A Star For India Buildings-English Heritage Upgrade to Grade II*

India Building Upgraded to Grade II* by English Heritage.

This is a momentous decision.

It has been recognised that the historic India Building with its majestic travertine marble Holts Arcade should be upgraded.

An application was made after the owners of the building Green Property Group removed historic fitments from the façade without planning permission and were cautioned by Liverpool City Council who sent enforcement officers to the property who also ordered the bronze plaques to be re-instated.

A campaign was organised by some of the shopkeepers after they were told that the shops that they had tenanted for decades were to be converted into offices and the public right of way was to be stopped up.

Holts Arcade is on the site of an ancient right of way and was built as an arcade because there were originally two buildings on the site and by creating the right of way solved the issue arising from unlawfully stopping people who had used this street.

Plans were recently announced and submitted to the planning authority.

The local authority accepted the plans for the building even though a listing application was pending.

The announcement means that English Heritage has to be consulted on all planning applications.

It is wildly anticipated that the plans that include putting TV screens and monitors in Holts arcade and reducing access by fitting a revolving door at the Water Street entrance will be treated with the contempt they deserve by EH.

The plans show some of the shops converted to offices which would be a tragic use of a shopping arcade that was designed by Herbert Rowse one of Liverpool’s most famous architects, who also built Martins Bank and The Art Deco inspired Georges Dock Ventilating Shaft along with the Philharmonic Hall in Hope Street.

The original India Buildings built to commemorate the breaking up of the East India Company was the headquarters of Holts Line.

This is a historic day for Liverpool as recognition of its Mercantile and Maritime past.

The building is in the WHS.

This is a glowing confirmation of one of Liverpool’s greatest Architectural monuments.




India Buildings and in particular one of the shops Wayne Colquhoun Antiques and Fine Art will be featured on BBC Friday 15th November 2013 when Edwina Curry makes a visit for charity.

See whether you think the shopping arcade is not important to Liverpool’s sense of place and its encroaching homogenisation.

It is a pleasure to thank Clare Price of the c20 society who are the nations experts on 20th Century architecture. Her work in submitting this listing upgrade application was carried out in a most professional manner and was backed up by the society.

Thank You Clare.

http://www.c20society.org.uk/news/india-buildings-liverpool-upgraded-to-grade-ii/


The Liverpool Post and Echo also have to be thanked because they covered the news in a sympathetic manner and in particular the work of Peter Elson, which went above and beyond his call of duty.

His reporting meant that the campaign went to people who were determined to lend their weight and support to the SOS (Save Our Shops) campaign.

The campaign to save India Buildings made Private Eye and Green Property were criticised.

The Merseyside Civic Society submitted comments to the listing application.

And of course those who turned up to reminstrate and demonstrate against the owners plans to close off the arcade.

1000 signatures were made on a petition to Save Our Shops.



It was bad enough damaging a Grade II listed building but the merits of it being Grade II* were the same then as they are now, all that has changed in the quality is that the building has been recognised as being worthy of the top tier of historic structure in the country. Only a very small number of properties can boast to be on this table.

Radio Merseyside sent reporters out and it was featured on Mersey TV.

The assessment for English Heritage stated.
Like the buildings of the northeast US cities, India Buildings' imposing architectural effect and beauty is achieved by its impressiveness of mass, and its clean surfaces and proportions, rather than ornamentation.

The building's external elevational treatment rejects the over-ornamentation and fussiness of many buildings of this date, and instead adopts a more restrained approach with decoration concentrated in selective elements judiciously placed at the top and bottom of the building. The result is a building that is enhanced, rather than taken over, by decorative enrichment, and which reinterprets classical styling in a modern way. In achieving this, India Buildings again reflects its transatlantic influence, and in particular, the buildings of New York City. As Reilly proclaimed about the winning design in 1923: 'with the Holt Building the American orientation of Liverpool architectural thought reaches its climax. The building Messrs. Thornely and Rowse have designed would not disgrace Fifth Avenue; indeed it would sit there very happily, and those who know most of modern architecture will know this is very high praise' (cited in The Builder, 12 Oct 1923). In keeping with the exterior, the building's interior is also of a superior quality and displays an acute attention to detail with high-quality finishes and materials found throughout, including an extensive use of Travertine marble and terrazzo. Several areas are of particular note, including: the elevator halls with their Travertine-lined walls and coffered saucer-domed ceilings; the central arcade with its coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling and decorative bronze shopfronts; and the opulent Lloyds Bank interior, which is a tour de force of marble and decorative metalwork, as well as incorporating abundant figurative and symbolic imagery and an impressive coffered ceiling with coffers that mirror the octagonal shapes of the building's corner lobbies. Like most commercial buildings India Buildings has been subject to interior alteration over the years, including repairs and restoration following wartime damage, which were overseen by Rowse himself and in most cases are virtually indistinguishable from the originals. Some of the upper floors have since been modernised and late-C20 mezzanines have been inserted in the banking hall and ground-floor office space. However, whilst these latter alterations have not added to the building's interest, neither have they significantly compromised it; where applicable, areas of the building that are not of special interest, or are of lesser interest, will be
 identified in the List description.

Herbert J Rowse is one of the most influential regional architects of the inter-war period and his impressive body of work encompasses a wide range of building types, many of which are listed. Rowse's great skill as an architect is demonstrated by the fact that he already has two buildings listed at Grade II*: the former Martins Bank (1927-32), which lies diagonally opposite India Buildings, and the Philharmonic Hall (1937-9). Like these other examples, India Buildings possesses a high level of architectural quality that is of more than special interest within a national context. It also has additional significance in being the building that launched Rowse's acclaimed career. Like Rowse, Sir Arnold Thornely is also a significant figure within Liverpool architecture who has several highly graded listed buildings to his name or associated with him, including the Grade II* Port of Liverpool Building (1907) and Bluecoat School (1903-6), and the Grade B listed Parliament English Heritage Advice Report 04 November 2013 Page 3 of 15 Buildings in Stormont, Northern Ireland (designed 1925 and constructed 1928-31). India Buildings represents one of his most significant works.


