A board considering regeneration ideas for Morecambe's former Frontierland theme park site is expected to make recommendations to top councillors very soon.
The Frontierland Project Board is to give its views to Lancaster City Council's cabinet, after considering ideas from developers and public feedback about the empty site overlooking Morecambe Bay.
The old Frontierland park, once home to attractions including the Polo Tower, Runaway Train and Chair-o-Planes closed in 1999. Years later, the empty site was bought by Lancaster City Council in 2021. Since then, the council has been keen to explore ideas for a new mixed development, perhaps with leisure, hotel or holiday accommodation in a joint venture with a developer.
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At the latest full city council meeting, council leader Coun Caroline Jackson gave a written update on some key buildings and projects across the district, including a brief reference to the Frontierland site. She stated the Frontierland Project Board was due to come back to the council's cabinet very soon with a recommendation for next steps.
She added that the cabinet and council chiefs are looking at key priorities and how processes might be speeded-up before an expected shake-up of local government across Lancashire in 2028. Economic and tourism priorities are among them.
Recently, Coun Jackson said joint meetings had included developing a cultural strategy with local organisations and a discussion about the factors for success in the Morecambe Winter Gardens regeneration project with Professor Vanessa Toulmin.
Professor Toulmin is chairperson of the Winter Gardens Preservation Trust and founded the National Fairground and Circus Archive. She has a Morecambe show family background and is a university expert on fairground history and popular culture, She is also part of the Morecambe Business Improvement District (BID) project.
The Frontierland Project Board was formed by the council in 2023 to help develop plans. It expanded in 2024 to include community representatives with invitations to Morecambe Winter Gardens, Morecambe Town Council, the district's chamber of commerce and council of voluntary services.
Frontierland ideas submitted
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Last autumn, over 30 private developers interested in the Frontierland site were asked to submit proposals and tenders to the council. Objectives were drawn-up and public views sought in a survey and meetings. Over 400 people took part.
Over 90 per cent of participants agreed with one objective for a leisure-led redevelopment at Frontierland that 'matches the architectural quality and aspirations of the best developments along Morecambe's seafront'.
Similarly, over 90 per cent agreed that a redevelopment should provide 'significant and wide-ranging economic benefits to Morecambe and the wider district'.
Almost 90 per cent agreed with one objective that 'quality leisure uses' would enhance Morecambe's appeal, and 80 per cent agreed with creating high-quality, flexible public spaces for events. Breathing new life into Marine Road West to improve visitor-numbers and connections around Morecambe was agreed by 90 per cent.
Report highlights leisure potential
Regarding leisure, the survey stated: "Morecambe's leisure offer has declined over the years, limiting its attraction to residents, visitors and businesses. This needs to change to make the town a more attractive place to live, visit and do business. Any new leisure uses will need to be financially self-sufficient and sustainable. Leisure uses could include hotels, apartment-hotel, recreation facilities, swimming pools, music halls etc."
In the survey, over 80 per cent of people agreed that any new retail space at the Frontierland site should only be modest, to keep any impact on existing Morecambe businesses to a minimum. The survey stated: "Morecambe's traditional town centre on Euston Road, Victoria Street, Queen Street and Pedder Street does not need more shops or a retail centre on Frontierland that will provide direct competition. There may be a few small retail units across the development. but these would be to serve or complement the other uses on the site."
Most people agreed with another objective to get a return on the city council's investment in buying the site, to help with wider public service provision.
Debate over holiday accommodation
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However, public opinion was split over one aim to provide a new variety of visitor accommodation for families, luxury budget hotels and serviced- apartments. This was agreed by 51 per cent but 49 per cent disagreed. Explaining ideas, the survey stated: "Morecambe has a limited provision of purpose-built hotels and other forms of visitor accommodation. The opening of the Eden Project will see a significant increase in visitors and the more of these that stay overnight, the greater the economic benefits are to the town.
"Providing a range of accommodation, from hotels to serviced apartments, will help to meet this demand but also reduce the potential for local homes to be lost to Airbnb-type holiday lets. Eden is expected to appeal to families and this will drive demand for family holiday accommodation, such as family hotel suites, apartment-hotels or self-catering units."
On housing, public views were also split about including a minimal residential component 'only if necessary to financially support achieving other objectives.'