Unesco to discuss Liverpool’s fate

UNESCO is set to discuss whether Liverpool should retain its World Heritage Status at its annual meeting in St Petersburg this week.

A report due before the AGM recommends that the city is placed on its ‘in danger’ list due to concerns of the impact that Peel’s proposed £5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme would have on the city’s waterfront. It states that if Peel’s scheme progresses in its current form, Liverpool  faces the “possibility of deletion” from the World Heritage List.

The chairman of lobbying and networking group Downtown Liverpool in Business, Frank McKenna, argues that the action should be taken sooner rather than later, but only so the city can move forward with development plans.

He said: “It’s time to put this wrangling behind us and look to the future, rather than dwelling on our past.

“In Liverpool, we know we have a world-class city and without World Heritage Status to worry about, we can set about really proving it.”

Unesco has argued that the city’s waterfront will be “damaged beyond repair” by the Peel scheme, whose outline plans include a 55-storey building known as Shanghai Tower. Concerns have also been expressed about the archaeological damage that could be done to historic docks.

McKenna said: “This is nonsense. The regeneration of the docklands to the north of the city centre – currently little but wasteland – is an opportunity that Liverpool would be mad to hold back on.”

Peel has said that around 14,000 jobs will be created as a result of both Liverpool Waters and the £4.5bn Wirral Waters scheme on the opposite bank of the Mersey, and that at least 10% of these will go to local people.

English Heritage has argued that the damage that could be done if Peel’s scheme progresses in its current form could be irreparable.

“In our view the setting of some of Liverpool’s most significant historic buildings will be severely compromised, the archaeological remains of parts of the historic docks are at risk of destruction, and the city’s historic urban landscape will be permanently unbalanced.”

However, McKenna said: “The city’s rich heritage will always speak for itself”.
“Just one look at the Three Graces will tell you that much – and its history will continue to inspire, just has it always has.”

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