They go on

CONCLUSION

After examining all the records and other relevant information and having carefully considered the architectural and historic interest of this case, the criteria for upgrading are fulfilled. India Buildings is therefore recommended for upgrading from Grade II to Grade II*.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION

India Buildings, constructed in 1924-32 to the designs of Herbert J Rowse and Arnold Thornely, isrecommended for upgrading to Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

* Transatlantic influence: Liverpool's deep historic links with the eastern seaboard of the United States, and the influence of Charles Reilly's Liverpool School of Architecture and its promotion of an American form of classicism in the early-C20, as well as Herbert Rowse's personal experience of working in New York and Chicago, are clearly reflected in the building's architecture and design. Through its monumental scale, planning, architectural treatment and mixed use, India Buildings emulates the most impressive early-C20 commercial buildings of the US, and in particular, the buildings of New York City; echoing the designs of firms such as McKim, Mead & White;

* Architectural interest: its imposing architectural effect and beauty is achieved by its impressiveness of mass, and its clean surfaces and proportions, rather than ornamentation. Decoration is judiciously placed toenhance, rather than detract from, the building itself, and its Italian Renaissance and American Beaux-Arts influenced design reinterprets classical styling in a modern way;

* Architects: it was designed by Herbert Rowse and (Sir) Arnold Thornely, both of whom have other highly graded listed buildings to their name. Rowse, in particular, was one of the most influential regional architects of the inter-war period and India Buildings represents one of his most significant works;

* Planning interest: it is an excellent example of a British building following the US-style grid system of town planning; the building occupies an entire city block and incorporates a central shop-lined arcade connecting Water Street with Brunswick Street, as well as an entrance to the James Street underground station;

* Interior quality: the interior is of a superior quality and incorporates high-quality finishes and materials throughout, including an extensive use of Travertine marble and terrazzo. Several areas are of particular note, including: the elevator halls with their Travertine-lined walls and coffered saucer-domed ceilings; the central arcade with its coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling and decorative bronze shopfronts; and the opulent Lloyds Bank interior, which is a tour de force of marble and decorative metalwork, as well as incorporating abundant figurative and symbolic imagery and an impressive coffered ceiling with coffers that mirror the octagonal shapes of the building's corner lobbies;

· Degree of survival: the building is virtually unaltered externally and retains its major interior elements;

* Group value: it has strong group value with the Grade II* former Martins Bank (1927-32) situated diagonally opposite on Water Street, which was also designed by Rowse and also derives its architectural influence from the north-eastern United States. Additional group value also exists with other nearby listed buildings on Water Street and Pier Head, most of which are highly graded; together they form a group of hugely significant commercial buildings at the heart of Liverpool's central business district.



Countersigning comments:

Agreed: India Buildings is one of the great achievements of Rowse and the Liverpool School. It fully merits designation in a higher grade.



………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Should Merseytravel Be Investigated By The Police?

That is a question we were asked the other day.

It now transpires that Herr Director Neil Scales sanctioned the purchase of a load of tat and bric a brac that had some vague relationship to the Beatles for 2 million quid of your money. See todays Weekly Ghost.
This was public cash.

Marc Waddington, now unshackled from the ambitious David Bartlett, who has been promoted, has done some good work lately.

Bartlett was very fortunate to take over Larry Neild’s phone who had been at the Echo for years.

We spoke to Bartlett who is now Andy Kelly’s assistant, on numerous occasions, sent him emails and questions to how Miserytravel’s finances were being run.
What did he do…..well not very much really.

Now Marc Waddington reveals how a further investigation into the running off the Miserytravel Gravy Train is to take place after more revealing allegations.

This is public money that has been used as frippery by the Directors of Miserytravel and it has gone on for decades.

Andy Kelly was a reporter when the Tram fiasco took place where Scales and Co wasted millions on steel tram lines that were never used. http://www.liverpoolcultureblog.co.uk/2009/07/merseytram-off-the-rails-for-good/

Neil Scales was the Moron who cut up U534 in a savage act of barbaric vandalism that renders it virtually worthless. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/why-did-merseytravel-spend-42-million.html

Costing us many millions

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/neil-scales-and-merseytravel-spend.html

Right in front of the noses of the local press. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/u-534-cut-up-into-five-pieces-by-neil.html

In fact the local press almost welcomed it. They flirted with Scales publishing what his PR company told them. They took advertisments from Merseytravel.
We believe, the disgraceful October Communications now Aurora Media were PR for Mersetravel at one stage.
Who Larry Nield went on to work for effectivly becoming PR for Scales & Co.

Isn't it strange the way it all goes around in Circles. October PR for Neptune Developments.....who build the Black Coffins on Mann Island.
They were commisioned by Liverpool Vision and David Wade-Smith who was Director of Liverpool Chamber of Commersce and cost the taxpayer 6.5 million in a tragic team up with Merseytravel.
 Neil Scales then becomes Liverpol Chamber Commerce Director.
Merseytravel move into the black coffins costing the taxpayer a fortune.......No wonder Private Eye call Liverpool Murkeyside.

Now Scales has buggered off to Australia….how convenient is that.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/neil-scales-buggers-off-to-australia.html

Where is he to anser question about his decisions.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/david-wade-smith-costs-taxpayer.html

Scales was mates with David Wade-Smith, one of Joe Andersons trusted advisors.

And why did Anderson not argue out the Miserytravel question when Councillor Dowd was under investigation?

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/merseytravel-mark-dowd-and-his-expense.html


His legal team tried to gag us. Maybe Louise Outram head of Legal services at Miserytravel should answer a few questions too?

