A ‘MICRO-WINERY’ has applied for permission to create a cellar in the basement of a Frome bathroom store.

RCC Town Planning Consultancy has applied to Somerset Council on behalf of Saddle Goose – a “boutique wine company” based in the town – for permission to convert the basement of Unit D, in Station Approach, to a “winery with ancillary cellar door service”.

The ground floor of the building is occupied by Dimensions Tiles & Bathrooms, but the business does not need the basement, which the application said “offers an ideal opportunity for a small business”.

“Saddle Goose is a small boutique English wine company,” it said. “They currently operate from shared premises at a farm in Buckinghamshire.

The winery would be created in the basement at Dimensions Tiles & Bathrooms, in Station Approach, Frome. Picture: Google

“Relocating to Frome will enable the business to improve its efficiency, within its own dedicated winery.

“This location will also offer the benefits of being centrally located within Frome, close to other businesses and the small ‘café and food’ hub situated at Station Approach.”

If approved, the premises would allow Saddle Goode to make their wine on site, and to store it in wooden barrels or metal tanks, depending on the wine.

“Members of the public would have the ability to visit to taste and buy the wine during regular operating hours, as is the case with other wine or alcohol producers with a small cellar door,” the plan said, with evening tasting nights also planned.

Part of the cellar that would house Saddle Goose. Picture: RCC/Somerset Council

The company, led by Adam Collins, produces around 5,000 bottles of wine each year, the application said, using grapes delivered from various vineyards. The small scale of the business means “parking demand will be minimal”, it added.

The application will now be considered by council planners. For more details, and to comment on the scheme, log on to somerset.gov.uk and search reference 2024/1715/FUL.