Introduction: Political Fragmentation and Opportunity for Climate Action in a Changing World

We are living in an age of accelerating awareness of our need to reduce our environmental impact. If the news headlines, multiple reports and academic articles are to go by, to put it lightly, as a species and with us the many flora and fauna upon which our actions are inextricably tied, we are in trouble. The current rate of environmental destruction, species decline, population growth, the use of fossil fuels, pollution, declining food security, drought, flooding and obesity are all trends that, left unchecked, will adversely impact human and environmental well-being. This book is set within growing attention to the ‘political’ within sustainability transitions—the extent to which societies are moving towards more sustainable forms of living and where social and technical re-orderings result in sustainable goal-directed pursuits. We home in on an innovative case study of the market town of Frome, which is becoming increasingly known for its bold green action and its fiercely ‘independent’ character. Frome Town Council has, since 2011, been controlled by a group of local people under the guise of the ‘Independents for Frome (IfF)’ group. IfF is a non-party-political organisation and has, by bypassing party politics, been able to achieve many positive initiatives by breaking the mould of adversarial, often divisive party politics, including reconstructing the administration of the town council towards non-partisan Ways of Working (WoW). By showcasing development and governance alternatives in Frome, this book seeks to shed light on the complexities and realities of Frome’s success, either for those seeking to replicate the Flatpack Democracy model or for those involved in community—based planning (e.g., neighbourhood planning) who seek to cultivate positive placemaking. Frome’s experiences in using the planning process as a vehicle to secure strong environmental and social benefits at the local level and the reasons for success, or otherwise, can provide insights into how to capture and reorientate local institutions towards these ends. Frome’s story also reveals the politics and tensions of ‘independent’ actors challenging established institutions, particularly when using rights that promised to deliver power to ordinary people under the government’s UK’s localism policy agenda, which claims to “give power” to local-level actors.