The Firepool site is a major brownfield regeneration opportunity located in the heart of Taunton, Somerset’s County Town. The site is strategically positioned between Taunton Railway Station and the River Tone and within the town centre. This location offers excellent transport connectivity and the potential to act as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of Taunton. The Council will consider market feedback on uses; however it has established a set of strategic objectives for the Firepool project, and any future development must align with these: · Deliver a high-quality mixed-use scheme which supports the design principles in the Masterplan and Garden Town themes, particularly: - Placemaking to support Taunton Garden Town, including turning to face the river and connecting the town centre and station. Respond to place and context. - Retaining a focus on public open spaces, public realm and movement through the site and promoting sustainable forms of travel. - Promoting a zero-carbon vision for the site. · Optimise housing outcomes from the site. · Support Taunton’s economic resilience by delivering a mixed-use scheme that is complementary to the town centre and drives economic improvement. · Promote social value contribution from the activities and uses delivered on site. · Support wider regeneration in the local area by ensuring development on site commences at a rapid pace. · Deliver a commercially viable scheme that balances Council risk and reward. The Council is progressing a Development Agreement route for the development of the Firepool site with likely key conditions focused on programme, phasing and quality.

Procurement Act 2023

The Council is inviting organisations to participate in this preliminary market engagement exercise relating to the development of the Firepool site. A key part of the PME is for the Council to understand, ahead of launching the procurement in early 2027, the potential for the site and the appetite for a development partnership with the Council. The Council is seeking written responses from the market on key matters - see Questions 1 to 10 in Section 5 of the document titled “Firepool – Soft Market Testing Brief 2026”. The Council may, at its discretion, seek clarification of any aspect of any response received from organisations. Such clarifications may be undertaken in writing, through meetings held in person, or via virtual meeting platforms (including Microsoft Teams). The Council reserves the right not to seek clarification and shall be under no obligation to clarify any response or engage in discussions with any organisation. The Council will consider the input and responses received as part of this PME exercise to help shape how the opportunity is presented to the market. Any resulting procurement process will not reflect any one type of bidding entity or any one organisation's preferred or recommended approaches, and the Council will ensure equal treatment of all tenderers for any procurement exercise(s). Previous informal market engagement During November 2025, the Council issued a soft market testing brief to 20 developer organisations representing a range of development models and sectors, including organisations with experience of similar projects and those that had previously expressed interest in the Firepool site. Meetings were held with 11 organisations, and potential partners and stakeholders were also identified for discussion. Discussions explored the masterplan, the proposed mix of uses, viability, development phasing, delivery structures, procurement options and the factors that would influence a decision to participate in any future procurement process. Feedback highlighted the importance of flexibility in both uses and phasing, clarity regarding the Council's requirements, and a streamlined procurement process. Discussions indicated interest in a Development Agreement approach and explored a range of residential uses, complementary commercial, leisure and community uses, potential anchor occupiers, and funding and investment requirements. These views do not represent the Council’s agreed requirements or commitments. Further engagement The Council welcomes views from all interested organisations, including those that did not participate in the earlier engagement exercise. Interested organisations can access the PME documents through https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login under ref EPRO1000621/ERFX1003590 Participation is voluntary. The Council will take appropriate steps to ensure that participation does not amount to any unfair advantages on any organisation or otherwise distort competition.