The Minister’s visit began at The Platform, where she sat down for a discussion with representatives from the Eden Project team, project partners Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancaster University as well as business and community leaders.
The Minister also discussed how the newly announced reallocation of £494.4 million of local transport funding from HS2 into Lancashire could support Eden and Morecambe to handle future visitors.
Following this, the Minister was given a tour of the Eden Project Morecambe site to see first-hand how the location, looking out onto the picturesque Morecambe Bay, will be transformed into a landmark visitor attraction.
In January 2023, Eden Project Morecambe was awarded £50m in the second round of the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund. The bid, submitted by Lancaster City Council, was chosen as a recipient of the largest investment possible under the fund, earmarked for large-scale cultural regeneration projects.
Cabinet Office Minister Esther McVey said: “Eden Project Morecambe is exactly what the Levelling Up fund was designed for. Its a visionary project which will put Morecambe on the map and create hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of pounds for the local economy.
“With Lancashire also receiving almost half a billion pounds from our new local transport fund, announced today, we are also investing in the local links needed to make the Eden Project a success.”
Blair Parkin, the Eden Project's Chief Experience Development Officer, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Esther McVey MP to the future home of Eden Project Morecambe today and we’re grateful she has taken the time to visit us. It was a fantastic opportunity to highlight our exciting plans for the project, as well as the community work our team are already delivering in the region.
“It has been a busy time for the project recently. Our team has been working hard on finalising the remaining £50m needed to deliver the project and we hope to be in the position to provide positive updates on that soon.”
Eden Project Morecambe will be a landmark attraction for the North West which will continue the Eden Project’s mission of connecting people to the natural world, celebrating the unique environment of Morecambe Bay. The content of the project is being developed by the Eden Project’s Experience Development team, formerly known as Eden Project International.
Eden Project Morecambe will be situated on the central promenade of Morecambe, on the former site of the Bubbles leisure complex with the Grade II* listed Winter Gardens and Midland Hotel its near neighbours. The project has been designed in a way which is sensitive and complementary to these important buildings and sightlines across the Bay.
For more information on Eden Project Morecambe see www.edenproject.com/morecambe.
