Eden Project North secures council cash

The Eden Project North is set to start work on a planning application for its Morecambe Bay vision after four local partners agreed to provide a £1m funding pot.

Lancaster City Council is one of four groups along with the Local Enterprise Partnership, Lancaster University, and Lancashire County Council which are each set to provide £250,000 towards developing plans for the scheme, which will be built on the former Dome entertainment centre and Bubbles swimming pool in Morecambe.

The £1m pot will build on the £100,000 already secured from the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, with a feasibility study having completed in September.

This next wave of funding will allow the Eden Project to build a business case for the scheme and develop the designs further, which were first showcased last month.

The money will also help the project’s design team draw up an outline planning application for the project, along with a communications strategy and developing the scheme’s visitor experience brief and content.

The proposal will create an £88m investment in the Morecambe Bay area along with the creation of 500 jobs and 8,000 visitors a day.

Grimshaw is attached as architect, having also designed the Rainforest and Mediterranean Biomes at the Eden Project’s site in Cornwall.

Lancashire City Council is set to endorse its £250,000 contribution to the pot at a meeting tonight, and Lancashire LEP will discuss its portion of the funding at a meeting in February. All four partners agreed the need to back the project at a meeting last month.

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Brilliant.

By Thumbs Up

And while they are at it: Hire a Dutch dredger to suck-up some sand from Morecambe Bay and pump it onshore to make a sandy beach, just like the Dutch do. That will attract more daytrippers and holiday-makers and property prices will moon-rocket. Proposed by: JY Beach Consulting Plc. I donate my 1 million pound consulting fee to a charity of your choice.

By James Yates

Good news but why do equivalents in the north always have to have ‘North’ in the title? Is there not something more original that could be used for the naming. We don’t always need reminding that the geographical reference is north [of London]. It’s so boring. Why not just Eden Project Morecamb Bay?

By Nicki

James….there’s already a beach at Morecambe. Why not pop along to the place and have a look and a nice cocktail at the Midland Hotel while you’re at it.

By Sceptic

Fantastic news for Morecambe! I went there about 10 years ago and things weren’t too great. But really pleased to see turnaround with new hotels and the winter garden (if that’s the correct name) Anyway delighted!

By Mary Smiley

Morecambe is at last on the up. Things are happening and you can feel the confidence growing. Dare to believe!

By Glyn Lewis

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