30 LANCASTER AND MORECAMBE


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She says: “Eden have been speaking from the perspective of being in the business community. They’ve been so engaging; they keep us updated.


“We sponsored a business breakfast a few months ago and they came to speak. They talked about where they were up to, and they are talking about ‘when’ not ‘if’ it happens. They are saying ‘think big’.”


Dan Knowles, digital community developer at Lancaster based D&S Knowles Consulting and Lancashire Digital Hub, believes business are making the right noises. He says: “The key stakeholders are doing what they should be. They are right behind it.


“The chamber, the city council, the county council, the university, I think they’re doing all the right things to make sure that the noise is heard and if it comes it is a game-changer.”


However, there is a sense of frustration over the speed of progress. Charlie Haywood, founder of Lancaster based creative agency Hotfoot Design, believes Eden will continue to attract wider business interest in the district and act as a catalyst for companies to move into the area but says the government now needs to make its move.


Eden Project North


He says: “It just seems to be going on and on. If this was planned for a big city, it would have happened a lot quicker. We’ve been having this conversation for years.”


Nick Dagger is head of marketing at Lancaster business ICS Accounting. He would also like to see the government moving faster. And he believes the area needs a


Plan B if the unthinkable happens and Eden doesn’t go ahead.


He says: “It is a quick win for the government and people of all generations are keen for Eden to be a success.


“But there is a big question and that is: ‘If it doesn’t happen what is the plan for Morecambe and the district?’”


UNLOCKING CANAL’S VISION


Work is continuing to get Lancaster’s stalled Canal Quarter regeneration project moving forward, with a renewed focus on building new homes.


The development of the six-acre prime site, east of the city centre, has long been seen as a key element in Lancaster’s regeneration vision.


There have been numerous false starts in a frustrating story that can be traced back over two decades and the clearing of the site.


However, there is an argument that there is actually an upside to the fact nothing has happened over the years, given the way priorities are changing in the country’s town and city centres.


City councillor Tim Hamilton-Cox, cabinet member with responsibility for sustainable economic prosperity, explains that for most of that time the vision for the site was “retail led” and adds: “Fortunately that hasn’t happened.”


He says that a new masterplan is about to go out for consultation and adds: “It is housing- led because we think that the greatest need in the city centre is to increase housing. I look at the ONS data on private rent and we need to do something.


“I have authorised some reserve spend in order to finance a bid into the government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund, so that is happening now in order to bridge that viability gap that there is with a lot of the Canal Quarter.


“There is a standalone site that we identified last year for housing; a scheme has been drawn up. Again, there is an issue with viability, it needs a bit of funding to help it get off the ground.


“We are desperate to deliver something on Canal Quarter.”


Coun Hamilton-Cox said that the council was actively looking at joint ventures for the area and stressed that it was council policy not to build student accommodation on the land it owns.


Dan Knowles, digital community developer at Lancaster based D&S Knowles Consulting and Lancashire Digital Hub, says: “A project like this requires finance, it requires funding. You don’t just magic money, it’s got to come from somewhere, so there’s that competitive process to attract money.


We think the


greatest need in the city centre is to increase housing


“To be fair to the council they’ve been very open about it, there have been a lot of conversations with the public. There was supposed to be someone several years ago investing in it. That fell away just after the last recession.”


He says it is down to the site’s stakeholders to get together and create the vision for the area and adds: “The question is, what could that stretch of canal be, what can we make it?”


Coun Hamilton-Cox says the Canal Quarter is just one piece of the district’s overall


innovation and regeneration vision and points to the interest in redeveloping the Frontierland site in Morecambe.


The old amusement park land was bought by the city council last year and he says the interest is irrespective of the arrival of Eden North. Investment is also forthcoming on a full fibre network project.


The arrival of the National Cyber Force HQ in Lancashire also provides an opportunity for the district, the conference heard.


There are some economic risks to the area, including the decommissioning of the Heysham 2 nuclear plant. It will stop generating electricity in 2028.


Maggie Cawthorn, sustainability project coordinator at Lancaster and Morecambe College, believes that there is an opportunity for the area to develop its green energy sector as part of an “energy coast”.


She says: “Green energy is crucial. What’s happened in the world has shown us that we need to become more energy independent. We need continued investment to develop energy and digital because they are two of our key businesses.”


Paul Aisthorpe, managing director of Carnforth- based business training company Scale-Ability, says: “Regardless of Eden, there’s lots of things going on in the area. Government policy about how finances are distributed in Lancashire has enabled Lancaster and Morecambe to look at how it engages with the business community and businesses like myself who offer business support.”


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