The Eden Project Morcambe in Lancashire has been awarded £50 million in the second round of the UK Government's Levelling Up Fund.

The bid was submitted by Lancaster City Council, one of the Eden Project's key partners on the Morecambe attraction, and was chosen as a recipient of the largest investment possible under the fund, earmarked for large-scale cultural regeneration projects.

As the lead for the partnership bid, Lancaster City Council will be the recipient of the funding and will work with partners to ensure it is allocated in accordance with Government requirements.

Eden Project Morecambe is the new official name for the project, which has previously been known as Eden Project North.

Preparatory ground work will now be undertaken on the site on the Morecambe seafront, a vital prelude to construction beginning. The Eden Project team will ensure the community is kept informed about the construction schedule through its social media channels, the local media and a revamped series of community engagement events.

-- Advertisement --

An expanded project delivery team will be created in preparation for the construction phase with details of the first round of recruitment to be announced soon. Around 300 high-quality green jobs will be directly created by Eden Project Morecambe, with more than 1,000 additional new jobs supported in the region.

The £50m investment is half of the £100m needed to build the coastal-themed project. The funding allows the project to move into its next phase and begin the process of finalising the remaining £50m from private and philanthropic sources identified as part of the bidding process.

Annual visitor numbers are projected to be 740,000 and additional revenue brought into local businesses due to Eden Project Morecambe is set to exceed the £50m Government investment within months of the project opening. Now that the Levelling Up Fund process has concluded, preparation for construction is due to start this year and the aim is for Eden Project Morecambe to be open to visitors by 2026.

Eden Project Morecambe is being delivered by the team behind the first Eden Project in Cornwall, alongside local partners Lancaster University, Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership. It is one of the key initiatives in an expansion plan that will see Eden Projects built elsewhere in the UK and around the world.