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| Morecambe’s Festival Market. Photo: Lancaster City Council |
A major plan to revitalise and regenerate Morecambe have taken another step forward, after Lancaster City Council announced it is to work with the leading integrated support services company, Carillion, to identify possible opportunities for regenerating some of the town’s priority sites.
Key proposals – falling under the remit of the Lancashire Regeneration Property Partnership – could include regenerating the area around the Platform, Festival Market and surrounding car parks with new community and visitor facilities.
The Council says that better management of the seafront and integrating it with the town centre, as well as further consideration of an approach to regenerating the central promenade site, will also be included in the talks.
Councillor Janice Hanson, cabinet member with responsibility for economic regeneration, said: “The implementation of the Morecambe Area Action Plan is the key part to the council’s regeneration strategy for the town.
“An important part of that is to find a new developer partner to work with and identify schemes that will achieve our aims of attracting investment and jobs.
“Our first preference in identifying a partner is to engage with Carillion and explore the potential for a comprehensive approach for regenerating Morecambe’s key central sites.
“At this stage nothing has been set in stone and we need to see what opportunities are available before making a decision on what is, and crucially what is not, right for Morecambe. The outcomes of the discussions will be reported back to Cabinet for further discussion.”
With an annual revenue of over £4.4 billion, Carillion has a substantial portfolio of Public Private Partnership projects and extensive construction capabilities. It employs around 40,000 people and operates across the UK, in the Middle East and Canada.
The company entered into an agreement with Lancashire County Council to form a Lancashire Regeneration Partnership in 2012 (PDF link). Carillion are working on projects in North and East Lancashire, while the Bamber Bridge-based Eric Wright Group are partners on schemes in the South and West.
Lancashire County Council says the Regeneration Property Partnerships will boost economic activity and regeneration in the county by giving a new lease of life to buildings the council no longer needs.
The partnerships will reduce the council’s running costs and generate income to go back into local services.