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/merseytravel-try-to-gag-us-we-will-not.html

Miserytravel wasted a fortune on South Parkway Station.
 The London trains cant stop there because after a 25million refurbishment the platform was not long enough http://www.liverpoolcultureblog.co.uk/2009/07/merseytram-off-the-rails-for-good/

The clowns even wanted to buy Ringo’s House http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/9-madryn-street-ringos-house-why-knock.html


In 2008 when they were paying 2 million for a load of Lennon bric a bra they were also commissioning art…well that’s not what most people would call it.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/liverpool-european-capital-ofbad.html
 Ken Dodd with a kebab at Lime Street station as public sculpture.

You have to be a comedian to live here.

FERRY TERMINAL
So there is an investigation into how 2 million was wasted but the real question is how did Miserytravel spent 11 million quid on a Terminal Ferry Building that won the Carbuncle Cup award as the worst designed building of 2009.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/liverpool-wins-carbuncle-cup.html


http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/liverpools-pier-head-and-its-new.html


Those who were present at the Planning committee meeting when plans were passed, may recall how Doreen Jones, the Doyenne of World Heritage disaster, passed the plans, saying she had been blackmailed into doing so.
 What did that mean?
 Larry Neild reported the committee meeting for the Echo.

More investigations need to be done on this World Heritage White Elephant that the Lennon tat was placed in.
Why did we need a Beatles Museum in a Ferry Terminal.

 But will the local press continue their reporting and do some investigating, or just let it lie on the bottom shelf until someone else does the work for them.

SHOULD THE POLICE INVESTIGATE?

Boycott The Liverpool Echo-You Know It Deserves It.

For too long now the rubbish that has been printed in the Liverpool Echo, edited by Alaistar Machray has gone unchallenged. You have watched while they have hidden facts and replaced those true facts with mistruths that are fed to them by shady PR companies. 

 We think it time that we watched very carefully just what the corrupted regime at Trinity "Smoking" Mirror Group at Oldham Hall Street is up to.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/should-alastair-machray-be-sacked-from.html And all you out there, especially Machray's Minions take a long hard look at the culture that exists. Never have so many been let down by so few. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-liverpool-echo-sinks-to-all-time.html

Liverpool Footbal Club-Dodgy Property Developers-R-us

It has taken a national paper to bring to the attention of the masses the plight of the once proud Anfield residents, whose area has  been torn apart by unscrupulous and dodgy property developers, Liverpool FC, and its bunch of hangers on.
Here is one we did in 2012 http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/liverpool-football-club-are-responsible.html.

But it goes deeper than that.

The shyster manner that Anfield has been stealthed into decline goes back a long time, in fact back to the 80's.

The club began buying up property and boarding it up driving proud residents to despair a long time ago.

The Liverpool Echo did highlight it, occasionally 

 In Issue 989 of Private Eye 12th Nov 1999 it tells of two blokes with Scottish accents knocking on doors offering money to residents. click on article to expand

Read the full Guardian article here. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2013/may/06/anfield-liverpool-david-conn 

It is good to highlight the way that big business is now trampling ordinary folk.

A wall was daubed with paint last year

 JOE ANDERSON-TRAITOR. It said it was quickly removed.

Joe Anderson needs to take a long hard look at his business links its not for him to become property developer, but to keep them in check, (by strange coincidence there is an article on the same page about Frank McSpiv of Downtown Liverpool in Joe Andersons pocket) because some owner of Liverpool Football club who thinks its a franchise, does not care one jot about peoples lives, or pensioners living in fear of being set on fire in their bed because next door is tinned up and has become a wasteland. 

Are Liverpool Football club out of control, if the players such as Suarez Scum are not taught lessons.

http://waynecolquhoun.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/suarez-scum-ashamed-to-be-liverpudlian.html

You know there was a time when Tommy Smith would have taken the likes of a dodgy little upstart foreigner to one side and battered him for making a show of the city.

Bill Shankly would have sacked him, well he would never have employed someone who bites a fellow player.

Is Ian Ayres the right man for the CE roll of a club with such a proud tradition , that is being eroded.

Yes he says he is proud and all the right words, just like Brendan Rodgers but its actions that count, not words.

The piece that the Oldham Echo and the Daily Ghost did not write in the Guardian 7th May 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/may/07/liverpool-new-stadium-city-fans

Liverpool Football Club, we the public made you great
And what do you give us back?
.....Contempt.

Manchester High Speed Rail Link-The Biggest Threat To Liverpool Since The Manchester Ship Canal.

Why were the local press not fighting against this High Speed Rail link going to Manchester? That would make Liverpool a branch line of Manchester. How have Peel Holdings, Joe Anderson and Louise Ellman got away with this?  Why did they not fight harder for Liverpool? The link should have gone to the Port of Liverpool. One of the reasons this blog was set up was to highlight the lack of foresight to wider issues and one of the first posts we did was a critique of the then Daily Post and Echo, and how they did not report that plans for a 500 million pound planning application had been passed for Port Salford that would enable the owners of the Manchester Ship Canal to circumnavigate Liverpool. The applicants were peel Holdings who look set to lose Liverpool its WHS status. Unesco,  having recently put Liverpool on the World Heritage "In Danger" list.

Taking into account that not only are Peel Holdings intending to blight us with the proposed inaproppriate development, turning...our docks into stagnant frappacino fluff area with 6000 apartments stacked like glass shoeboxes on top of one another. They look set to put the final nail in Liverpools manufacturing coffin by sending any chance of any future industry down the Manchester Ship Canal, to an area that is now setting itself up, to take control of any manufacturing in the North West.....Salford.

Just like its merchants attempted in Victorian times when the Ship Canal was in fact built to bypass us here in Liverpool.

The Ghosts of Dockers Past must be rolling in thier graves, at how this once proud port now looks set to become a suburb of Manchester..........right under the noses of everyone. Why were the powerbrokers not doing anything about it...........Louise Ellman. 

