Extract of Frome Times, Issue 345, 2nd February 2012:

“MENDIP District Council has halted plans to relocate Frome Market into the Market Place, following heavy criticism over a lack of consultation. The council planned to move the market on Saturdays, closing the town centre to traffic, for a trial period of three months. But the plans came under fire from Frome councillors, local shoppers and the market traders themselves who said they had not been consulted.

And, at a meeting of Mendip District Council’s Cabinet on Monday night, councillors voted to put the plans on hold. They are to conduct a thorough consultation before any decision is made. 

Mendip District Councillor for Frome College Adam Boyden said, “This is a great victory for the people of Frome. This decision was taken by Mendip because of the concerns from local residents, councillors and all bodies involved. The plan for Frome market will now be formulated after a thorough consultation period. All options can now be explored and put on the table. This goes to show that Frome has an active public who want to get involved with decisions that affect their town and all authorities have to tap into the public as a resource.
“The idea is to make Frome an ideal destination for shopping, and hopefully this is the first step of that process.”

The plans to relocate the market from its existing site in the main car park to the Market Place has sparked controversy with opinion divided. One side claims it will bring more people into the town centre and help regenerate Frome and the other, that the market is fine where it is and closing the town centre to traffic would put shoppers off. …” (the article continues with debate amongst market traders about the issues arising from a road closure)

See http://www.frometimes.co.uk/blog/?p=1407  for the full article.