Morecambe MP "puzzled" at rival's claims over "scaled-back" Eden Project

The Morecambe MP has hit back after her predecessor accused the government of "distancing itself" from the planned Eden Project in the town.

Lizzi Collinge spoke after former Morecambe & Lunesdale MP David Morris returned to Westminster for a meeting with the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sir James Cleverly.

Mr Morris met this week with his fellow Conservative, the former Home and Foreign Secretary, saying he was worried plans to reorganise local government would affect the new Eden Project visitor attraction on Morecambe Promenade.

He said that Lancaster City Council has effectively become the "bank manager and guarantor for a project the central government is distancing itself from" during a time when district councils are facing potential abolition under Labour's plans for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).

But Ms Collinge refuted this claim and said he was "sowing doubt and confusion in local people’s minds, seemingly for party political reasons".

She also accused him of doing an "about-turn" on Eden now he's "out of office".

Local Government Reorganisation is the government's plan to change how local councils are organised across England.

It means that the current system of county, district, borough, and unitary councils could be replaced by new unitary authorities. These new councils would run all local services in their area, and could see Lancaster City Council scrapped.

Mr Morris also said he'd spoken to Mr Cleverly about his concerns over the scheme being "scaled-back" from "the original four-dome Eden Project Morecambe concept to a two-dome model" and that projected visitor numbers have fallen to 585,000 visitors annually.

He said he and the Shadow Cabinet were "demanding clarity on who will ultimately see the project through to completion".

“Labour, despite promising to honour my legacy, has delayed, reviewed and abolished the very Levelling Up vehicle designed to deliver Eden on budget and on time," he said.

"We now have the double whammy of local government amalgamation and all the churn and uncertainty that will produce. 

"We have seen since Labour took power, excuses and continued consultations for a project that has now effectively been cut in half, with no accompanying infrastructure upgrades.

"This is not the game-changer I envisaged and worked years to achieve.” 

He also said there were "further investment risks as part of the (£50m) match funding for the project (as) one of the major investors has been said is going to be the Lancashire County Council pension fund".

"If local government reform is going to create new authorities and abolish existing ones, what will this mean for this key part of the required match funding?" he said.

David Morris (right) with Sir James Cleverly. Photo: David Morris

Mr Cleverly said: "Labour’s extra taxes and red tape have cut economic growth and tax receipts, meaning there is less money to help kickstart innovative schemes like the Eden Project Morecambe."

Mr Morris also said a parliamentary question by David Simmonds, Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, on March 12, "confirmed that the onus for delivery now rests predominantly with Lancaster City Council".

Mr Simmonds asked if Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, had been in talks with Lancaster City Council and any other sponsors of the Eden Project on changes to the number of domes and "any other potential development options since July 2024".

Miatta Fahnbulleh, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government, replied: "I have had no engagement. My officials have as part of regular monitoring.

"Since July 2024 the Eden Project Morecambe team has continued design work. An update on potential options for the development, including their size and scale, was presented to (the government) in March 2025.

"These options were subject to ongoing community conversations.

"In September 2025, the department launched the Local Regeneration Fund which provided certainty of funding and flexibility to Local Authorities, including Lancaster City Council as sponsors of the Eden Project Morecambe.

"The Eden Project Morecambe team submitted a planning application for their preferred option on the 15th of October 2025.

"The planning application proposal has been approved, subject to S106 approval and six week judicial review period."

Mr Morris was MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale from 2010 until Ms Collinge defeated him in the general election in 2024.

During his time as MP, the-then Conservative government pledged £50m towards the £100m cost of Eden Project Morecambe, in January 2023.

Mr Morris pictured with then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, then-minister Michael Gove and Eden Project officials in the Midland Hotel in Morecambe on the day £50m government funding for the scheme was announced in January 2023

This week, in response to Mr Morris, Ms Collinge (below) said: 

"I’m really puzzled by Mr Morris’ Facebook post, which seems to conflate and misunderstand a number of different issues. I’ll try to address them in turn.

“Lancaster City Council is the accountable body for Eden Project – this means it disburses the government funding, which was only finally confirmed at the first Labour Government budget in October 2024.

"Until that point, the money had been promised by the last government but not allocated to a specific budget, nor was there a formal memorandum of understanding between the government and the city council until Labour came to power.

"The city council is not a guarantor for the project, that is simply incorrect.

“After Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) the successor body to the city council will become the accountable body and the project, which is being delivered by the Eden Project, will simply continue.

"The UK Government knows that the best way to deliver local projects is to have local leadership and this will carry on.

"It’s really heartening though to regularly have MPs and ministers ask about the progress of the project and to see how widely it is known about.

“From what I have seen, the delays to Eden Project Morecambe were caused by the last government’s Treasury not coughing up the money and by a last-minute demand for a further business case in early 2024.

"I have regular updates and whilst, like most people, I am really keen to see the diggers go in, I understand that designing and building a big project takes time and there is a lot of work to do from behind a desk before the building starts.

“On the Lancashire County Pension Fund, this will of course continue in a new form and reorganisation won’t affect the investment. Local government pension schemes do not simply get wound up when there is reorganisation. The fund already covers other public sector bodies, not just the county council.

“Ultimately, it’s really disappointing to see a former Member of Parliament talk down Morecambe and a significant local project, sowing doubt and confusion in local people’s minds, seemingly for party political reasons.

"In my first speech in Parliament, I paid tribute to Mr Morris for the work he had done on Eden so it’s shame that now he is out of office he seems to have done an about-turn and wants to see it fail.”

Beyond Radio has approached Lancaster City Council for comment.

In August 2024, a business case for the Eden Project Morecambe was put to the new Labour government.