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/langton-dock-pumping-station-amongst.html This is Liverpool Docks under Peel Holdings

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/liverpool-on-unesco-in-danger-list.html Unesco In Danger List

Joe Anderson should hang his head in shame at activly encouraging this to happen.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/frank-mckenna-representing-peel.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/dont-let-them-shanghai-this-historic.html 

Joe Anderson invented his certificate on the wall is a PR stunt that enables Peel Holdings to decimate this area and stop any future industry that may wish to come here.

 http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/is-daily-post-and-echo-mouthpiece-for.html This is an article from 2009

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/liverpeel.html READ THIS

Todays Guardian writes  http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/28/hs2-high-speed-rail-links-unveiled

Meanwhile some kid called Joe Thomas at The Liverpool Echo says

THE Government today insisted Liverpool will benefit from the new high-speed rail network – even though the new line will not extend to Merseyside.
 http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2013/01/28/high-speed-rail-will-benefit-merseyside
Tell you what lets just get Peel Holdings to write it.

India Building Mutiny by Green Property Group

Peter Elson unfurls his sails and puts on a head of steam over the disgusting act of Vandalism perpetrated by Green Property Group on the Main Entrance to India Building.
Its bad enough they just seem to be running the building down but to then vandalise it.
It now transpires that Mike Tapp and Co, of, The Greed Property Group, the vandals of India Buildings have done so much damage when Dewhurst the joiner was ordered to remove the architectural fitments, that four of the six can no longer be replaced as they were, instead they are having to employ architects to find a way to re-instate them........ or face criminal proceedings from the City Council, who seem to be taking this very seriously indeed, and so they should.
It is hard to believe that educated people could do this to such a wonderful example of Herbert Rowse architecture.
All the warning signs were there for some time and it had not gone unoticed by some.
No one would have believed any sane person would wish to desicrate such a historic landmark in Liverpools World Heritage Site when Liverpool is on the Unesco World Heritage Site "In Danger" list.
http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/answers-needed-over-india-buildings.html

It has caused unprecedented local press attention.
http://www.baytvliverpool.co.uk/vod/?vid=JBV50b38ff3c9d65




22.11.12
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/11/23/u-turn-on-blunder-at-liverpool-s-india-buildings-100252-32290010/

23.11.12
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/11/22/fears-for-future-of-liverpool-s-landmark-india-buildings-100252-32281873/


http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2012/11/22/future-of-india-buildings-in-doubt-after-liverpool


Lets hope that the owners of India Building now realise what they have and start to think about their responsibility.

Green Property Group Vandalise Liverpools Historic India Buildings.

 This is what happens when ignorant people with no respect for the past get hold of one of Liverpool’s historic gems.


India buildings is one of Liverpool’s jewels and has always been held in the highest regard it is Grade II listed and an application has now been made to upgrade this to Grade II *.
The conservation officer is Wendy Morgan, so it is not in good hands.
Monday last a member of the public alerted the Conservation department of the City Council and bloody ‘ell they dealt with the matter and cautioned the owners for the criminal act of removing six historic bronze plaques from the arched entrance way of the Water Street Entrance to India Buildings in no time at all.

Chris Griffiths the City Council buildings At Risk officer was made to do a bit of work and a letter was sent to Green Property telling the vandals to re-instate the plaques forthwith.

The speed and efficiency of this astounded us. Chris Griffiths has done a good job here.

The tradesman who took the plaques off served his time with Dewhursts….the butchers.............. well he must have done as seeing the mess of the studs bent over in the hand carved Portland Stone pillars and the holes in the wall was hard to bear.

Jonathan Brown of the Merseyside Civic Society said "It is the desecration of a city jewel”.


What is also apparent is that the out of town owners, what can be worse than Irish Investors based in London with Manchester agents, want to close Holts Arcade which is also Grade II listed thus denying the public access to it.

Holts arcade was built over the original Chorley Street that was taken over to build the huge City block style building designed by Liverpool’s favourite architect Herbert Rowse who also built the Philharmonic Hall and the amazing Martins Bank also in Water Street.

The Daily Post had it as its front page. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2012/11/22/future-of-india-buildings-in-doubt-after-liverpool-council-cautions-owners-over-illegal-removing-of-entrance-plaques-99623-32280635/ Peter Elson doing the reporting.

And the Echo did a full page http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/11/22/fears-for-future-of-liverpool-s-landmark-india-buildings-100252-32281873/ followed up with a sort of response from Mike Tapp and Co of Greed Property Group.
The history of India Buildings is immense. The Echo ran another page the publics response is clear.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/11/23/u-turn-on-blunder-at-liverpool-s-india-buildings-100252-32290010/

 Today in NW Businessweek a press release from Dougal Paver, who have now been asked to mitigate the situation, was written up by


By James Graham
THE owners of Liverpool's landmark India Buildings are promising a "significant" investment to attract new tenants.
Mike Tapp, a director of London-based Green Property, said the company plans to attract large firms to the Grade II-listed building, which is home to law firm DLA Piper.
He said: “The sort of companies who’d be attracted to a building of this stature will be ones who want to balance a modern working environment with the pleasure that comes from being in such a lovely space.
“They’d run a mile if we didn’t do a proper job of conserving its fabric and that’s what we intend to do. We’ve got architects and heritage advisors supporting us and, of course, the conservation officers in the council. I’m looking forward to revealing our plans in due course.”
The commitment came after a report in the Liverpool Post said the company had been cautioned by the city council for illegally removing eight bronze entrance plaques.
The report also claimed Green Property was planning to close Holts Arcade in the building and convert the shop units into office space.
Mr Tapp said: “The fact is that shopping patterns in Liverpool’s business district have shifted now that Liverpool One has brought the retail heart up to the edge of the office district.
"The area doesn’t generate the footfall it used to, either, as there have been some major relocations from the vicinity to around St. Paul’s Square. We’re keeping a close eye on things, but it’s not in our shareholders’ interests to offer a product to the market that isn’t viable.”
Until 2005 the building was home to the passport office. Earlier this year law firm Weightmans moved out for a new base at The Plaza on Old Hall Street.
The 350,000 sq ft building was built between 1924 and 1932 for Alfred Holt's Blue Funnel Line.
It is interesting to note that we have been informed that Mike Tapp of Green Property Group sanctioned the removal of the plaques.

