UNESCO revokes Liverpool's heritage status over ugly redevelopment

In retrograde: Liverpool's flashy new waterfront plans have angered UNESCO conservators. Photo / Marcus Cramer, Unsplash

The UN's cultural agency UNESCO voted narrowly to remove Liverpool's waterfront from its list of world heritage sites, citing concerns about overdevelopment including plans for a new football stadium.

At committee talks chaired by China, 13 delegates voted in favour of the proposal and five against — just one more than the two-thirds majority required to delete a site from the global list.

"It means that the site of Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is deleted from the World Heritage List," Tian Xuejun, chairman of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, declared.

It is only the third such removal, after previous decisions affecting Oman and Germany, and followed two days of committee discussions that exposed tensions about how cities around the world can preserve their past while also moving forward.

People don't come here for UNESCO. They come for The Beatles. Photo / Marcus Cramer, Unsplash

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram called it "a retrograde step" taken by officials "on the other side of the world".

"Places like Liverpool should not be faced with the binary choice between maintaining heritage status or regenerating left-behind communities — and the wealth of jobs and opportunities that come with it," he said.

Liverpool City Council cabinet number Harry Doyle told AFP he was "extremely disappointed by the results" but said the city's heritage was "still here to stay".

"We're even more disappointed that UNESCO declined our offer to come to the city and see for themselves the work that's going on," Doyle said.

"They've made this decision in isolation halfway across the world." The UK government also expressed disappointment with the decision, saying Liverpool "still deserves its world heritage status".

Liverpool was added to the UNESCO world heritage list in 2004. Photo / Phil Kiel, Unsplash

But UNESCO delegates heard the redevelopment plans, including high-rise buildings, would "irreversibly damage" the heritage of the port in northwest England.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites, which advises UNESCO on the heritage list, said the UK government had been "repeatedly requested" to come up with stronger assurances about the city's future.

The planned new stadium for Everton football club was approved by the government without any public enquiry, and "is the most recent example of a major project that is completely contrary" to UNESCO goals, it said.

Several countries had backed the UK, agreeing it would be a "radical" step in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and urging more time for a new city council elected in May.

A corruption scandal linked to regeneration funding had engulfed the old city leadership, prompting the national government to step in temporarily before the May local elections.

Those who argued against delisting Liverpool included Australia, whose own listing for the Great Barrier Reef is threatened in this year's UNESCO deliberations.

The English port city of Liverpool has been removed from UNESCO's list of world heritage sites. Photo / Bobbie M, Unsplash

Norway in contrast said that while it was "painfully aware" of conflicts between development and heritage conservation, a "delicate balance" was possible, which was lacking in Liverpool.

The waterfront and docks of Liverpool were listed by UNESCO in 2004, after an ambitious regeneration following decades of decline in one of the cradles of Britain's Industrial Revolution.

But since 2012 the agency has locked horns with UK officials over development. It had urged the city to limit building heights and reconsider the proposed new stadium for Everton at a derelict dock site, warning of "significant loss to its authenticity and integrity".

The waterfront is the site of a statue honouring the four members of The Beatles, the most famous cultural export from a city rich in musical history.

Allan Ellis, a British tourist visiting the city, dismissed the decision by UNESCO.

"What's important is the actual history of Liverpool," he told AFP. "People don't come here because its UNESCO. They come here because it's where The Beatles came from."