Then in October 2024, the first budget papers by new Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said funding for "core Levelling Up fund projects" such as Eden would go ahead as planned.

In March 2025, Mr Morris said the Eden Project Morecambe had "completely stalled after the general election" and "there was really no reason for any delay".

Ms Collinge responded at the time to say:

"There have been no delays or change in the timeline of Eden Project Morecambe due to the change in government.

"It’s disappointing to see people play party politics with a project that has had cross party support."

The scheduled date for opening the Eden Project has been put back numerous times, under both Conservative and Labour governments.

In January 2022, when planning permission was granted for the scheme, David Harland, then chief executive of Eden Project International, said they hoped to put a spade in the ground by the end of that year, and open in late 2024.

Then in 2023, the Eden team was aiming for a 2026 opening and to begin construction in 2024.

In April 2024, prior to the general election, Si Bellamy from the Eden Project said 2027 was now the targeted opening date and he hoped for "site activation" by winter 2024.

Mr Bellamy then announced in August 2024, the month after the general election, that the aimed-for opening date was now "edging into 2027/28".

Then in October 2024, he said 2028 was a realistic date for opening.

A design image of the entrance to Eden Project Morecambe

Changes to the design were announced in June 2025, from an original concept of two larger domes and a smaller one on the site, which has been changed to one large dome and a flatter mussel-shaped building next to it

Projections on visitor numbers were then also reduced to 580,000 ticketed visitors per year from previous expectations of 760,000 per year average.

Andy Jasper, CEO of the Eden Project, said at the time that initial artist impressions were the "concept" while the new images show "exactly what we're going to be building".

The actual design of Eden Project Morecambe will include a 35 metre high, 3800 square metre biome called 'The Realm of the Sun', to include a "show-stopping 20-metre theatrical sculpture" called 'The Elder Tree'.

A flatter building, shaped like a mussel and blue-coloured, will house 'The Realm of the Moon' - featuring a "hyper-real rock pool where the sped-up cycles of tides, days and seasons drive an ever-changing immersive world filled with storytelling, spectacle and discovery".

In February 2026, Lancaster City Council gave permission for updates to the look and scale of the planned development.

An altered planning application was necessary to reflect changes to the scheme announced since 2022, when permission was first granted by the council.

Eden asked the council to approve amendments to the design and layout of the already-agreed development - known as a planning variation.

Their application said: "Since the original consent was granted at the site there has been a significant progression in the design of Eden Project Morecambe. A number of changes are proposed to the scheme following a strategic recalibration of the project to ensure it remains ambitious, deliverable, aligned with today’s economic landscape, whilst delivering a landmark, once in a generation attraction for Morecambe."

An Eden spokesperson said: "There is a decrease in building height and footprint, but the developed design is more efficient and uses its height to maximise the visitor experience."

In November 2025, Councillor Caroline Jackson, leader of Lancaster City Council, said: "It has to remain a project the government considers to be a project that will bring to Morecambe opportunities, extra jobs and regeneration of the economy.

"It also has to be built within its financial envelope which is £100m, £50m from government and £50m match (funds).

"I’m sure Eden would like to raise more than that.

"There’s a project there that government still considers consists of opportunities to make a real difference in Morecambe which is something we all want to do.

"You’re asking me why under the financial circumstances that we’ve all endured, it has had to be rethought.

"Everyone has had to rethink under these circumstances of less money.

"The actual plans are still exciting, innovatory and likely to cause that wow factor that Eden has managed to create in Cornwall."

Eden has said the £50m match funding is coming from private and philanthropic sources.

Speaking in September 2025, John Pye, project director, said there was still a "£2-3m gap" to find which the team hoped to "have in place by spring 2026".

A sign on the central Promenade in Morecambe saying the scheme is coming soon.

Eden Project Morecambe will be situated on the central promenade of Morecambe, on the former site of the Bubbles leisure complex.

The Eden Project is an educational charity, with a famous attraction themed on the natural world based in Cornwall.

Eden Project Morecambe is being delivered in partnership with Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancaster University.

Work is due to start on building the new attraction towards the end of this year, with a scheduled opening date of winter 2028.

The Eden Project Morecambe has been described as "the greatest show of nature’s rhythms, where time is sped up, slowed down or paused - revealing the wonder, rhythms and threats to the health and well-being of people, Morecambe Bay, and planet".

As well as exhibitions themed on the natural world and Morecambe Bay, housed inside the 'Realm of the Sun' and 'Realm of the Moon', the attraction will include public gardens, a 6000-capacity concert venue, a cafe and a restaurant.

The Bring Me Sunshine Garden will become the first feature at Eden Project Morecambe, forming part of a 1.6-acre public community garden on the central Promenade land.

It will stretch from next to the Midland hotel to the popular wishing well on the Prom, which will remain and become part of the gardens, as will the Morecambe War Memorial.

A smaller version will take centre stage at the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Chelsea Flower Show in May.

Work to install the garden will follow in summer 2026, with plans to officially open to the public as it bursts into spring colour in 2027, ahead of Eden Project Morecambe’s full opening the following year.

Speaking at a Bay Tourism Association meeting at the Midland Hotel in Morecambe on March 17, Mr Pye (below), said that they were aiming to start work on the garden in "June or July, possibly into August".

He also said a main contractor tasked with building the Eden Project Morecambe is expected to be in place by the end of this month.

Mr Pye also said he and other Eden team members and partners had seen a presentation showing how Eden Project Morecambe will look inside.

He said: "After three hours we were all absolutely blown away by how Eden Morecambe will be a twist on something different, that hasn't really been delivered anywhere else in the country."

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