The project was conceived by Tim Smit and designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates (now part of Sinclair Knight Merz). Davis Langdon carried out the project management, Sir Robert McAlpine and Alfred McAlpine did the construction and MERO designed and built the biomes. Land Use Consultants led the master plan and landscape design. The project took 2½ years to construct and opened to the public on 17 March 2001.
Multiplier effect occurs – It increases the local economy: Visitors spend at Eden and create a bigger turnover, so more employment. Visitors also spend for accommodation, food, other leisure activities and travel, which creates a second ripple of benefits for employment in the area. Finally, the spending power of those employed by Eden, and local suppliers, increases as a result of their employment.
To diversify to get people not just for one season, but all year round. To rebrand Cornwall and to attract new tourists – the concept is called destination tourism. This is where people visit a place simply because of a single attraction and the hope is that they will then visit others. The E.P. is an excellent example of this.
Two factors have helped rebrand Cornwall and promote ‘destination tourism’:
- Individuals, such as TV chef Rick Stein, whose seafood restaurant at Padstow in north Cornwall has led to large numbers of tourists who are interested in his restaurants and food shops. Now local people refer to Padstow as ‘Padstein’.
- The expansion of Newquay Airport by the local council to accept flights from UK cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh, as well as London’s Gatwick and Stansted airports. This has helped to reduce Cornwall’s geographical isolation.
1999 - Objective One funding – It is from the EU. It was designed to boost the local economy. It aims to reduce social and economic differences within the EU. The funding comes from the EU and is granted to areas where the gross domestic product is 75% of the EU average or less. It aims to encourage investment to boost local economies.
Key players:
- Local Councils e.g. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Council)
- Development agencies e.g. the South West Development Agency – who use government money to stimulate and to regenerate the economy
- Central government and its agencies e.g. Arts Council, Countryside Agency, Heritage Lottery Fund, Jobcentre Plus, etc.
- Environmental Groups e.g. Cornwall Heritage Trust, English Heritage, English Nature, etc.
- Education interests e.g. Combined Universities in Cornwall, University of Exeter, Cornwall FE Colleges, etc.
- Business interests e.g. Cornwall Farmers Ltd, Eden Project, Cornwall Tourist Board, etc.
- Private individuals who invest their own capital.
Investors have to start the process, and then apply for amounts of money from other sources, called match funding. This might come from public sources, e.g. local councils, or from private sources, e.g. banks. So, investors can:
- Set up £20,000 of their own money
- Get a bank loan for another £20,000, making £40,000
- Ask local councils to match it to make £80,000
- Bid for the South West Development Agency to match it to £160,000
- Finally, bid for Objective One funds to match it, creating £320,000
Success rate – It is still the weakest economy in England. But from 1994-2004 it grew at 5.8% per year, ahead of the UK average of 5.4%. In 2003, the Cornish economy showed the greatest improvement of any region of the EU. However, its schemes have had varying success – from the greater-than-expected Eden project, to failing schemes like South West Film Studios.
But Professor Peter Gripaios of Plymouth Business School criticises it. He claims that it was wrong to give Objective One funding to some projects. By 2007, Objective One had backed 580 projects in Cornwall with £230 million, but Mr. Gripaios claims that ‘the jam has been spread too thinly on too many projects’.
Success:
- The Extreme Sports Academy at Watergate Bay – near Newquay airport, is targeting a younger age group. Offers surfing, wave skiing and kite surfing. Owners also run Watergate Bay Hotel, overlooking academy and beach. Hotel has new restaurant, bar and accommodation. They are open all year, employing 50-60 people all year round in 2006, compared to 15-20 in 2003, as a result of increased trade.
- Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurant – In 2006, TV chef J.O. opened this restaurant, overlooking Watergate Bay. The 100-seater restaurant trains local young people in catering skills. Thirty 16-24 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds are selected each year. 15 of them work in the restaurant, training at Cornwall College from January and in the kitchens from May, supported by professional chefs. Profits fund further training and development.
