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HOTSPOT LANCASTER AND MORECAMBE
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
By Ged Henderson
A GLIMPSE OF EDEN
Representatives from the worlds of business, education and local government came together at Morecambe FC’s Globe Arena for Lancashire Business View’s Lancaster and Morecambe ‘Hotspot’ conference. Here they revealed the local issues at the forefront of their agendas and the challenges and opportunities facing the district
There hasn’t been a spade in the ground and the question of funding still remains unresolved but the ‘game-changing’ Eden Project North is already having a positive impact economically and socially.
The spotlight that the proposed £100m development has focused on Morecambe and the wider north Lancashire area has sparked increased interest in investment in an area badly in need of regeneration.
There are other visible benefits. Eden has led to the creation of a revolutionary curriculum redefining the role of education and has brought together the business community to explore the further opportunities it presents.
While all this is happening, what happens next for the actual project has turned into something of a waiting game. All eyes are now on the government and its levelling up agenda, which is crucial to Eden moving forward.
Lancaster City Council is looking to secure £50m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund which would cover half of the projected building cost.
It hopes Eden can become one of the two £50m awards being given out in the second round of the fund for projects with a culture and heritage investment theme.
Its bid, which we report on elsewhere in this issue, builds upon the business case submitted
to the government in September 2020 and sets out the economic, environmental, social, educational and cultural benefits that Eden Project North will bring to the entire region.
At the centre of it all is the bold vision to re- imagine Morecambe as a 21st century seaside resort, with pavilions inspiring wonder and a connection with the natural world.
Around 300 high-quality green jobs are forecast to be directly created, plus more than 1,000 additional new jobs supported in the region.
Our local environment, is educational and we need to look after it
Annual visitor numbers are projected to be 740,000 and additional revenue brought into local businesses by Eden North is set to exceed the £50m government investment within months of the project opening.
Alongside the city council, the other partners working with the Eden Project to turn this vision into economic reality are Lancashire County Council, the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership and Lancaster University.
The other £50m of development costs would be sourced from private and philanthropic sources. Planning permission for the attraction was given in February.
City council leader Caroline Jackson has stressed the project is crucial for the area, saying: “It will transform the local economy and have a transformative effect, not just on Morecambe, but the whole region.”
John O’Neill, commercial manager at Lancaster and District Chamber of Commerce and the Morecambe Business Improvement District, is confident that government support will be forthcoming. He says: “It’s such a central plank to the levelling up agenda in this area. It is such a game changer.
“If you really are committed as a government to actually supporting levelling up the north, then this really ticks all the boxes. It’s £50m. In the big scheme of things, it’s not a lot of money for a big punching project.”
He points to the impact Eden is already having through the creation of the ‘Morecambe Bay Curriculum’ which he describes as a “great legacy” of the project, even before a single brick has been laid.
The curriculum taps into the learning potential of the landscape and life around Morecambe Bay and is underpinned by the ‘Eden Project North Education Strategy’.
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