A crucial bid for £50m government funding to bring the Eden Project North to Morecambe has gone in, it has been confirmed.
Lancaster City Council announced on Tuesday they had submitted the bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.
The government will award £50m to two successful culture and heritage-themed projects from around the UK during this, the second round of Levelling Up bids. A decision is expected in the autumn.
A government contribution of £50m would form half of the projected £100m cost of building Eden Project North, with the remainder of the funds coming from private and philanthropic sources.
Alongside Lancaster City Council, the other partners working on Eden Project North are Lancashire County Council, the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership and Lancaster University.
Rob Chatwin, Group CEO of the Eden Project, said: “We’re delighted to have got to the point of submitting this formal bid for government investment.
"This moment is the culmination of years of hard work by (Eden Project International chief executive officer) David Harland and the team developing the ideas for Eden Project North alongside our partners in the North West.
"Thank you to everyone who has come on this journey with us so far.
"Morecambe Bay is a uniquely beautiful location and we have designed Eden Project North to complement and enhance that.”
Councillor Caroline Jackson, leader of Lancaster City Council, said: “Eden Project North provides an outstanding opportunity to reinvent Morecambe for the 21st century.
"Simply put, it will transform the local economy and have a transformative effect not just on Morecambe but the whole region. I have to thank all the Eden partners for the tireless energy and commitment they have shown as we put together this comprehensive bid.”
County Councillor Phillippa Williamson, leader of Lancashire County Council, said: "Eden Project North is incredibly exciting and will deliver major economic, social, and cultural benefits for Morecambe, Lancashire, and the North West Region. The support of the community for the project and the commitment of everyone involved in bringing together the proposals has been fantastic."
Professor Dame Sue Black of Lancaster University said: “Eden Project North will be transformative. The economic impact of the Eden Project on Cornwall is widely recognised, but what are often overlooked are the wider environmental, cultural and social benefits the project has brought. These make the Eden Project North proposal 'shovel ready' for funding through the levelling up process.”
Debbie Francis OBE, Chair of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, which contributed £1.2m from its Growth Deal Programme to develop the project, said: “Eden Project North will create significant employment opportunities, both directly and indirectly within the wider supply chain, as well as enhancing our already world-class environmental research expertise.”
David Morris, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, said: “Eden Project North is the flagship opportunity facing our community for a generation and I have been delighted to give it my priority backing in the Levelling Up bid process. This bid marks five years of hard work by Eden, their partners and me, and it is a testament to the team how much support this project has in the community. Eden Project North will be an economic and educational game changer not just for the immediate Morecambe area but the North of England and I am delighted to give it my full support.”
Around 300 high-quality green jobs will be directly created by Eden Project North, plus more than 1,000 additional new jobs supported in the region.
Annual visitor numbers are projected to be 740,000 and additional revenue brought into local businesses due to Eden Project North is projected to exceed the £50m Government investment within months of the project opening.
Planning permission for Eden Project North was unanimously granted by Lancaster City Council in January (2022).
The planned eco-attraction on Morecambe's central promenade will combine indoor and outdoor attractions, themed around Morecambe Bay, and will include plants, art and interactive exhibits, a concert area for live music events, three cafe/restaurants and a visitor centre.
The Eden team has said they hope to be on site to begin work by the end of the year or early next year, should their bid be approved.
The Eden Project visitor attraction in Cornwall has transformed the region's economy since opening in 2000.
WHAT IS LEVELLING UP?
The government said its £4.8bn Levelling Up strategy aims to "ensure all parts of the country share equally in the nation’s success".
It will pay for "investing in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centre and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets".
The first round of Levelling Up bids took place last year. The Eden Project application has gone in as part of the second round of bids, with other submissions from around the UK.
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