Here is yesterday with a bucket in Holts Arcade collecting water(for the third time) after another leak sprung through the vaulted ceiling.

What a great way to attract tenants.

Cllr Malcolm Kennedy Spins Marc Waddington another One...Just Like The Other One.

When are the local hacks going to realise that they are not PR for the council and are not there to make councillors look good with empty promises and PR spin.

This time its Marc Waddingtons turn to make Malcolm Kennedy, Liverpools Regeneration officer (who has not regenerated anything but his own career)  look good, with twaddle about a fifteen year plan to transform Islington.

He says:

LIVERPOOL’S Islington district is in line for a multi-million pound face lift over the next decade.
There are plans to transform up to 1.5m square metres of land with hotels, houses and offices in a bid to revamp one of the main routes into the city.
The council and developer Downing hope that the growing demand for high-quality student accommodation and the need for homes for ‘key workers’ like nurses and doctors will help stimulate the project.

All speculation Mr Waddington, but there you are making the council look as if they are doing good, getting all the (rigged by the council) comments section on the corrupted Echo website wound up, on Downing developments behalf.

He goes on to say: 
The plans, originally conceived in 2005, were shelved in 2007, when it became difficult to raise finance for the scheme because of the credit crunch.
THE plan for the multi-million pound regeneration of Islington was progressing well before it became one of the many development victims of the credit crunch.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/10/04/15-year-masterplan-for-regeneration-of-liverpool-s-islington-gateway-100252-31962120/
(Our understanding is that the credit crunch started in 2008 Marc).
Are the council somehow subsidising Downing?

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/councillor-malcolm-kennedy-manipulating.html
So is Kennedy Manipulating the press
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/david-bartlett-takes-city-council-to.html
Or are they all in on it togther
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/peel-holdings-running-liverpool-city.html
What has Malcolm Kennedy actually done.

So why are we being spoon fed with half thought out ideas by Marc Waddington and co at the Oldham Echo about creating jobs, when they have just put all the Merseymart delivery boys out of a job.
All those old blokes who used to be kept busy with their trolleys, are now down the pub every Thursday and Friday drowning their sorrows with nowhere to go just because they now give it away free in the Echo........... er, hang on......... you have to buy an Echo to get a free paper.

It just gets worse.
Soon you will get a free Post in the Echo and its likely it will be full of he sae old ouncil spin that nobody believes anymore.

David Bartlett Takes The City Council To Task Over Lime Street Dereliction.

Or does he just give them the chance to defend the atrocious mess that is Lime Street?.

We have been banging on about this for years.

This block is ended by two listed buildings The Grapes public hous and the Vines.

Bartlett writes;

A FIVE-YEAR masterplan will attempt to revitalise Liverpool’s Lime Street.

City regeneration leaders admitted the road and neighbouring Renshaw Street are top of their list of priorities after becoming blighted by numerous derelict properties.

They have relaunched a joint venture company called Regeneration Liverpool, with Sigma In partnership, which will develop at least five sites across the city.

Lime Street and Renshaw Street is one of those projects and the company has already been tasked with drawing up a masterplan.
Between 2007 and 2010, £35m of mainly public money was lavished on improvements after Lime Street station was rated one of the worst in the country.
It involved knocking down the eyesore Concourse House and a row of shops in front of it, with the public square built at the main entrance in their place.

Read more http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2012/08/09/derelict-and-forgotten-does-liverpool-s-lime-street-have-a-future-99623-31579623/ Wayne informs me he spoke to David last week and highlighted Liverpools need to regenerate the Central Docks while Lime Street lays derelict and fair enough he has sharpened his pencil and got a story out highlighting the need to regenerate this area..............It does not mention the need for regeneration In a sympathetic manner though.
Malcolm Kennedy who has not regenerated anything also gets some air.to regenerate his career he says;

Cllr Kennedy said Lime Street’s problems stem from it previously not being seen as a priority and the fragmented ownership of properties, an issue which also affects Renshaw Street.
He said discussions around what the masterplan will entail are at a sensitive stage and could not release exact details.
But he added: “Everything needs to be smartened up. Some buildings may have to go and new buildings put up. It is about transforming the area and that goes beyond a simple clean-up.”
Some take the view that areas around the main train station in many big cities around the world inevitably show their grubby underbellies, so should Lime Street be left as it is?
“No, not at all,” said Cllr Kennedy firmly.


Heres one we did earlier;
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/call-this-regeneration-liverpool-lime.html
Regeneration, Regeneration, Regeneration.

We even have a Regeneration Officer (Code for lets help Peel Holdings) by the name of Malcolm Kennedy.
Those in charge of Regeneration seem to concentrate on all the easy jobs while the old stock falls down.

The Futurist, that's Ironic, is a mess, left to rot while being so close to the world heritage site it may as well be in it.

Last I heard it was being left to fall down by Neptune Developments who wanted to develop the site. On one end of this block we have the Grapes (this block is next to the Adelphi) and the other end the Vines, both listed buildings because of their architectural merit.

While we are being spoon fed about Liverpool's (false) new dawn those in charge of Regeneration watch while whole blocks lay in decay. Is it a tried and tested plan. Let it fall down, the city council wont use their powers to have the building kept in a good state of repair. Then the developers claim it is in such a bad condition that the only thing to do is knock our historic pieces of architecture down and then build a modern block of flats. Just to the side of this is the Grade II listed ABC Cinema that those Urban Splash people said they were going to restore ......and then didn't, is rotting away.

If only those in charge of Regeneration really were genuine and sincere in the job in hand and stopped dodgy developers in this city letting our historic architectural stock fall down by serving them repair notices.

 

Another page filler from the Daily Ghost last year went no-where.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2010/03/22/urban-splash-reaffirms-commitment-to-liverpool-lime-street-and-southport-s-pleasureland-92534-26081951/

So where will this story lead to not more public realm money wasted on naff rubbish public art. Lets hope not.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/liverpool-european-capital-ofbad.html

The article mentions the demolition Concourse House, heres what we say One step forward and one step back. Dont forget they kncocke it down and built the most awful block, breze block of student flats imaginable.

  http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/concourse-house-one-step-forward-and.html

Liverpool World Heritage Status In Ruins-A Third World Country Could Manage The Site Better.

