CONTRACTORS COMPLETE WORK AT FIREPOOL

St. Modwen, the UK’s leading regeneration specialist, has completed a first phase of on-site improvement and enhancement works on the former Livestock Market at Firepool in Taunton, a £270 million scheme which will establish the site as an important new commercial development for the South West.

Construction company Morgan Ashurst was contracted to carry out the work which included refurbishment of the former Auction Hall with associated landscaping and boundary railings to the site. Work commenced in January 2010 to the 5,700 sq ft Auction Hall which now incorporates approx. 800 sq ft of offices. The building will provide an on-site base as the Firepool development is delivered in a number of phases over an anticipated 12 year period. It now offers the flexibility to accommodate meetings, presentations, public displays and other relevant uses to reflect progress on-site.

The Auction Hall and associated site works follow the recent demolition of the remaining buildings at the former Livestock Market at Firepool. Further pre-development activity and discussions with potential occupiers are ongoing to deliver the transformation of this key regeneration site.

Firepool is the first phase of Project Taunton, a 123 acre regeneration scheme and one of the largest town centre regeneration projects currently underway in the South West. The development, a partnership between St. Modwen and Taunton Deane Borough Council, comprises 16.5 acres of brownfield land which will be transformed to include 500,000 sq ft of office space, leisure facilities to including cafes, restaurants, foodstore, hotel, over 400 homes and is anticipated to create more than 4,000 jobs locally.

Pete Davies, Development Manager for St. Modwen in the South West, comments: “We are delighted to complete this physical work on-site which has been accompanied with less visible but essential work to progress the delivery of this exciting scheme. Firepool is a fundamental element of the wider Taunton town

regeneration and we will be continuing to progress delivery plans over the coming months. The sites location a few minutes walk from the mainline railway station and town centre facilties, with the River Tone at it’s heart, make it a superb location for office occupiers considering Taunton’s town centre.”

John Brannam, area director for Morgan Ashurst, said: “As a local company its been great to help complete the first step into Taunton’s new future and we hope the local community will enjoy continuing to watch the regeneration as it progresses, putting Taunton firmly on the map as a centre of commerce for the region.

Ian Franklin, Project Director of Project Taunton, said: “Firepool is set to become one of the key commercial centres for the South West and the completion of this first phase is an important milestone. Taunton is looking to attract large employers from the private and public sector over the coming years and the regeneration of Firepool and the town centre as a whole is critical to achieving this.”

Project Taunton will provide at least 7,000 jobs, 80,000 sq m of employment space, 50,000 sq m of new retail space and 2,000 new homes in the town centre. It will also support at least 18,000 new homes across Taunton as a whole. The regeneration of Taunton is promoted and supported by Taunton Deane Borough Council, the South West RDA, Somerset County Council and the Environment Agency.