How many times can Liverpool get away with bluffing Unesco.
Last year there were frantic negotiations between Unesco and UK officials at DCMS to save Liverpool's deletion from The World Heritage register.
After the UK Government gave assurances
to The United Nations it was decided that Liverpool would not be
deleted, pending strict criteria that had to be met.
Previous years had seen Unesco
requesting a moratorium of new high rise developments in response to
growing concern that the Liverpool planning authority were out of
control and were not able to monitor developments in a manner
appropriate for a city with World Heritage Site Status. Lime Street/Skelhorne Street developments were of particular concern.
Just look at the mediocrity that has been built.
For over a decade now Liverpool has
been running the Unesco deletion gauntlet. Dodging the bullet, its
leaders acting like naughty schoolboys pretending they don't
understand whats going on, promising they will uphold World Heritage
principles.
All this whilst the Mayor of Liverpool
was declaring publicly that World Heritage site Status is just a
badge on the wall at the Town Hall.
This is the crude past of Liverpool
rearing its ugly head yet again.
The lack of class within this city is
the reason Liverpool was put on the World Heritage “At Risk”
register, at the very same year that Aleppo and The Temple of Palmyra
(That was subsequently destroyed by The Taliban).
The relentless push for development by
Labour led council seems a throwback to an era that has blighted
Liverpool's past.
I grew up in the Derek Hatton era.
My favourite bar was Kirklands, people
come from all over the country to this trendy establishment housed
in a Grade II listed old bakery. Look what they have done to it
surrounded by …....student flats. A quick look round the corner
shows how it also blights St Andrews Church Grade I listed that we
fought to save despite the Council selling it to a convicted
fraudster.
And look at what they have done to
Lime Street. It is an architectural anachronism, made worse by the
fact that each end of this monstrous carbuncle there are Grade II
listed buildings. And all this adjacent the Historic Listed Lime
street Station and St Georges Hall.
Lets not mention, oh alright we will, The Blind School opposite The Philharmonic Hall on Hardman Street.
It is with the deepest regret that I
say, reluctantly that my city has been butchered to the state that
its beautiful and historic listed structures now look alien in their
own environment. The city can not face this relentless roller coaster
of glass shoe boxes in the World Heritage Site.
Why does this current Mayor of
Liverpool Joe Anderson want us to lose World Heritage Site Status?
He dodges the criticism through his
£95,000 a year press agent who is there to assist his public
persona. But Mayor, Joe Anderson has to take the blame for the mess
that is Liverpool's architectural blight.
At this very moment in time with a
World Heritage Committee meeting taking place in BAKU on 30th
June 2019, there are no signs or a whisper of this International
event that effects the city of Liverpool, from Liverpool City
Council.
Hardly surprising that UNESCO have now
made recommendations to delete Liverpool from the World Heritage list
on 2020 after all the promises made to them by the UK government have
cumulated in nothing but a smoke screen for dodgy developments led by
The Mayoral Investment Fund.
Liverpool were given a lifeline after
promising a new tall buildings policy.
Unesco have been requesting a DSoCR
(Desired State of Conservation Report) since 2005.
A Desired State of Conservation Report
for the removal of the property from the “At Risk” Register was
urgently requested by The Unesco World Heritage Centre for Europe in
2011.
It now appears that, after years of
bluff and bravado by Liverpool City Council, Unesco have not received
satisfactory documentation to believe that Liverpool and the UK
Government are taking the matter seriously.
At one stage The DCMS who are ultimately
responsible for all UK World Heritage Sites stated that they are
powerless in the wake of the relentless push and lack of overall
monitoring of Liverpools Planning Authority.
Unesco have stated quite clearly that
Everton FC's proposed Stadium at Bramley Moore Dock is against the
previous World Heritage Committee decisions for further developments.
Unesco state “ It is regrettable that
the consultation process did not adequately address potential impact
on the OUV of the property, nor alternative locations and the public
were not informed about the potential negative consequences”
To put it in context Joe Anderson, an
Everton supporter is pulling the wool over the publics eyes in favour
of his friends at Peel Holdings.
Joe Anderson was elected on a ticket
that declared the creation of 20,000 jobs within The proposed
Liverpool Waters development.
Eight years later not a single brick
has been laid.
Lets see what Unesco think.
I, and my heritage colleagues have spent
15 years warning consecutive council leaders of the threat to losing
World Heritage Site Status.
Whilst understanding the need to
regenerate we have tried to advise that the OUV or put it more
clearly the aesthetic values of this great city were being eroded by
the monotonous desire to build vertical blocks of student flats that
will become tenements of the future.
Last year it was declared that
Liverpool had escaped deletion from the list.
This news was distorted into a good
news story. Maybe it was.
But it is only prolonging the eventual
in my opinion.
