Birkenhead goes for UNESCO…Liverpool looks on
Birkenhead goes for UNESCO…Liverpool looks on
Plus: A night of Bliss and the beginning of BlackFest 2024
Dear readers — a warm welcome to your Monday briefing. It’s a rather exciting one here at Post HQ; after learning the ropes at impressive speed, our new hire Laurence is now at hand to give you his personal favourite reads, Post Picks (et al) from now on. We’re sure it’ll be a welcome change from Abi’s endless pestering to go see the Blow Monkeys on tour or accompany her for a pint at Future Yard…
In all seriousness, having Laurence on board means we get to invest even more time in vital journalism that the region desperately needs. If you’d like to find out a little bit more about Laurence and what he’ll be bringing to the table, check out his writer’s edition from last week.
ICYMI: Over the weekend, first time Post contributor Thomas Gorton wrote a brilliant piece about the city’s nightlife to commemorate the release of his band’s new album North West Tonight. “Cracking article written with love and more than a tinge of sadness,” one of you commented. “A thoughtful nostalgic look at past times and the vibrant dance scene,” another said.
Editor’s note: We’ve just hit 1,700 paying members here at The Post, which is a huge deal for us. With our team fast expanding (both Laurence and our new editor Shannon now making the small cupboard Abi usually works from rather cramped…) it’s even more important to have the support of our paid subscribers. We couldn’t produce any of our longform features or essential accountability journalism without those of you willing to part with £7 a month to fund our investigations, cultural pieces and events.
Coming up later this week, Laurence reports on Liverpool’s boxing scene and a school’s remarkable turnaround; plus, Abi’s taking a break from over a year’s worth of explosive reporting on Big Help Project to follow another suspicious money trail. If you don’t want to miss these stories, and much more, click that button below. Thank you!
The big story: Birkenhead goes for UNESCO…Liverpool looks on
Top line: Birkenhead Park may be set for a £1.5 million upgrade as part of Wirral Council’s bid to transform it into a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Context: The park, which was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened in April 1847, was the first to be established at public expense in the UK. Its creation inspired other famous urban green spaces, including Central Park in New York City and Sefton Park in Liverpool, and it contains a number of listed buildings and assets, including a Swiss bridge —the only covered bridge of traditional wooden construction in the UK.
In 1977, the park was officially declared a conservation area; it was later given a Grade I listed heritage site status by English Heritage in 1995. Despite this prestigious designation, over the years the park has become more run down and neglected. It underwent major restoration work in the early 2000s, which involved tidying up its parklands and restoring some of its original bridges. While additional restoration began in 2007, the council has stressed there is still plenty of work to be done to restore Birkenhead Park to its former Victorian glory.
The bid: Now, the government has revealed its shortlist of seven sites nominated for UNESCO World heritage status — including York city centre, the Zenith of Iron Age Shetland, and Birkenhead Park. If approved by its tourism committee this week, Wirral Council will allocate nearly £1.5 million to spruce up the park in an attempt to win, with around a million allocated to physical improvements to the space, including new gates and refurbishment of the Swiss bridge and Roman boathouse. The other £500,000 will be spent on hiring more staff and gathering advice for the maintenance of the park, as well as community engagement.
A tough day for Liverpool: Of course, Birkenhead’s gain would be salt in the wound for Liverpool. Back in 2021 the city lost its own heritage status, with UNESCO stating a host of new developments and construction in the area had negatively impacted its historic value. At the time, Liverpool’s Liberal Democrat leader Richard Kemp dubbed it a “day of shame” and claimed the decision would “without a doubt, affect tourism and inward investment.”
While others have since argued that isn’t quite the case — back in 2023 Jack wrote a piece about the city’s loss of status, arguing that mapping out a true plan for the regeneration of north Liverpool should be more of a priority than maintaining a plaque — Birkenhead’s success would surely be a tough swallow for the city.
Bottom line: For Wirral Council, this kind of investment and global attention will be more than welcome. It is thought that UNESCO World Heritage status could double the number of visitors to the park, which currently stands at just under two million a year. A full submission of its UNESCO bid is expected by February 2026, once an full evaluation has been completed.
