Three-day visit to assess impact of Chapman Taylor development on World Heritage Site

A Unesco delegation is set to visit Liverpool waterfront next week to assess whether the city’s world heritage status should be maintained if a new development goes ahead.

The three-day monitoring mission will be led by Ron van Oers and Patricia Alberth from Unesco and Italian conservation architect Giancarlo Barbato. They will examine what effect the proposed £5.5 billion Liverpool Waters scheme would have on the heritage site.

Liverpool’s world heritage site includes the Edwardian three graces: the Royal Liver, Cunard and Port of Liverpool buildings, which together document the city’s past as a major port during the industrial revolution.

The scheme to redevelop Liverpool’s northern docks has caused controversy over scale of the skyscrapers - including a 55-storey centrepiece Shanghai Tower - which many fear would overshadow the heritage site.

Unesco previously outlined its concern for Liverpool’s waterfront following a highly critical English Heritage-commissioned report compiled by Stephen Bond of independent consultancy Heritage Places.

Cabe has described the plans as “generic” and “not organised or expressed in a meaningful way”.

Wayne Colquhoun from the Liverpool Preservation Trust said he hoped that the Unesco delegation would not repeat the mistakes of the past.

The three-day mission is to arrive on November 14 with its findings expected to be published on December 23.