Waking Up To Reality


Local blogger Correspondent gives his slant on World Heritage reality, about to hit home.
It is worth recalling some of the worst headlines from the now(deservedly) defunct Daily Ghost. 
Tuesday, June 19, 2012



http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/waking-up-to-reality.html
A hazy state of semi-consciousness gives way to the sobering light of day. Half-remembered recollections of intoxicated excess & its attendant claims induce an initial cringe. Then comes the shudder, the mortifying realisation that things were said which owed more to conceitedness than careful consideration. The empty bottles tell their own story. Reality dawns. Too late.

One presumes that a collective shake of the head was in order at Oldham Hall Street today as Alastair Machray, et al, finally understood the ramifications of Peel's Liverpool Waters on the city's World Heritage Site status ( http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/06/19/unesco-prepare-to-start-process-of-stripping-liverpool-s-world-heritage-site-status-100252-31212104/  ).

Over at the city council, meanwhile, Joe "Tea & Sympathy" Anderson looks in the mirror, a smile on his face as he ponders his attire for that big day at the Palace (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-18460258 ). A minion timorously knocks on the door. Irritated to have his royal reverie abruptly curtailed, Joe brusquely snatches the copy of the Oldham Echo that is proffered by the hapless assistant & reads the comments he's OKed for publication:

"The main concerns raised about heritage issues on Liverpool Waters will not become an issue for several years as they focus on later stages of the project -- they will not be built for at least 10 years -- and detailed plans my be subject to change before then.

"We believe firmly that is is possible to have a world-class development while still retaining our world heritage status."

Joe knows it's hogwash, but he'd rather get back to his day at Buck House (what to say, how to act, perfecting that all-important bow). Never mind the fact that WHS status is now up for review by UNESCO in St Petersburg this weekend ( http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/liverpool-to-be-placed-on-unesco-world.html ).

Rewind a few hours & back on Oldham Hall Street the struggle to clear minds isn't easy. Someone helpfully recalls an editorial from last February & its dismissive one-liner about Liverpool's WHS ( http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/our-view/2012/02/29/liverpool-waters-plans-must-proceed-100252-30427746/  ):

"It's a great accolade to have, but some things are more important."

There's a tumbleweed moment in the office. Silence is followed by an embarrassed clearing of the throat & a muffled aside about getting on with some work.

Big Al Machray looks bewildered. Then irritated. Then purposeful. He calls together the finest minds at his disposal, an Echo Brains Trust, if you will. Drafting an editorial, they know it has to reflect Oldham Hall Street's new-found sobriety in discussing UNESCO's impending decision ( http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/our-view/2012/06/19/don-t-punish-the-city-of-liverpool-unesco-100252-31211961/ ):

"But as [UNESCO] prepare for their discussions, we would ask the committee members to be mindful that this is a city which is constantly evolving and improving -- and the waterfront must be a part of this positive development.

"The last thing this city wants to do is destroy its heritage, and we have no intention of allowing that to happen. We also have no intention of missing out on an exciting and ambitious scheme which aims to revive and regenerate the depressed northern docklands -- providing new hope, new opportunities and new jobs."

Heads are nodded in agreement that the latter point is sufficiently vague & poorly-researched for inclusion in an Echo editorial.

So far, so good. However, a concluding sentence is needed, one that combines a tacit acknowledgement that Liverpool Waters has terminal implications for the city's WHS with a reminder that the Echo is chronically addicted to the press releases issued by the Peel behemoth:

"Trust us to carry on combining the new and the old -- and allow us to retain the status you gave us, while continuing to look to the future."

Will that do, someone asks. There's a furrowing of brows, sotto voce reservations emanate from one or two & Big Al's most loyal lieutenants gaze at their efforts admiringly. Judgment is arrived at. That'll do, is the verdict.

Joe, meanwhile, resumes his thoughts about that day at the Palace. Across the city of which he is Mayor the cuts continue & Peel Holdings wait expectantly for UNESCO to do their worst.

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Liverpool- Is it good architecture, or bad?

After CNN voted it amongst the worst 10 buildings a local debate has raged. The new look "The Post" the new weekly version of the now defunct Daily Ghost asked Wayne to write 400 words for "The Debate" which he duly did, this was to go in the first ever publication
Then after time anda bit of time and effort, it was asked to be cropped to 200. Wayne was aware that he was being lined up to say he did not like the building so he never said what they wanted.
The 400 was cut to 200 and the promise was the whole 400 would be on the website.
They speak with forked tongue there at the new look, old methods, The Post. Just when you think they are getting into serious debate, they then revert to type.
 http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2012/01/19/the-debate-liverpool-catholic-cathedral-is-it-really-an-ugly-building-video-99623-30151571/

So here are the actual 400 words that Wayne submitted;
I love modern architecture, but it’s hard to like this brutalist concrete upturned funnel, though I can’t agree it’s in the world’s worst 10 buildings.