Your Post briefing
An update for those of you who read Abi’s four-part investigation into homelessness charity Big Help Project: Another company in ex-charity boss Peter Mitchell’s empire of organisations is now being wound down. Big Help Project Ltd (not to be confused with the charity of the same name) has filed for compulsory liquidation, according to documents on Companies House. Big Help Project Ltd is a private company within the Big Help empire, and while it was running a fairly small operation as of 2023, it received a £1.5 million loan from an unknown source. Now, just over a year and a half later, the company has filed for bankruptcy, making it the second Big Help entity to collapse in recent weeks.
A report into the Hillsborough disaster has criticised the delays experienced by families of the victims. The review, conducted by forensic expert Glenn Taylor and published by the Home Office, found the bereaved entitled to better communication and more timely meetings. Families faced 23-year waits for in-person meetings with pathologists. The Taylor report also recommended family members should be better informed of the storage of post-mortem photographs and images. Jenni Hicks, whose daughters Sarah, 19, and Vicki, 15, were among the 97 victims at Hillsborough, discovered that post-mortem images of their genitalia and breasts had been kept on a police computer.
Wirral Council has frozen all “non-essential” spending. Councillors last Wednesday approved an extra £1.1m to support services for people with special educational needs and disabilities as the update was given. As council leader Paul Start admitted, "We know the forecast for this year is quite dire." Services affected may include waste collection, car parking, children’s centres, and planning enforcement.
In a throwback to the town’s celebrated past, a New Brighton attraction has been named the best seaside experience by members of the public. New Palace and Adventureland has topped the Bucket and Spade Top Ten List for 2024, run by the Seaside Heritage Network. The Palace’s owner Davie Wilkie said “to be awarded first place is the icing on the cake”. Writer David Lloyd recently penned a piece for us about New Brighton — catch up on that here.
Post Picks
😂The Brain Charity Headquarters on Norton Street are hosting the Bliss Comedy Night this Saturday 21st September. Featuring no fewer than five neurodivergent stand-up comedians, the night promises to be full of uplifting comedy.
🎸BlackFest 2024, Liverpool’s award-winning arts festival, is officially underway. Featuring such acts as jazz legend Courtney Pine and Liverpool’s own author and poet Malik Al Nasir, the festival is running the end of this month and all throughout October.
🎤To celebrate the release of their new EP Bearhug, singer/songwriter Georgia Johnson is playing at Future Yard this Saturday 21st September. Liverpool born and bred, Georgia’s track Nomad was recently featured on BBC Music Introducing; she has been tapped as a rising star.
🌸The Flowers Still Grow exhibition is now on at the Open Eye Gallery on Mann Island. Running until 27th October, the exhibit showcases collaborations between writers, artists, photographers, and communities in Anfield and Garston.
Home of the week
Hats off to the interior designer of this one. This bespoke four bedroom house in south Liverpool has the Scandi enthusiast in us dribbling. Flooded with natural light, gorgeous glass arches and wooden accents. All for £575,000.
Recommended reads
This interview with Detroit-born, Liverpool-based composer Amanda Votta caught our attention. Amanda makes music under the moniker The Floating World. Her answer about the city, referencing shamanic Merseyside musician Julian Cope, is great.
In 1981, the same year as the Toxteth Riots, PJ Waller published Democracy and Sectarianism: A Political and Social History of Liverpool 1868-1939. The historian AJP Taylor reviewed it in the LRB, which made for a fascinating article about the city’s class and religious divides.
The issue in Liverpool was that UNESCO was seeking undue control over the nature, scope and location of the city's regeneration - but without the democratic mandate to go with such a vital role.
Working in the development sector I have not heard a single investment fund or developer ever cite the loss of world heritage status as negatively impacting on their investment intentions towards Liverpool. And, of course, tourism numbers have continued to grow since 2021, despite us being led to believe that loss of the UNESCO badge would be highly detrimental to the industry.
At the time I asked why UNESCO had not commissioned independent research to explore, via unprompted recall, whether their gong was among the top three or four reasons influencing people's decision to visit Liverpool. They never did, nor did any of its promoters. Meanwhile, the tourists keep flocking here.
Good luck to Birkenhead, meanwhile: the town is on its exciting regeneration journey and the park is a lovely spot with potential to attract visitors into the north end. Additional investment has to be welcomed.
"It is thought that UNESCO World Heritage status could double the number of visitors to the park" I'd love to know how that claim is backed up because all the data I've looked at over the years shows that UNESCO status makes no noticeable difference to visitor numbers. £1.5m is welcome for the park, I just hope the jobs created are in grounds maintenance and not going towards the very resource heavy, white collar UNESCO application process.