Stussy, you beat me to it.
Like any city, Liverpool is a living breathing entity. You have to let a city breath, grow, expand.
If Unesco had it's way, we should just turn the city into a living museum, where nothing new ever gets built, and all we do is continually preserve whats already gone before.
In essence, mothball the city, and change nothing, or threaten us with removing the WHS status.
I'm quite ashamed of what previous council administrations have done to some of the fine buildings in this city over the last century, and certainly since WW2.
Yes, some of the buildings and areas of the city were well beyond economic repair, after the war, and into the 1960s, but at the same time, those same administrations were extremly short sighted in their cultural vandalism, knocking down well known landmarks and famous buildings.
Even to the extent that, many of those buildings could of, and it's argued should of, been more simpathetically treated. That said, you cannot live in the past, and totally rely on older buildings that have long passed their sell by date, or out lived their usefulness.
The cultural vandalism or knocking down older (sometimes listed) buildings, has to weighed up with progress, and a modern thriving city.
Unless many of those buildings can be adapted to modern living, or modern industry/tourism, then their just a money sucking white elephant, that nobody knows what to do with.
In th case of buildings like the Stanley Dock Wherehouse, it would be extremly difficult (not impossible) to adapt to a modern usage.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating knocking it down, or even damaging it in any way. After all it is listed. But for buildings like that, there has to be a use found for, or a way of bringing the building back into usage, or otherwise it's just a big pile of bricks that is a money pit.
I think that Unesco have to be realistic about their WHS status, and I'm not just talking about Liverpool. Surely they can see that a city or site needs to adapt, and not live fully in the past. Otherwise we'd all still be wearing clogs.
I'm all for keeping the WHS status, as best we can, but it's not the be-all and end-all of what Liverpool is about. If it's a straight toss up of WHS or economic growth, then as a city we must, surely plump for the economic growth that the city so desperately needs, especially in the North area of the city.
I just hope that the council can do a good ballancing act of preserving as much of our industrial and maritime heritage, but not at the risk of us becoming a living museum of a city, and also in the case of Peel, not letting them just get away with building any old shite, under the guise of 'whats good for Peel, is good for the city'. It's not.
Their aims, and the city's - although similar - are not one and the same.
Sorry for the ramble. I'll shut up now.