It has broken my heart watching my
cherished views be despoiled by inappropriate urban development that
is no more than civic vandalism sanctioned by a local authority, led
by no more than Spivs.
And even now the news of Liverpool's
proposed deletion from The World Heritage List is being suppressed.
Ms Isabelle Anatolle-Gabriel from
Unesco even made a visit to the city in 2017 to address the threat to
the public direct.
The world news that will be created by
this devious intention to fluff the pockets of a few council friendly
developers will have ramifications for every citizen of the city of
Liverpool.
Liverpool World Heritage site status
that Joe Anderson described as no more than a badge on the wall, at
the Town Hall, will have to be replaced, by a badge of shame.
UNESCO STATE.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/soc/3881
Read more by clicking the link.
Factors affecting the property identified in previous reports
- Governance: Lack of overall management of new developments
- High impact research/monitoring activities: Lack of analysis and description of the townscape characteristics relevant to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property and important views related to the property and its buffer zone
- Legal framework: Lack of established maximum heights for new developments along the waterfront and for the backdrops of the World Heritage property
- Social/cultural uses of heritage
- Buildings and development: Commercial development, housing, interpretative and visitor facilities
- Lack of adequate management system/management plan
It is plain that
we are up for deletion from the World Heritage List in June 2020.
This time we may
not escape. Read the Unesco Draft Decision below.
It is clear that Liverpool City Council have no intention, or are capable of being able uphold World Heritage principles.
Draft Decision: 43 COM 7A.47
The
World Heritage Committee,
- Having examined
- Document WHC/19/43.COM/7A,
- Recalling Decision 36 COM 7B.93, 37 COM 7A.35, 38 COM 7A.19, 39 COM 7A.43, 40 COM 7A.31, 41 COM 7A.22 and 42 COM 7A.7 adopted at its 36th (Saint Petersburg, 2012), 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013), 38th (Doha, 2014), 39th (Bonn, 2015), 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 41st (Krakow, 2017) and 42nd (Manama, 2018) sessions respectively;
- Acknowledges the increasing engagement of civil society in the care of the property and its World Heritage status;
- Recalls its repeated serious concerns over the impact of the proposed Liverpool Waters developments in the form presented in the approved Outline Planning Consent (2013-2042) which constitutes an ascertained threat in conformity with paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines;
- Although noting that the State Party has submitted an updated and revised draft Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR), notesthat comprehensive assessment of the proposed DSOCR by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies is still not feasible, as the approval of the DSOCR relies on the content of additional documents, which are yet to be prepared or finalized, including the Local Plan, the revised Supplementary Planning Document, the majority of the Neighbourhood Masterplans, and the Tall Building (skyline) Policy;
- Reiterates that the submission of a further draft of the DSOCR by the State Party and its adoption by the Committee should come prior to the finalization and approval of the necessary planning tools and regulatory framework and regrets that the alternative proposal of the Committee, expressed in Decision 42 COM 7A.7, for substantive commitments to limitation on the quantity, location and size of allowable built form, has not been followed;
- Although also noting that Peel Holdings (Liverpool Waters developer) reiterated its confirmation to Liverpool City Council (LCC) that there is no likelihood of the Liverpool Waters development scheme coming forward in the same form of the Outline Planning Consent, strongly requests the commitment of the State Party that the approved Outline Planning Consent (2013-2042) will not be implemented by Peel Holdings or other developers, and its revised version will not propose interventions that will impact adversely on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, including its authenticity and integrity;
- Expresses its extreme concern that the State Party has not complied with the Committee’s request to adopt a moratorium for new buildings within the property and its buffer zone, until the Local Plan, the revised Supplementary Planning Document, the Neighbourhood Masterplans, and the Tall Building (skyline) Policy are reviewed and endorsed by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, and the DSOCR is completely finalized and adopted by the World Heritage Committee, and urges the State Party to comply with this request;
- Also regrets that the submission of Princes Dock Masterplan and changes to the Liverpool Water scheme to the World Heritage Centre took place after their adoption by the LCC, and expresses its utmost concernthat these documents are putting forward plans, which does not ensure the adequate mitigation of the potential threats for which the property was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger;
- Also reiterates its consideration that the recent planning permissions issued for the Liverpool Waters scheme and elsewhere within the property and its buffer zone, and the stated inability of the State Party to control further developments, clearly reflect inadequate governance systems and planning mechanisms that will not allow the State Party to comply with Committee Decisions and will result in ascertained threat on the OUV of the property;
- Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and on the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020, as well as a DSOCR and corrective measures that could be considered for adoption by the Committee;
- Decides to retain Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) on the List of World Heritage in Danger, with a view to considering its deletion from the World Heritage List at its 44th session in 2020, if the Committee Decisions related to the adoption of the DSOCR and the moratorium for new buildings are not met.
