‘An exciting month coming up’: Morecambe MP teases Eden future after meeting with attraction bosses

Tuesday, 10 January 2023 11:58

The Morecambe MP has raised hopes that good news may be on its way regarding the future of the Eden Project North.

David Morris was in Cornwall last night, in his role as UK National Space Champion, for the, ultimately unsuccessful, launch of the UK Virgin Orbit rocket.

The mission saw a repurposed 747 jumbo jet release the LauncherOne rocket over the Atlantic. But, the first UK rocket taking nine satellites into space suffered an ‘anomaly’, spelling an end to the mission.

Before the launch Mr Morris met with the Eden team, and local MP, Steve Double, before taking to social media to say: ‘’(This is) a historic night for the UK Space Industry, our first orbital satellite launch!’

“(It was) a good catch up with the Eden team and Eden Project Cornwall MP Steve Double here at the launch, an exciting night for Cornwall and an exciting month coming up for Morecambe!”

There is a bid on the table for £50m from round two of the government’s Levelling Up fund, which would allow work on the project on Morecambe seafront to begin, if the money is allocated.

An announcement on the decision has already been delayed twice, including last year, when it was understood there would be news on the bid by the end of the year.

It is now expected the announcement will be made at the end of this month.

The government said at the end of December that it was delaying announcements to ‘allocate additional funds.’

Speaking after the delay was announced last year, an Eden Project spokesperson said: "We are confident that the bid makes a strong case for investment and that Eden Project North will provide an economic, environmental and cultural boost to the North West region, providing excellent value for money for the taxpayer.

"We are hugely grateful to all our friends and supporters who have backed this project."