Eden Project Morecambe funding update brings construction work closer
The Lancashire Lead - May 22, 2024
Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Lancashire Lead. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated so thanks to those who’ve taken the time to get in touch over recent editions. If you’d like to do so, you can use this contact form or email jamie@thelead.uk.
The newsletter is designed to be both a celebration of the excellent journalism done across the county, connecting you with what the algorithms no longer show you, and a place where you can come for original reporting.
It’s part of The Lead’s ever-growing content which this week will have dedicated newsletters published for Blackpool, Hyndburn, Bolton, Stoke-on-Trent, Teesside, Altrincham & Sale, and Warrington. It was very promising to see new Blackpool South MP Chris Webb back our Save Blackpool Rock campaign this week.
For this edition, I’ve been speaking with Morecambe and Lunesdale MP David Morris to discuss a funding update on the Eden Project Morecambe development. There’s also the usual news digest to come but first, you can again enjoy the contributions of The Lead’s Westminster editor Zoë Grünewald, who has been keeping an eye on what our MPs have been up to this week.
First up is her take on the bigger picture of Ipsa finding Blackpool North and Cleveleys MP Paul Maynard guilty of breaching expenses rules.
What is more significant is what it tells us about Maynard’s priorities. Recent polls have suggested that even those with previously bulletproof majorities of 20,000 votes or over may not be safe. Maynard - with a majority of just over 8,500 - is likely to feel uneasy, having witnessed Labour's Chris Webb win the neighbouring constituency of Blackpool South from the Tories with a huge 26 per cent swing.
Zoë Grünewald
Elsewhere, Blackburn MP Kate Hollern set out a detailed list of all the action she has taken in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war in a letter to one of her constituents. She has also used her Lancashire Telegraph column to discuss the plight of homeowners who have been failed twice - first through faulty cavity wall insulation and then by the collapse of the no win, no fee legal firm representing them.
Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham has written an op-ed in support of the government’s welfare reforms and has praised staff at the Burnley Jobcentre.
Lots of people will be wondering when significant work will be seen on the Eden Project Morecambe (EPM) development. Behind the scenes, lots of work has been ongoing in recent months and that’s led to at least one breakthrough - £5m of funding being released by the Government.
David Morris, the town’s MP, said it came after long discussions with Michael Gove and, even though the full £50m of private funding is not yet finalised, this will allow EPM to begin hiring contractors to work on site. The site is due to host various events over the summer but I understand crews could begin work as soon as September.
David said: “In recent months I have been in high level meetings with the Secretary of State Michael Gove, and Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young, pressing for the Dept of Levelling up to make sure we unlock the Eden Project Morecambe and to start progress.
“I am delighted to hear that the department has agreed additional flexibilities which will allow us to speed up work on this vital project. This will allow Eden to get going as fast as possible through the development phase.”
🧑⚖️ A man has been jailed for the one-punch killing of Anthony Harley in Blackpool after a row over a parking space (BBC).
🗳️ Councillors in Pendle have compared ‘suspicious’ postal voting to Mugabe-era Zimbabwe. Those remarks are among many extraordinary moments in Robbie MacDonald’s report of a fiery council meeting (Lancashire Telegraph).
🥁 Tributes have been paid to a “kind and caring” drummer and carer who died in a crash in Rossendale (BBC).
🍸 The owner of a Preston cocktail bar has spoken of fears for the future of the city’s nightlife (Blog Preston).
“It’s really sad to see the city I loved and invested in go so quiet with a real lack of atmosphere and energy. I do hope for the city’s sake the summer sun brings some people back into spending money in our venues.”
Serena Baxter, Lonely People owner
🪙 A retro arcade machine from Blackpool Pleasure Beach is part of a collection which could net its father and son owners £100k at auction (LancsLive).
🏥 NHS bodies in Lancashire and South Cumbria recorded a £150m shortfall in the last financial year (BBC).
Owners of a family run flooring business fear a new bus-only zone in Preston will leave customers struggling to reach the shop (Blog Preston).
⚽ Directors at Morecambe FC, which has repeatedly failed to pay players on time, have warned of “catastrophic” consequences if the owner does not sell up (Guardian).
🚓 Four months after a 33-year-old Lenny Scott was shot dead in Skelmersdale, no-one has yet been charged with his murder (LancsLive).
⚖️ Former Blackpool FC owner Owner Oyston has lost a High Court appeal in his legal battle over council tax payments owed to the local authority (Blackpool Gazette).
🚑 A former footballer who saved the life of a fellow pro during training is urging others to learn CPR (Lancashire Telegraph).
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