New vision for Eden Project Morecambe revealed in planning documents

Tweaked plans aim to ensure the project can actually be delivered

Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.

We report today on the latest plans for Eden Project Morecambe - probably the most ambitious project set to hit Lancashire in the next few years.

Permission was given in 2022 for the initial designs but the project had been hit by fears that rising costs would stop it from happening at all.

These plans are highly unlikely to be knocked back - they’re recommended for approval - so it is a first look at what Eden Project in Lancashire could actually look like.

Lancashire briefing

📱 A Lancashire county councillor who was suspended by Reform UK over messages he sent on WhatsApp has been readmitted to the party. As revealed by The Lancashire Lead, Tom Pickup lost his place in the ruling group on the authority in November when leaked posts he made in a chat on the messaging platform showed him appearing to agree with the sentiment that a “majority of Brits want mass deportations”. He also suggested Reform was keeping quiet in public about the more “hardline” approach it ultimately wanted to take on immigration. Reform UK confirmed the suspension had been lifted on Tuesday (10 February). He may still face action from Lancashire County Council under its code of conduct procedures, although the actions available to the authority either way are extremely limited.

🏏 Building work has officially finished on a new ground for Lancashire County Cricket Club, which has been created at the heart of the county. The facility, on a site in the Farington area of South Ribble, will become a second home for the county side, to complement its main base at Emirates Old Trafford. The Lancashire County Council-backed development was handed over by constructors at a special event on Monday. – enabling preparations to begin for the first matches which are expected to be played in July. The club says the project is unique in the way it has delivered a professional test match-standard oval alongside another which will be given over to community use.

🩺 The niece of a woman who lives in one of the Lancashire County Council-run care homes whose futures had been in doubt says confirmation that none of them will be closed marks a “victory” in the community campaigns to protect the facilities. Jennie Lawrenson, whose 77-year-old aunt, Kathleen – a dementia sufferer – lives in Grove House in Chorley, said it was a moment she was not always convinced would come. She was speaking 24 hours after the authority declared on Thursday that it had “no intention to close” any of the five premises it had placed under review back in October because of concerns over their “significantly poor condition”. However, she branded the review process itself “farcical“. A public consultation into the homes – and five day centres – closed in December, with the county council later pushing the deadline for a decision on the 10 facilities back from February until the spring, so that it could properly consider the 1,600 responses received.

📚 A former Burnley church and upholstery factory at the centre of a bitter dispute last year over its possible use to house migrants is set to be approved for student flats. In August the borough’s Labour MP Oliver Ryan and Reform UK’s Burnley Central West Lancashire County Councillor Liam Thomson became locked in a fierce social media row over the possible use of the premises at the corner of Claremont Street and Tabor Street for housing asylum seekers. It followed a small fire in the yard of the building originally home to the 19^th Century Claremont Street United Free Methodist Church and then occupied by Wrights Upholstery. Now Burnley Council’s development control committee has been recommended to approve its conversion into 24 studio flats for students despite dozens of objections.

New vision for Eden Project Morecambe revealed in planning documents

Projected lights above the music arena and shell-inspired buildings in Eden Project Morecambe's 2026 variation application

By Robbie Macdonald

New plans for Eden Project Morecambe including two shell-shaped domes, gardens inspired by the coast and community, a ’causeway’ and sea walls are set to go before councillors.

Eden Project Morecambe Ltd has sent an updated plan to Lancaster City Council, reflecting two years of discussions and changing factors in the £100million scheme, including a backdrop of rising costs and feedback from residents and councillors.

The changes will ensure the Morecambe Bay attraction on the former Bubbles pool and Super Dome site can be delivered within budget and timescales, and has a clearer visitor experience, according to reports. Also the new designs will have less impact on nearby landmarks including the Midland Hotel and Winter Gardens venue.

Permission was first given in 2022 for a four-dome design but Eden now wants permission to vary some aspects. Councillors will consider it all next Monday, February 16.

Shell-inspired domes in Eden Project Morecambe's 2026 variation application

The new plan has two domes, called the Realm of the Sun and Realm of the Moon, linked by a metronome entrance. The Realm of the Sun in particular will be a ‘unique’ building, the report says, responding to hot and cool seasons. Rhythm is a key theme for the overall Eden attraction including tidal, sun and moon cycles. Coastal plants, animals and human life will all be explored too.