Riverside Corridor

Late last year Frome Town Council purchased additional land and began, with the help of many local voluntary groups, an intensive programme of works designed to enhance the river corridor and create a leisure facility that can be enjoyed by all ages.

Weylands provides an area of open grassland and borders part of the riverside footpath which stretches from Spring Gardens to Rodden Meadow. The hedgerows have already been 'tamed' and several vans loads of rubbish removed from both the river and grassland. From June, the purchase of a new mini-tractor will allow the Council team to take on the mowing of this area too.

Heading towards the town centre from Weylands brings you to the Welshmill play-park and Welshmill walk where work has been undertaken to improve visibility and make safe the existing play equipment. In addition, the Town Council is supporting the F.R.O.G.S. bid for lottery funding to add additional facilities to this area and has already held an on-site consultation to gather public opinion.

Following the riverside walk through to the centre of town brings us to another new acquisition, Château-Gontier Walk. This area has been cleared, re-turfed and planted with a mixture of sustainable planting including hundreds of spring bulbs. Ongoing work, ably assisted by The Friends of The River Frome, includes clearing the upper reaches to the river-banks of the invasive Japanese Knotweed.

Crossing over at The Bridge, the footpath is again picked-up at Willow Vale and can be followed to reach another Town Council holding, Rodden Meadow. Here the Prospects team have worked with the Council replacing dry-stone walls, hedge-laying and improving the Millennium Green area. The meadow provides an important habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna and recent planting of Black Poplar saplings contributes to a nationwide effort to conserve Britain's rarest native tree species.

In a short space of time and with the co-operation and assistance of so many volunteers much has already been achieved but as usual, the Council is far from prepared 'to rest on its laurels' and is always keen to hear what further improvements local residents would like to see.