Project Taunton Partners Announce Firepool Developer - A major step forward in town's regeneration

Monday, 20 April 2009 15:44

St. Modwen, the UK's leading regeneration specialist, has today been announced as the preferred development partner for Taunton Deane Borough Council's Firepool scheme. This will be the new commercial heart of Taunton and the first phase of Project Taunton - the 50 hectare town centre regeneration scheme. Despite a very difficult economic climate, contracts have been signed and Project Taunton will start work on site this year.

Designated a strategic employment site, the Firepool scheme is valued at £270 million and comprises 6.7 hectares of brownfield land. It is situated adjacent to the town centre, close to the railway and just over one and a half hours from London Paddington station. It also boasts excellent national and international connections, located just two miles from J25 of the M5 and a 40-minute drive to two international airports.

Talking about the future of Firepool, Ian Franklin, Project Director of Project Taunton, said: "This is a tremendous result for Taunton and all credit goes to the team that has worked so hard to get us to this stage. The selection process for the Firepool developer has been a stringent one and we're confident that St. Modwen is the best company for the job. Our aim has always been to ensure Taunton gets the very best commercial scheme and we make no apologies for setting tough benchmarks throughout. We were impressed by St. Modwen's approach to the scheme bid and we now look forward to progressing the planning application and commencing building works."

Celebrating the appointment, Rob Skelston, development director for St. Modwen in the South West, comments: "We are absolutely delighted to have been successful in our tender to become the selected development partner for Firepool. This is a fantastic opportunity to create a modern commercial centre that will attract new businesses into the area and benefit the town as whole. We have a proven track record in the South West working on similar brownfield regeneration projects and creating sustainable urban developments."

As part of the selection process St. Modwen had to demonstrate that it will be able to meet the very strict guidelines for sustainability required for this project, which are based on Project Taunton's ‘Taunton Protocol'. This pioneering document outlines a unique stance on development, and is set to become an exemplary model for the country as a whole. St. Modwen as a strong approach to sustainability, from regenerating brownfield sites and remediating land for redevelopment, all the way through to employing the latest sustainable construction techniques and creating truly sustainable developments.

Taunton Deane Cllr John Williams, Chairman of the Project Taunton Steering Group, said: "I welcome this great milestone, in what has been a long and complex path. We are so fortunate in Taunton to have such an excellent strategic site as this and it is testament to the soundness of our proposals that even in difficult financial times we have a major developer providing this vote of confidence in Taunton's future. It is also testament to the excellent partnership working with other bodies, which has allowed us to turn aspiration into reality. This is a great day for Taunton Deane's community and Somerset as a whole, and I applaud this latest step forward"

Cllr Jefferson Horsley, Executive Councillor for Economic Development at Taunton Deane Borough Council, said: "What a feather in our cap! It is against the background of the darkening economic clouds that this first piece of the new jigsaw for the long term re-establishment and regeneration of Taunton will go ahead. Taunton will emerge from the economic downturn fitter, stronger and ready to compete - and bring prosperity for all its people."

Ian Thompson, area director for the South West RDA, which has invested more than £7 million into Project Taunton and is the major funder for the project, said: "Taunton is a priority place for our Agency because it has the potential to drive economic growth in the M5 corridor which sits in the very centre of the region. This announcement signals a decisive step forward for the Firepool development and Project Taunton. It sets us on the road to creating an important hub for businesses and thousands of new jobs."

Project Taunton is one of the largest town centre regeneration programmes in the South West. It will provide at least 7,000 jobs, 80,000m² of employment space and 50,000m² of new retail space. In addition it will also will create 2,000 new homes in the town centre and support at least 18,000 new homes across Taunton as a whole. Firepool is the first tranche of development for Project Taunton and it alone will provide 50,000 m² of office space, more than 400 homes supported by leisure and retail accommodation and is anticipated to create 3,500-4,000 jobs. The schemes will be developed on a phased basis over an anticipated 12-year period.

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