Somerset Council has declined to clarify how much a beloved green space in Frome is worth after plans to build houses on it were refused.

Packsaddle Fields, which lies on Frome’s northern edge, has been in public ownership since 1973 and was originally earmarked for a new school.

Somerset County Council announced in March 2022 that it was planning to sell the land off, entering into an agreement with housing association LiveWest, who put forward plans for 74 homes and a children’s home on the site in March 2023.

Somerset Council’s planning committee east voted to refuse planning permission for the scheme on January 7, with the local community now seeking to buy the land from the council using the asset of community value bidding process.

But campaigners have uncovered an apparent discrepancy in the value of the land – which may affect how much they need to raise to buy the site and prevent future development.

Karen Clayson, a member of the People for Packsaddle campaign group, raised the issue in a written question to the council’s executive committee, published before it met in Taunton on Wednesday morning (January 15).

She said: “Shortly before the option agreement was agreed and signed by the county council, one of our residents, Stuart Hearn, wrote to the council to enquire about buying the fields.

“He was told in writing by Charlie Field, who was the lead officer on the sale, that the Packsaddle site ‘is potentially worth many millions’.

“The proposed development on the fields is currently going through the planning process and the published viability report states the value of the land to be only £811,000. This is significantly less than the sum stated by Mr. Field.

“So either Mr. Field misled our resident about the sale price of the land, or the value of the land stated in the planning viability report is wrong. Both options have serious implications and must be investigated.

“Alternatively, can you confirm whether the £811,000 figure in the viability report is approximately the price being paid to Somerset Council for the land, and if it is not, confirm when the planning team will update the viability report to reflect the true sale price?”

Ms Clayson’s question was withdrawn from the agenda before the meeting began (though it remained in the published papers), meaning that the officers present did not need to formally respond on the matter.

Following the meeting, the council issued a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, stating it could not comment on the LiveWest viability report and would not publicly disclose any estimate of the land’s value.

A spokesman said: “We have no influence over any valuation put forward by a third party in submitting any planning application.

“The Packsaddle site is subject to a conditional contract that sets out a series of actions and assumptions through which the eventual purchase price will be determined.”

LiveWest has not confirmed whether it intends to challenge the decision via an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.