The site of a former wild west themed park is finally set to be reused after more than 20 years of lying derelict.
Lancaster City Council has bought the area that used to be home to the Frontierland theme park in Morecambe, saying it intends to use the land to 'help drive the reinvention of the town', LancsLive reports.
The Western-style theme park on Marine Road West closed in November 1999, and the derelict land was later purchased by Morrisons, which operates a supermarket store adjacent to the land.
The corporation built three outlets to the rear of the site in 2007. But since then the remainder of the site has been out of use.
A retail-led scheme with a restaurant, pub and hotel was later proposed and approved by the city council. But planning permission has since expired.
Lancaster's council has now purchased the land, and has said it would work with stakeholders to develop its regeneration plans.
Coun Tricia Heath, Lancaster City Council's cabinet member with responsibility for economic recovery, said: “Following the failure of the most recent private sector plans to redevelop Frontierland there was a real possibility that the site could once again be mothballed.
“It has been left to decay for long enough already, so the council felt it had to step in and pursue its own redevelopment plans to provide long lasting economic, social, and environmental improvements.
“By owning the land, we now have the potential to use the site to help drive the reinvention of the town and there are a number of options available that provide the opportunity to capitalise on the renewed interest that developers are showing in Morecambe.
“We also want to make sure that the community is at the heart of the vision for the site and will be providing Morecambe’s communities with the opportunity to give us their views throughout the process of designing our plans.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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