Liverpool has made a late plea for its World Heritage status to be preserved.
A decision on the city’s standing is expected to be delivered next week by UNESCO, who have expressed concerns about its continued standing.
Central to those reservations is Peel’s £5 billion ‘Liverpool Waters’ project which also encompasses Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore-Dock.
Plans to fill in the disused dock as part of the Blues’ move from Goodison Park have led to threats that UNESCO could strip the city of its World Heritage tag.
But several leading figures from across Liverpool added their name to an open letter to the world heritage body on Saturday pleading for them to reconsider.
They included Mayor Joanne Anderson, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram as well as the respective chief executive of Everton and Liverpool football clubs.
Also signing the letter is ex-Conservative cabinet member Lord Heseltine, who helped regenerate the city as ‘Minister for Merseyside’ during the mid 1980s.
The letter, published in The Times, states: “On the issue of Liverpool’s World Heritage Site, we would like to make it absolutely clear – that the city does not want to lose this status.
“In advance of the World Heritage Committee meeting in July, we are asking the committee members to defer any decision on the city’s status and, instead, accept an invitation to visit Liverpool at some point during the next 12 months.
“Liverpool, like the rest of the world, has had to focus all efforts on dealing with Covid-19 and is currently planning its comeback.
“Deletion of World Heritage status would be a setback to those plans. And a very unfair one.
“Liverpool, which is under new political leadership, has made huge strides to invest in – and improve – its World Heritage site.
“It is in a far superior state than when the status was granted in 2004 – and this work demands a fresh appraisal.
“Indeed, more than £710m of public and private monies has been invested in upgrading 119 heritage assets within the site and its buffer zone, including 59 listed buildings.
“A further £350m is currently being invested to upgrade a further 38 assets. In addition, there is the £500m Everton FC investment in Bramley Moore Dock.
“This includes £50m to upgrade heritage assets in a derelict dock, which has been closed to the public for more than 40 years and sits within the poorest ward in Liverpool.”
It adds: “We are now calling on World Heritage Committee members to defer any imminent decision and accept the invitation to see for themselves what is happening in the city, pandemic guidelines permitting.
“We hope they see, like us, that Liverpool’s World Heritage Site should be shown up as an exemplar of best practice in heritage-led regeneration.
“Deletion would not just be a loss to Liverpool, the UK, and to a greater degree UNESCO.
“It would be an even bigger missed opportunity in demonstrating to the world that heritage and regeneration are not mutually exclusive.”