- CUC –stopping the brain drain? – To increase university courses and develop a ‘knowledge economy’, University College Falmouth and Exeter University joined forces to create the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC). CUC helps graduates set up businesses or secure jobs in knowledge-based companies in Cornwall, trying to cut the ‘brain drain’ of graduates leaving Cornwall. Examples include:
- Sixixis – This shapes Cornish timber into handmade furniture.
- Neutralise, a computer company helping top clients to improve their placing on internet search engine results, e.g. London’s Stock Exchange.
- Using Arts and Culture – To attract Arts tourists, Fowey holds an annual Du Maurier Festival in May, named after local author Daphne Du Maurier. It hosts authors, musicians, and broadcasters for 11 days. Investment in Arts and Culture in Cornwall has grown from the museum dedicated to sculptress Barbara Hepworth in the 1970’s, to the opening of Tate St Ives in 1993. Theatre, music and dance are now available at Hall for Cornwall in Truro, which opened in 1997.
Failures:
- South West Film Studios – In 2002, S.W.F.S proposed Cornwall’s first film business at St Agnes on Cornwall’s north coast. Many films have been made in Cornwall, e/g/ Die Another Day, but no studio facilities existed. The £5.7 million complex received nearly £2 million from Objective One. Two film studios were built. It was expected that the company would create 200 permanent jobs and would bring millions of pounds into the economy.
4. The UK farming industry is one that few people know about and understand, and it’s in crisis. Imagine a job where you have to work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day; perhaps getting up at 5am to milk the cows in all weathers. Then imagine you are paid about half the NMW. Small wonder that, in 2006, record numbers of farmers sold up.
The problem for some years has been that prices paid to farmers are not enough to earn a decent living. Farm incomes fell sharply between 1973 and 2003. The biggest fall occurred between 1996 and 2001/2, when average farm incomes (after costs) fell from £80,000 in 1995/6 to £2500 during 2001; recovering to £12,500 in 2002/3. But as an hourly rate, this is still less than the NMW. Livestock farmers have been badly affected.
Why has farming collapsed? – For small farmers, especially, incomes remain low. 69% of farmers rely on farming for their entire income, but many also have part-time jobs to bring in extra money. There are two main reasons why incomes have fallen:
- The strength of the pound. Between 1996 and 2007, the pound increased in value against the Euro by 33%, making imported food cheaper.
- The power of supermarkets. Competition between big supermarkets is intense. Prices get forced down to attract customers, and, as a result, farmers are paid less.
Even EU farm subsidies do not help. They benefit the large farms – the more cereals grown, the greater the subsidy. 80% of subsidies go to larger farms, which make up only 20% of all farms. 63% of UK farmers get less than £5000 a year in subsidies; some get nothing.
5. In an attempt to increase incomes, some farms are now rebranding what they do. There are various options:
- Embracing Tourism – tourists have a chance to see and understand how a farm works; buildings are converted for farm holidays.
- Focusing on higher-value products, such as vegetables, cheese, and wine.
- Adopting eco-approached to managing the environment, such as planting mixed woodland.
- Adopting welfare approaches towards animals rearing which focus on the quality of care.
Lobb’s Farm Shop
Until 2003, three brothers from the Lobb family, in south Cornwall, were making just £30,000 from their 800 acres, shared between three families. Their farm is near the Lost Gardens of Heligan, south Cornwall’s second biggest tourist attraction after the Eden Project. They created a shop to sell their beef and lamb to a potential market of 463,000 visitors a year visiting the Gardens. The project, Lobb’s Farm Shop, was financed using £200,000 funding from Objective One and central government.
The shop’s focus is meat and vegetables produced on the farm, and other locally sourced products such as Cornish wine, chesses, etc. It has created 14 new jobs, with more in the summer months. These include:
- 5 butchers (2 full-time, 2 part-time and a trainee)
- 1 full-time and 6 part-time shop assistants
- 2 administrative staff
It has generated over £600,000 in additional sales in 3 years. However, it is more than just a shop. It includes:
- A visitor centre informing visitors about farming, and tours to show them what happens on a farm.
- Ways of improving environmental quality on the farm by attracting wildlife – planting in ways that will attract birds and insects.
- Managing and raising beef cattle in a welfare-conscious way.
