Have your say over new ‘innovation centre’ on Firepool | Somerset County Gazette

TAUNTON residents are being asked to have their say on proposals for a new innovation centre on part of the long-vacant Firepool site.

Somerset West and Taunton Council unveiled its new master-plan for the site in June, which would see the site being gradually redeveloped into homes, businesses and possibly a multi-purpose venue.

This master-plan included the possibility of a new innovation centre at the northern end of the site, nearest the existing houses on Canal Road.

The council is now working with Somerset County Council to consult with residents and businesses over how much demand there would be for such a facility.

A spokesman for the two councils said: “The centre is proposed to target existing and new small- and medium-sized enterprises in the digital sector, including businesses for which data (including marine geospatial data) and/ or artificial intelligence is a growth catalyst.

“The project is intended to form the first phase of wider innovation facility proposals for the site.

“The first phase is proposed to provide modern workspace, meeting rooms and collaboration space as well as support services for businesses to facilitate clustering of activity, innovation and collaboration.”

The survey – which was tweeted out by the district council on Thursday (September 19) – includes questions for businesses about their number of employees, annual turnover and their markets within Somerset and the wider south west.

It also asks how well existing facilities provide for businesses’ needs, what obstacles they face, and what any new innovation centre should contain.

The district council agreed in June to allocate £275,000 for the business cases for the various commercial elements of the Firepool site.

James Barrah, the council’s head of commercial investment, indicated at the time that different parts of the site could “cross-subsidise” each other for instance, money earned from the delivery of new houses could go towards putting in infrastructure for the new venue or retail offerings.

Ongoing work on a new access road – which will connect the site to Trenchard Way – is expected to be completed by the end of October.

To complete the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Somersetinnovationcentresurvey2019.