Council considers bid for up to £2m Government cash which could bring a tourist information centre back to Morecambe

The government cash could be used to bring one of Morecambe town’s vacant historic buildings back into use as a new tourist information centre, said a town councillor.

Morecambe tourist information Centre at The Platform closed in September 2023.

A Morecambe town councillor said they haven’t yet picked a specific building that can be developed.

When asked about the possibility of The Queens in Morecambe being one of the options being looked at, Councillor Martin Bottoms said: "We haven’t yet picked out a specific building

but the good thing about The Queens in Morecambe is that a feasibility study has already been done by someone else.

“It has to be a building in a good central location that can be brought back into use that the community can benefit from. We don’t want to use taxpayers money but use government funding for this.

"We want a tourist information centre manned by people in the hub, not like the interactive screens we have at The Platform at the moment.

"Applications for the fund have to be in by the end of May and applications open in a week or so.”

The Community Ownership Fund is one of the few pots of central government money available to which parish and town councils can apply directly.

Eligible projects can receive between 80% and 90% of total funding, up to a value of £2 million, requiring comparatively little in the way of match-funding from applicants.

Coun Geoff Knight, Chair of Morecambe Town Council’s Planning and Regeneration Committee, said: “The Council believes it has a responsibility to look at ways of bringing

external funding into Morecambe, including in this instance Government Levelling Up Funding, to help support the town’s continued regeneration.

"The Community Ownership Fund presents such an opportunity, with the potential to bring one of our town’s vacant historic buildings back into use for the benefit of the community.

"Therefore as a Council, we feel it would be irresponsible not to explore this further.”

A decision will still need to be made at a future meeting of the Council about whether or not to proceed with any application.