UNESCO has today placed Liverpool on the List of World Heritage in Danger sites due to the proposed construction of Liverpool Waters.
Its World Heritage Committee, meeting in St Petersburg, contended that the massive Peel development, on the north docks, would extend the city centre significantly and alter the skyline and profile of the site which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004.
Furthermore, its experts argued that the redevelopment scheme would fragment and isolate the different dock areas visually.
The committee warned that if the project is implemented, Liverpool may entirely lose the outstanding universal value for which it was given World Heritage status.
The vision back in 2004 that enamoured World Heritage inspectors
The Peel Waters plan was roundly condemned, last month, by The Observer's architecture writer, Rowan Moore, who described it as “Shanghai-lite” and suggested that the was merely a way of Peel upping the value of its derelict north docks land.
And while nobody disagrees that the north docks is in desperate need of a long-term fix, Moore is not the only critic to describe it as a "very average commercial development".
The city was in danger of being dubbed “Liverpeel”, warned elected mayor contender Liam Fogarty, who waded into the controversy earlier this year, while English Heritage and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) have long railed against aspects of the scheme.
Nevertheless, the council approved planning permission in March and Mayor Joe Anderson is adamant that the scheme will bring in £5.5bn of investment and create 17,000 jobs over the next 40 years.
Peel have threatened to walk away from the scheme if it does not get planning approval, which some commentators have perceived as holding the city to ransom. Others have worried that the developer, which also owns the Port of Liverpool and Salford Quays, has provided no evidence that the predicted thousands of jobs will materialise.
Currently, Local Government Minister Eric Pickles is waiting to receive the civic paperwork before he makes a decision on whether a public inquiry is necessary.
The WHS site - which includes six areas in the city centre including St George’s Plateau, the commercial district, Ropewalks and cultural quarter, along with the waterfront and docklands - is, says UNESCO, a testimony to the development of Liverpool as one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The plan
Liverpool's WHS, says UNESCO, “bears witness to the important role of the city in the growth of the British Empire as a major port for the mass movement of people, e.g. slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America. Liverpool was a pioneer in the development of modern dock technology, transport systems and port management and the site features a great number of significant commercial, civic and public buildings.”
Mayor Anderson insists it is possible to have both – a World Heritage Site next to a “world-class development”.
The Laz Word: 'Removal may be seen as badge of shame'
So Liverpool is plonked firmly on the cultural naughty step and is likely to stay there for some years, writes Larry Neild.
There are just under 1,000 World Heritage Sites and only a handful face the wrath of UNESCO committee who oversee the global list.
PicklesYes, Liverpool desperately needs jobs and opportunities, but as I have always predicted, UNESCO won't remove Liverpool from the list until developments happen that harm the universal value of the WHS.
Alternatively Peel Holdings could scrap its plans altogether and that would remove the danger.
A third, most unlikely, outcome could be UNESCO, Peel and the city council all coming to an agreement that allows development to take place whilst keeping it's status alongside the likes of the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids.
Mayor AndersonThe big question will now be the response of Eric Pickles.
He will have to decide the fate of the Liverpool Waters plan and he won't be able to ignore the UNESCO threat. Indeed World Heritage Status is given to the State Party, ie the UK National Government – not Liverpool City Council or any Merseyside based quango.
While it may make economic and regeneration sense for local decision makers to back Peel's plans, it will be interesting to see the reaction of bodies like English Heritage and the Government Department for Culture Media and Sport.
The badge is regarded as the most prestigious internationally-recognised heritage honour, providing its sites with the opportunity to promote this unique status, increase civic pride and attract more cultural tourism.
Removal of Liverpool from the WHS list may well be seen in London as a badge of shame.
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