Eden Project Dundee set to transform former gasworks after plans approved

The development will turn an area of the city’s industrial past into a major tourist attraction.

An artist’s impression of the new Eden Project Dundee (Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios/PA)

A former gasworks is to be transformed into a green tourism attraction after plans for a new Eden Project in Dundee were approved by the city council.

The development will see the site on the city’s East Dock Street become a major attraction combining world-class horticulture, immersive experiences, performance and the arts.

Council chiefs said the project will help deliver hundreds of jobs, huge visitor numbers and tens of millions of pounds for the local economy.

The attraction will further enhance the city’s status as a destination for visitors following the creation of the V&A Dundee design museum and the Slessor Gardens event space along the city’s waterfront.

Blair Parkin, the Eden Project’s chief experience development officer, said: “We are delighted that Dundee City Council has granted us planning permission for Eden Project Dundee.

“This is a major milestone for the project and the culmination of years of hard work by the Eden Project team, our partners in Dundee and the community who have engaged with us so generously.

“This is a project for Dundee, by Dundee and we are incredibly proud of the work we have undertaken together to get the project to this stage.

“We will allow ourselves a moment of celebration but we are well aware there is still lots to do to make Eden Project Dundee a reality.

“We will now concentrate on working with all our partners, progressing the design, securing investment and continuing to deliver our community programmes in the city.”

The decision comes after a period of community engagement which saw the Eden Project team host events across the city, with feedback from local residents being incorporated into the planning application.

The scale of the development meant the application had to be approved by a meeting of the full council on Monday following a pre-determination hearing by the local authority’s planning committee.

The Eden Project is working in partnership with Dundee City Council, The Northwood Charitable Trust and the University of Dundee.

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander, said: “The Eden Project is a further example of the city’s ambitious regeneration drive.

“The project will help deliver hundreds of jobs, huge visitor numbers and tens of millions of pounds for the local economy.

“But it will also provide new educational opportunities and seek to build work on efforts within our communities, well beyond the site boundary.

“It will attract people from far and wide, as well as being very much for the citizens of Dundee.”

The project will combine exhibits, performance, learning, play, immersive experiences, world-class horticulture, live music, art, and food, beverage and retail spaces, all integrated as essential parts of the overall experience.

The project team said work to create an Eden Project on the site will include the conversion of the existing gasholder, demolition of other buildings and the construction of a pedestrian bridge.

Eden Project has another site in Cornwall, built on an old clay pit, which has attracted millions of visitors since it opened in 2001.

Professor Iain Gillespie, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Dundee, said: “This is a major step forward for a project that will be transformative for Dundee.

“We look forward to helping take forward the Eden Project Dundee with our partners.”