Frome councillors have voted to purchase a key section of land along the town’s river to deliver a safe walking route for residents and visitors.

The River Frome runs south to north at the eastern edge of the town, providing a natural eastern border for the majority of the settlement and a valuable ecological buffer between the town and the surrounding countryside.

While most of the riverbank is accessible via a public right of way, a crucial short section lacks guaranteed public access – namely the section between the Old Printworks housing development and The Retreat, not far from the railway station.

Frome Town Council has now unanimously backed plans to change that, voting to purchase a crucial section of land and register the route along it as a public footpath on Somerset Council’s definitive rights of way map.

The section in question lies on the west bank of the River Frome, with the existing path through the land being narrow, overgrown and stony.

While it is not an official public right of way, the route is regularly accessed by members of the public, including dog walkers and local anglers.

The route’s future was threatened when the Planning Inspectorate ruled in favour of four new homes and an employment studio being constructed on The Retreat back in August 2021 – a decision described by members of the Save River Frome Pathway campaign group as “tragic”.

The town council met on June 12 to discuss the proposal, which entails purchasing around 1.5 hectares between the planned houses and the railway bridge.

From The Retreat, pedestrians can follow the existing cycle paths into the town centre via Rodden Meadow – with a direct route into the Saxonvale site being provided as part of either of the proposed redevelopment visions for that brownfield site.

Because the land in question is a ‘flooding water meadow’, it has very high habitat and biodiversity value – with the town council seeking to increase this as part of securing the site and the access through it to the railway bridge.

Councillor Steve Tanner said: “This has massive strategic value for us as a town going forward. It is the link between Spring Gardens and Blatchbridge.

“If we get this link here, you can effectively walk all the way through to where the proposed Selwood Garden Community may be built.

“Acquiring this section basically safeguards that public access across the whole river and through the centre of town for generations to come.”

The land is expected to cost £75,000 to purchase, of which £30,000 will be provided by Frome Town Council.

A further £20,000 will come from crowdfunding, with the remainder being sourced from the Friends of the River Frome and private benefactors.

Additional funding of up to £5,000 may be needed to remove invasive Japanese knotweed from within the site, and there will be an annual maintenance cost to the town council of £5,000 for grass cutting, path repairs and associated work.