Looking remarkably like The Cathedral of Brasilia, a hyperboloid structure designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1958. It immediately leaked like a giant colander. The architect Frederick Gibberd was sued. Structural problems were not resolved until the 1990’s. The mosaic tiles had to be replaced with glass-reinforced plastic!
Jerry built, was the term, often used to describe its construction. Is it still a structural time bomb?
The outspoken and highly intelligent ecclesiastical sculptor Arthur Dooley coined the term Paddy’s Wigwam.
It sums up the 60’s, as a now outdated architecturally futurist fantasy, that at times went horribly wrong.
When tried and tested methods of construction, bent the given laws of logic to, sometimes, severe and often detrimental effect.
European funding was recently spent on its so-called realignment with Hope Street while next door, the Wellington Rooms, one of our historic gems, is derelict and sadly ignored.
Always meant to compete with the majesty of Giles Gilbert Scott’s Anglican Cathedral, it does so only by being architecturally impertinent and the use of shock effect.
Like a noisy little mongrel, barking at a graceful distinguished pedigree.
It dates from a time of religious conflict when children played football in the streets, Protestants verses Catholics.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who submitted a design for the Anglican Cathedral competition, once said 'There is hope in honest error, but none in the icy cold perfection of the mere stylist.'
The original Lutyens design was meant to be a rival to St Peter’s in Rome. He only managed the building of the Crypt before the outbreak of war, and then in the 60’s the cut-price colander idea came along.
No doubt it was sold to the public as being Iconic.
Liverpudlian’s are often defensive, of their own, but CNN have sparked off a debate that if entered into will give us more understanding of our public realm.
It’s not a good idea to risk your future by disrespecting your architectural inheritance.
Now loved by many who are proud to have two Cathedrals in the City, people now seem to have got used to it. Does that mean it’s good architecture?
Lutyens original design model is in the new Museum of Liverpool, now that is, a building that should be in the world’s worst top 10.

Peel Groups Property Arm Loses £18.3 million in 2011.

By Mike Fahy - Assistant Editor, Business Desk:

PEEL Group's Land & Property arm declared a pre-tax loss of £18.3m in the year to March 31, 2011 as its turnover climbed by 4% to £97.7m.
The business, whose main focus is developing property asserts held at docks in Liverpool and Glasgow, as well as its proposed Atlantic Gateway scheme, declared an operating profit of £55.3m (2010: £58.4m), but higher interests payments of £79.7m (£66m) pushed it into the red as it completed a refinancing of its debts.
A £200m debenture was increased to £250m in April 2010, and at the year end two loans worth a combined £182m were replaced by a new 20-year, £205m facility. The refinancings incurred one-off charges of £12.3m.
The company saw its rent roll drop by £2.6m to £64.3m during the year, which it said was due to the sale of properties in Blackburn and Glasgow. The properties brought in rent of almost £3.8m a year.
In total, it sold off land worth £18.6m during the period and made a profit of £5m on disposals. These included sites at Princes Dock in Liverpool, Speke Leisure Park, Astley Business Park in Wigan and at James Watt Dock at Greenock in Scotland.
The firm said that it currently has around 700,000 sq ft of property standing empty (2010: 893,000 sq ft) which has an estimated rental value of £4m a year (£5.9m).
However, it added that half of this is industrial property around its docklands holdings in Liverpool and Glasgow, which is being held for redevelopment purposes.
In total, the company controls more than 200,000 acres of land and held net assets of £640bn at its year end, down from £666.4bn in the prior year.
Peel's Land & Property division is currently progressing with both its its Wirral Waters and Liverpool Waters schemes, which it described as "the largest private-led regeneration projects in the country". It is also moving forward with plans for its £50bn Ocean Gateway scheme, which will see a series of new developments including new ports between Manchester and Liverpool.
Outline planning approval for Wirral Waters was achieved during the financial year, and since its year end it has also gained the green light for the first phase of investment - a £175m International Trade Centre. The Liverpool Waters element remains mired in in a dispute with heritage organisations, which has seen UNESCO threaten to revoke Liverpool's World Heritage status if plans were developed in their proposed form.
The company's accounts also show that after a period during which the value of its land bank had remained flat, "the market has increasingly shown evidence of the return of residential activity and as the year has progressed housebuilders have begun to emerge and prepare for business.

Since the year end, Peel has agreed a joint venture with housebuilder Barratt to develop 1,000 homes on Peel-owned land. The partnership has already gained planning for a 268-house development close to Liverpool John Lennon Airport in Speke, on which work is due to start on site shortly.

So Where is the money going to come from for all these ambitious projects?

So why cant the Daily Ghost (now deceased, soon to become the weekly Ghost) find this out.............no wonder they have had to close down, if I can find this out why cant they.
Maybe they will now copy this down and think twice before the project Glass Pie In The Sky projects on to the public.

St Andrews Church Sold To A Convicted Fraudster For A Quid!!!!

Liverpool council have agreed to sell the Grade II-listed St Andrews Church, in Rodney Street, to Nigel Russell’s construction arm, Middle England Developments, for £1. Marc Waddington wrote, for the Daily Post which it says understands some council officers were aware of Mr Russell’s convictions in the USA – which saw him stripped of his right to deal in real estate in South Carolina – but had not informed senior directors until after the deal had been recommended.

Mr Russell said his conviction was “in the past” and he didn’t wish to discuss it. The council’s own rules state that “when determining whether or not the applicant is fit and proper, the council must have regard to certain offences relating to fraud, sexual offences and contraventions of housing or landlord and tenant law”.

Opposition leaders have also raised concerns about claims allegedly being made to investors about Penlake’s operations in the city.

Under the arrangement, investors pay a lump sum of around £48,000 per unit and are guaranteed a £6,000 return in the first year only.
Read the full story here. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/12/14/secret-prison-past-of-liverpool-property-developer-92534-29949224/


Are Liverpool City Council Corrupt?
That is a question I was asked the other day.

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2011/08/st-andrews-church-rodney-street-call.html

Despite promises from Joe "You're Scum" Anderson to protect our heritage, he then gives St Andrews Church away to a convicted fraudster.
Are the company, that paid the quid, members of the  Spiv Lobby Group Downtown Liverpool is another question I was asked the other day.
  http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/joe-anderson-to-save-liverpools.html

http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/10/st-andrews-church-rodney-st-liverpools.html
This post has the history of the church.

This post may or may not contain the history of the deal.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/11/joe-anderson-sitting-far-too-close-to.html
Or even this one.
http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2010/06/frank-mckenna-suckles-at-breast-of-joe.html


Well done to Marc Waddington who shows himself as a ray of light in a room of Trinity "smoking" Mirrors here http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/11/is-frank-mckenna-really-editing.html
There is hope at the Ghost yet.

SAVE LIVERPOOL'S WORLD HERITAGE SITE-From The Local Spiv Lobby.

