteed long term community benefit.
Cllr Fiona Barrows, Chair of Frome Town Council said, “This wasn’t an easy decision – we know how much Badgers Hill means to so many people here in Frome. But after a lot of careful thought, we couldn’t support the proposal as it stood. We didn’t feel there was enough clear community benefit or strong enough safeguards to protect the asset for the community. Over the last three years almost a million pounds of public funds – both from FTC and grant funding – have been invested in the site, and we have a responsibility to protect that. We know this decision will be difficult for some people to hear, but we hope people appreciate that councillors considered all sides carefully and made the only decision we could. We are aware that the current status quo is not working for anyone, and we want to be clear – our decision last night was solely in regards to the proposal on the table.
It was a difficult evening for everyone involved, but also encouraging to see all voices were listened to with respect. Thank you to everyone who attended. Every stakeholder representative spoke passionately about football, and its ability to bring people together. We hope going forward that passion can bridge current divides, to find an equitable solution for everyone involved.”
Prior to the confidential session, the meeting heard from a number of stakeholders. Frome Town AFC coach Danny Greaves and Lester Silk of Frome Town Supporters Club spoke first, urging the council to accept the offer of the anonymous lessee to take over the running of Badgers Hill. Frome Town Community Benefit Society (FTCBS) Chair Max Hirst spoke next, in opposition to the proposal, followed by Tara Tomley of Frome Town Women, who previously addressed the council meeting on 30th April.
Lee Seviour, chair of Frome Town United, a partnership of Frome Town Robins, Frome Town Women and Frome Collegians, reported good relations with most Badgers Hill stakeholders and
Darren Bernstein of the Football Supporters Association (FSA) was the last to speak, and shared the FSA position that the proposal did not represent the best option for Badgers Hill, that community ownership presented the best option for the asset and that the proposal’s business plan was ‘flawed’.
On returning to the Chamber, Cllr Barrows shared the council’s decision to reject the proposal in its current form, with the door left open for an amended proposal from the private operator.
Watch the meeting in full at bit.ly/extraordinary-meeting-5th-june-2025
