Application for Southport's new Marine Lake Events Centre has been turned down

Sefton Council commented....

Notification has been received from Arts Council England that the Marine Lake Events Centre (MLEC) application has been unsuccessful, the reason being is that the MLEC project is due to finish after the March 2025 programme deadline for spend. It should be noted over 90% of the project would be complete and assurances were given that the Arts Council England (ACE) contribution would have been drawn down.

Arts Council England have informed us conversations did take place with DCMS
but no flexibility was awarded to the application. Further detailed feedback has
been requested, but ACE have advised that this is not available.

This outcome reinforces the increasingly competitive environment in which the
Council may be required to pursue capital funding for future project development
and delivery.