AN extraordinary meeting of Frome Town Council was held to consider a proposal to lease Badgers Hill to a private investor, prompting a range of views from across the community.

Following a confidential session on Thursday, June 5, to discuss commercially sensitive information, councillors voted by majority to reject the current proposal, stating that it did not yet meet the legal criteria for best consideration or provide sufficient long-term community benefit.

However, the council agreed to leave the door open for the private operator to submit an improved offer.

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.”

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