New Liverpool Heritage Chief Sees No Need In UNESCO Listing

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2021) Liverpool does not need UNESCO World Heritage status, but will try to get back the title it lost in July, the city's new heritage chief, Alan Smith, said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Liverpool City Council appointed Smith to the newly created position of Head of Heritage Preservation and Development to manage and promote the city's historic heritage months after UNESCO deprived the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City of its World Heritage status, following the conclusion that years of development caused "irreversible loss" to the city's world-famous docks.

"We don't need it. We'd love it. It's a reputation for them; it's a reputation for us. So surely (UNESCO) need to have an 11th-hour think about these things," Smith said, as cited by the UK media.

Liverpool's heritage chief added that being stripped of its international title had "no impact at all" on visitor numbers, with the occupancy level of city center hotels reaching 81% in August, the highest since October 2019, according to the city council.

At the same time, Smith said that he considers submitting a fresh application to place The Three Graces of Liverpool - the Royal Liver building, Cunard building and Port of Liverpool building - and the city's St George's Hall on UNESCO's world heritage list.

"It's up to UNESCO if they want us to be a red line through their list of beautiful sites across the world. Personally I would look to arbitrate; they should come back and take our offer and reduce (the size of the site) down," Liverpool's heritage chief said.

Liverpool's former World Heritage site has been in good condition with more than $1.3 billion invested in historic buildings over the past 15 years, according to the City Council.