You chip away trying to put an argument forward showing what we will lose if World Heritage Site Status is removed.
But it is always being undermined by the local media with their close links to developers and their misguided principles.
The Spiv lobby, partly made up of previous redundo's and outcasts who now hawk their wares around the local reporting media seem to get their way far too often.
Take Mark Thomas............please,will someone take the editor of the Daily Post, and explain to him some principles.
 My opinion is that he has been tainted and having had such a hard time,  he thinks if he hides below the water line and administer the sackings nobody will notice.
Whilst claiming in writing, in the paper that we as campaigners are costing jobs he slashes them on behalf of his employers who shipped out all the printing presses to Oldham.
Some people need to take a hard look at themselves.
Today's opinion goes on about creating jobs by giving Peel Holdings planning permission to trash the World Heritage Site, while he is the grim reaper at the Daily Post dishing out redundancy money to anyone who will take it.

I spoke to David Bartlett Thursday last and advised him of a threat to London and he first said we cant do anything about this. Then he phoned me back and said " Oh yes we can now" I knew it was going to be a stitch up job at Editor level. Davids piece was alright.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news//tm_headline=liverpool-joined-by-london-in-world-heritage-status-battle%26method=full%26objectid=29893807%26siteid=100252-name_page.html

so it is a case of keeping the local press informed, but I think that is about it now.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/12/05/london-landmarks-palace-of-westminster-and-tower-of-london-now-under-unesco-world-heritage-spotlight-after-liverpool-visit-92534-29893809/

But the extremists at the Daily Ghost lead me to think that they are in on all this and the local media are far too close to the developers and local groups of Spivs such as Downtown Liverpool who Joe Anderson is far too close to also.

Today's Daily Ghost opinion is another desperate attempt for the editor to curry favour with his mates.....in my opinion. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-daily-post/2011/12/05/heritage-lobby-is-trying-too-hard-92534-29894106/

Have the heritage lobby perhaps not fully appreciated the extraordinary impact of the ongoing recession?

Do they somehow think we would be willing to sacrifice jobs and investment because they say we should?  They say in today's Opinion.

Has the editor of the Daily Ghost not realised that some of us run businesses in the cultural sector and have aesthetic values and have realised that the trashing of the Pier Head may have created a small number of jobs but the cultural sacrifice is far too great.


While this editor has been employed the world heritage site has been trashed.

Why is he trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public?
 Just look at the state of Mann Island against what was there before.
Mark Thomas seems intent on losing us the WHS status.



Wayne

David Bartlett-Daily Post, Keeping His Eye On Unesco Monitoring Mission Developments.

Christmas D-day for Liverpool’s World Heritage Site verdict


LIVERPOOL will discover whether Unesco inspectors believe the city should be stripped of its World Heritage Site status by Christmas.
Read More http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/10/31/christmas-d-day-for-liverpool-s-world-heritage-site-verdict-92534-29689116/2/#ixzz1cMT4iQg3


Unesco is sending a monitoring mission to Liverpool because it is concerned about the impact of Peel Holdings’ £5.5bn Liverpool Waters skyscraper scheme to regenerate the city’s northern docklands.
It has warned the city could lose its World Heritage status if the project is given planning permission. It has now been confirmed the three-day mission will arrive on Monday, November 14.
According to the terms of reference, the mission will report its findings by December 23 at the latest.
Last night heritage campaigner Wayne Colquhoun, who was instrumental in persuading Unesco to send its inspectors, said he hoped they would not repeat “past mistakes”.
The inspectors being sent are Ron van Oers and Patricia Alberth from Unesco – the body which runs World Heritage Sites(WHS) – and Mr Giancarlo Barbato, an Italian Conservation Architect from ICOMOS, the International Committee on Monuments and Statues.
Mr van Oers was a member of a similar mission that visited Liverpool in 2006 and decided the WHS was not compromised by new developments at the city’s Pier Head which included the three granite blocks, which are now nearing completion.
Mr Colquhoun said: “I am afraid they put a blindfold on him because of what Unesco then allowed to be done to the central core of the World Heritage Site at the Pier Head – the very symbol of Liverpool – has been an architectural disaster.
“The last time I gave as much respect as I could to the monitoring mission and they let us down badly.
“I would like this monitoring mission to give Liverpool advice on how to protect and enhance the World Heritage Site with sustainable development. “The reason they are here is because we persuaded them it is a matter of urgency.” He said he was concerned the inspectors would be “sweet talked” by the city council and Peel Holdings.
Mr Colquhoun insisted he is not against developing the northern docklands but insists the proposals are not in keeping with Liverpool’s built environment.

He also made it clear he does not want Liverpool to lose its WHS but wants to see it better managed.
“I am in favour of developing the area but with a sustainable development like in Amsterdam that builds development around its waterways in a humane manner.”
The terms of reference state that the mission will assess the overall state of conservation and factors affecting the outstanding universal value of Liverpool’s WHS.
It will have “particular regard” to the proposed development of Liverpool Waters with its dense, high and mid-rise buildings.
The inspectors will also examine progress that has been made since the 2006 Unesco mission and the city’s overall development strategies, “existing planning procedures and management systems and their effectiveness for the property and its setting”.
The findings of the mission will be reported to the World Heritage Centre by December 23 at the latest in the report not exceeding 10 pages.
Liverpool has delayed making a decision on Peel’s planning application until after the visit.
Earlier this week the Daily Post revealed a campaign committee has been set up, by Liverpool council and Peel Holdings, to persuade Unesco officials not to strip Liverpool of its World Heritage Site status.


David Bartlett front pages todays news and it is re-assuring to note that the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo are, now, maybe, interested in creating a fair debate around the Unesco Monitoring Mission. 
Thats all we have ever asked and lets hope it continues, in the interests of an equality of arms, against the might of PR companies with vested interests that the likes of Peel Holdings can employ. 
And lets not forget the City Council are compliant to the extreme with Peel Holdings vision to create Shanghai-On-Mersey, without giving the citizens of the city.......their say.