黑洞社区

The mayor of Liverpool has said she will not let Unesco鈥檚 decision to revoke the city鈥檚 world heritage status hold back its redevelopment ambitions.

Joanne Anderson told 黑洞社区 that the city will forge ahead with new developments without being 鈥渢ied to the conditions of a heritage body with no idea who we are and what we are about鈥�.

Unesco voted 13 to five in favour of removing Liverpool from the World Heritage Register at a meeting in China two weeks ago.

The city had been engaged in a decade-long battle with the UN body whose world heritage committee said that too many inappropriate developments had been built around its historic waterfront.

The vote followed through on recommendations for the punishment in June in a Unesco report, which said that new schemes had caused an 鈥渋rreversible鈥� loss of the waterfront鈥檚 authenticity and integrity.

But Anderson slammed the decision and said that Liverpool 鈥渨ill always be a world heritage city鈥�.

She added: 鈥淲hat makes us special can鈥檛 be measured or mapped and it certainly can鈥檛 be decided by a heritage body situated hundreds of miles away.鈥�

Schemes which Unesco considered to be particularly damaging include Peel Group鈥檚 拢5bn Liverpool Waters development and Everton鈥檚 new 拢500m stadium, set to be built by Laing O鈥橰ourke, at the grade II-listed Bramley Moore Dock.

Both are located in the city鈥檚 north docks, one of the most deprived areas in the UK.

Anderson said that the regeneration of the district was critical to the city鈥檚 recovery from the covid-19 pandemic and that she is not prepared to lose the opportunity for a 鈥渉eritage label鈥�.

She added that she found it 鈥渋ncomprehensible鈥� that Unesco would prefer Bramley Moore Dock, which has been inaccessible to the public for decades, to remain a 鈥渄erelict wasteland鈥� rather than see the construction of the stadium.

And she said that Liverpool owes it to residents who remember the city鈥檚 low ebb in the 1980s to 鈥渒eep growing and building on their vision of a better time鈥�.

Only two other world heritage sites have had their status revoked since the system started in 1978.

Oman鈥檚 Arabian Oryx Sanctuary was removed from the list in 2007 after poaching had seen the site鈥檚 population of oryxes - a type of antelope - nearly wiped out.

Dresden Elbe Valley had its status deleted in 2009 following the construction of a 600m long bridge crossing the valley.

Following its decision on Liverpool, Unesco told the UK government that it would throw a 鈥渉arsher spotlight鈥� on the UK鈥檚 other 31 listed sites including the Palace of Westminster and Kew Gardens.

The body also warned it would place the 5,000-year old Stonehenge monument on its 鈥渋n danger鈥� if plans to build a 拢1.7bn road tunnel near the site were given the go ahead. But last week a High Court quashed an order granted by the government to build a two mile tunnel near the site, which campaigners said would detrimentally affect the World Heritage Site.