Council leader explains reason for Frontierland decision delay

The boarded-up Frontierland site pictured earlier this year.

The leader of Lancaster City Council said she is as "confident as she can be" that there will be no further delays on long-awaited plans for the Frontierland site.

Councillor Caroline Jackson said the council cabinet will be briefed next week on a developer's proposals for the former Wild West theme park.

A tender process to find a partner to develop the long-derelict land on Marine Road began two years ago.

A public announcement about what might be built on the former Morecambe fairground site was hoped for by now, but there have been delays.

In her report ahead of a Lancaster City Council meeting at Morecambe Town Hall on Wednesday night, Councillor Jackson said a final proposal had been received from the council's preferred developer - who has not yet been named.

She said "work is ongoing on the due diligence required before any decision can be made".

Councillor Joanne Ainscough, of Labour, said at the meeting that residents are "absolutely desperate" to find out what will happen to the Frontierland site and asked if anything else was likely to cause more delays.

Councillor Jackson, of the Greens, said: "It will be discussed at the briefing. It wouldn't be there if anything was to come out of left field.

"Due diligence delayed us.

"I am as confident as I can be, but I can't rule out everything.

"(The briefing) is next Tuesday, then it goes to cabinet. As long as nobody calls it in. We want to publicise what we've decided."

Due diligence involves a detailed examination of a company before entering into a business arrangement.

In June, Councillor Martin Bottoms, cabinet member for Morecambe regeneration and the local economy, said the search for a development partner was "in the final stages".

"Our objective is to bring forward a leisure and hospitality‑led development that helps reinvigorate this part of the seafront and supports Morecambe’s wider regeneration," said Councillor Bottoms at the time.

"Once the relevant decisions have been taken through the council’s formal processes, we’ll be able to share more details publicly, including the preferred development partner and their proposals for the site.

"Further updates will be provided in due course.”

The procurement process to find a development partner began in 2024.

The council invited bids from commercial leisure, hospitality and mixed-use developers "to promote and develop a comprehensive leisure and hospitality-led development".

The Frontierland site has been mainly derelict since the fairground closed more than 25 years ago

Prior to that, the council - who bought the land in 2021 - invited expressions of interest from would-be developers, drew up a list of objectives for the site, did a public consultation, and held a tour of the land for prospective partners.

In 2023, the council published a list of 'draft objectives' for the land.

The number one objective was a leisure-led redevelopment, which may also include hotels and/or apartments, public spaces for events and festivals, and only a "modest amount" of shops, with minimal housing only as a last resort if needed to financially support the other objectives.

Ever since the fairground closed in 2000, there have been calls for the 7.5 acre site overlooking Morecambe Bay to be developed, including two failed attempts to open a shopping park on the land.

The Ranch House Bar on the site, which closed in January 2016, was destroyed in a fire that summer.

Read more: Frontierland developer search "in its final stages" - Beyond Radio

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