THE latest proposals to develop Firepool yet again ignore the opportunity to replace the sad, out-dated Brewhouse with a modern performance venue not just for Taunton residents, but for people living within a 30-mile radius.

We desperately need a fit-for-purpose, flexible space for live music and the arts, one that’s capable of staging a wider variety of events than has been possible in Taunton for the last 40 years.

God help us all if instead we get another fixed-seat theatre on the Brewhouse site at Coal Orchard fit only for ‘small-town’ theatrical productions.

Bridgwater has built a state-of-the-art auditorium for just £8m. The seats can easily be removed to create an impressive open-plan space capable of hosting all kinds of gigs, arts and social events for up to 600 people.

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So let’s invest in a performance space at Firepool that would offer value for money by generating greater revenues from a wider range of uses. 
Most important of all, let’s invest in a space that could stage live music, particularly pop, rock, dance and orchestral, which a small, fixed-seat theatre like the Brewhouse cannot.

Live music is by far the most popular, mass market entertainment for all ages. Yet, in Taunton, the county town of Somerset, there is nowhere to stage large, popular gigs.

YVONNE FULLER
Taunton