A next-generation guest experience in the pipeline for the North West has been given a significant financial boost.
The Eden Project has received £1.2 million from Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which is set to support the planning application for their second attraction, Eden Project North.
The fund will help the project move forward with the design work and developing the contents of the project, along with carrying out extensive study of the environmental impacts and sustainability for the local area.
The Eden Project aims to complete the vigorous protocols in the next coming months and hopes to submit a planning application to the Government in 2021 for approval.
Scheduled to open in 2024, Eden Project North will be a breakthrough attraction to the North West. Housed in the seaside town of Morecambe, the attraction will feature a multitude of indoor and outdoor experiences which connect visitors to the precious environment of the local area, while also having positive impacts on wellbeing.
Eden Project North is set to have the same premise as their Cornwall site, which opened 20 years ago. Planners behind the development expect the new striking design of the site to reimagine Morecambe’s coastline into the 21st century.
Video snapshot of the original Eden Project, housed in St Austell Cornwall
When finally completed, Eden Project North is predicted to cost £125 million to design and deliver.
LEP is a regional partner for Eden Project North. Commenting on their substantial donation, David Harland, Chief Executive of Eden Project International said: “We are hugely grateful to the LEP for their longstanding support of our Eden Project North vision.
“This generous funding is the latest manifestation of our close and enduring working relationship and we look forward to progressing the planning application, bringing Eden Project North ever closer to reality.”
Steve Fogg, Chair of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership added: “Eden is an international brand which will not only attract visitors to the area, but will create significant job opportunities directly and indirectly in our local supply chains.
“The project will inject a much-needed boost in the confidence of some of our key sectors which have been adversely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and we are pleased we are able to invest some of our growth deal funding to help ensure this project happens in Lancashire.”
In other North West news, ITV is set to open the first I’m a Celebrity themed adventure park in 2021.
