Major plans to build a new £125 million Eden Project North in the seaside town of Morecambe have taken a step closer after council officials recommended the project for approval.
The development would see four mussel-shaped domes and an outdoor amphitheatre built around central gardens on the Lancashire resort’s Seafront Hedland.
It is hoped the attraction – developed by the company behind the Eden Project in Cornwall – would help regenerate one of the UK’s most deprived coastal areas by bringing in 760,000 visitors every year. Estimates suggest it would generate some £47.3 million for the local economy.
Inside, the domes will feature immersive experiences, performance spaces and observatories, all inspired by the UK’s marine life.
Now, four years after the scheme was first publicly mooted, the official plans have been given the thumbs up by Lancaster City Council officials with a final decision set to be made by councillors themselves on 31 January.
If they give the green light, a last dash for funding will be made before, it is hoped, spades would hit the ground later this year.
A spokesperson for Eden Project International said: “We are encouraged that the Eden Project North planning application has been recommended for approval and we await with anticipation the meeting on January 31 where a decision will be made.”
If approved, it would be the result of five years of hard work after bosses at EPI were first approached by Lancaster University in 2017 about the idea of opening its second venue in Morecambe.
They said the resort – a once thriving seaside destination fallen on hard times – was in need of the same regeneration which the Eden Project Cornwall had brought to that region since opening in a disused clay pit in 2001.
They pointed out that the town’s bay – famed for the speed with which the tide comes in – was an area of special scientific interest which would suit enviro-tourism.
Speaking to The Independent shortly after the idea was made public in 2018, David Harland, EPI’s chief executive, said the facility would connect Morecambe’s coast with the stories of marine life around the world. “We don’t want this to be passive or a standard museum,” he said. “We are in the business of giving people experiences they would not get elsewhere.”
And he added: “The history of Morecambe is that this was a place where, traditionally, people went to escape, take the air and seek a version of the exotic. That’s all we’ll be doing now – trying to bring back the exotic.”
