Eyesore Morecambe Frontierland site: council hints at exciting news to come soon

In March 2023, the city council sought expressions of interest for a leisure-led development on the Frontierland site in Morecambe.

This followed approval of £50m government funding for Eden Project Morecambe given in January.

An earlier exercise aimed at gauging developer appetite for the site “received good interest”, according to the city council.

However, the majority of the proposals put forward for the former Frontierland site were housing-led, with an ancillary hotel or leisure component.

Lancaster City Council relaunched the development opportunity, stating that it wanted to see more emphasis on leisure to complement the proposed Eden Project Morecambe, to be built 250 metres away.

“The site is a great location for a new purpose-built hotel,” said tender documents for the opportunity.

The documents also stated that changes to the holiday market “offer potential for apart-hotels, serviced apartments and more family-orientated holiday accommodation, particularly for things that could broaden Morecambe’s offer and appeal”.

Now Councillor Philip Black, leader of Lancaster City Council said: “Frontierland has been an eyesore on the promenade for many years now.

"The city council acquired the site in 2021 from Morrisons so that we could respond to the community’s concerns about its dereliction.

"Expressions of Interest to develop the site were received earlier this year and we are excited to be furthering our plans for the site in the coming months.”

Lancaster City Council acquired the site of the former theme park from Morrisons in 2021.

Located close to the Midland Hotel and the proposed £125m Eden Project North, the 7.4-acre Frontierland site has been vacant since the theme park closed in 1999.

Several redevelopment attempts have come and gone in the intervening 23 years.

Most recently, developer Opus North won approval for a £17m mixed-use scheme known as Bay Shopping Park in 2014.

However, the project never materialised and planning consent has now expired.

The city council are looking to replace the existing hoarding at the Frontierland site with metal hoarding in the coming months due to safety concerns, they said.