Liverpool Mayor says UNESCO decision 'extremely disappointing'

Liverpool, July 22

Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson said the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's decision to remove the English city from the list of World Heritage Sites was "extremely disappointing".

"I've just heard the extremely disappointing news that Liverpool's World Heritage status has been deleted. To be honest, I'm a bit gutted by this, as I'm sure many who love our city will be," Xinhua news agency quoted Anderson as saying on Wednesday.

The Mayor's remarks came after the World Heritage Committee earlier in the day decided to delete Liverpool from the World Heritage List "due to the irreversible loss of attributes conveying the outstanding universal value of the property".

"Liverpool -- Maritime Mercantile City was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004 and on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2012 following concerns about the proposed development of Liverpool Waters.

"The project has since gone ahead along with other developments both inside the site and in its buffer zone. The Committee considers that these constructions are detrimental to the site's authenticity and integrity," the UNESCO said in a statement.

The decision has made Liverpool the third location to be removed from the list since World Heritage sites were introduced in the 1940s, following the Elbe Valley in Dresden, Germany and the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman.

"Any deletion from the World Heritage List is a loss to the international community and to the internationally shared values and commitments under the World Heritage Convention," said the committee, during its 44th session held in Fuzhou, China.

Liverpool's historic centre and docklands were inscribed for bearing witness to the development of one of the world's major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The site also illustrated pioneering developments in modern dock technology, transport systems and port management.

Anderson said the "chief error" was the assertion Liverpool's World Heritage site has deteriorated.

"That is patently untrue. It is quite the reverse. In fact, Liverpool's site has never looked better. A recent report highlighted that 700 million pounds have been poured in to upgrade dozens and dozens of the city's historic and listed buildings over the last 10 years alone," she said. — IANS