Policy and Resources Committee is requested to consider the following recommendation of the Tourism, Communities, Culture & Leisure Committee held on 19 September 2024:

Resolved - That the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee:

1. Welcomed the progress made on the Birkenhead Park World Heritage Project, and thanked officers, the Friends of Birkenhead Park and the members of the Birkenhead Park Advisory Committee for their work on this project;

2. Endorsed its support for the nomination to UNESCO of Birkenhead Park as a World Heritage Site; and

3. Recommended to the Policy and Resources Committee that, in light of the Council’s current and continuing financial position, that the Director of Neighbourhood Services is authorised to proceed with the project as described, subject to securing external funding. Should that fail, then the matter can be considered by members in 2025/26 when the Council’s financial circumstances may be clearer.

Minute Extract and Report are attached.

The Director of Neighbourhoods Services presented the report which had been presented to the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee on 17 October 2024.

The report provided Members with an update on progress and achievements regarding the Birkenhead Park World Heritage project; set out the steps ahead for achieving the park’s recognition as a World Heritage Site; and sought approval for the allocation of additional funds to realise the site’s successful nomination to UNESCO, bringing about the associated wide-ranging benefits of such global recognition.

In April 2023, the UK Government, through its Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), announced the inclusion of ‘Birkenhead Park, the pioneering People’s Park’ on its ‘new’ Tentative List of potential sites for World Heritage Site nomination to UNESCO over the next 10 years. Birkenhead Park is one of only five sites on this exclusive list for the United Kingdom and its overseas territories.

This success came after a great deal of preparatory work over the last 8 years, and whilst being on this ‘shortlist’ did not guarantee that the site would be inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, it is the formal ‘first step on the ladder’ in the journey to seek this prestigious international recognition. The current phase of the initiative was to work towards a formal nomination to UNESCO. This was to be submitted by the UK Government and formed the basis on which UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee would decide on inscribing Birkenhead Park as a World Heritage Site.

The Director of Neighbourhood Services advised that there was an update to the recommendation previously agreed by Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committees. This was due to the spending freeze and budget pressures, and it was noted that it was inappropriate for the Council to allocate resources at that time. Members queried how usual it was to bid for external funding and were informed that not all successful World Heritage Bids are directly resources by Local Authorities. Members requested that Members of Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committees be kept updated with progress.

Resolved – That

1.  The Director of Neighbourhood Services be authorised to proceed with the project as described, subject to securing external funding.

2.  Should this fail, then the matter be considered by Members in 2025 -26 when the Council's financial circumstances may be clearer.

The Director of Neighbourhood Services had submitted a report to the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee, to provide an update on progress and achievements regarding the Birkenhead Park World Heritage project; to set out the steps ahead for achieving the park’s recognition as a World Heritage Site; and to seek approval for the allocation of additional funds to realise the site’s successful nomination to UNESCO, and thereby bring about the associated wide-ranging benefits of such global recognition.

The Director of Neighbourhoods informed the committee that officers had submitted a late change to the recommendations within the report. The Director told the committee that in the last few weeks, the Director of Finance had instructed officers to avoid all unnecessary discretionary expenditure within the authority, thereby instigating a spending freeze. He asked that members be willing to consider changing recommendation 3, as at this time it was not realistic to ask the Policy and Resources Committee to ask Council to allocate a capital bid of £975,000 and a revenue bid of £580,000 to this project due to the difficult financial situation.

The proposed change read as follows:

Recommend to the Policy & Resources Committee that, in light of the council’s current and continuing financial position, that the Director of Neighbourhood Services is authorised to proceed with the project as described subject to securing external funding. Should that fail, then the matter can be reconsidered by members in 2025/26 when the council’s financial circumstances may be clearer.

He said that the report would ask members to recognise the importance of the Council’s World Heritage Status bid, and to authorise officers to proceed with this project should they be able to secure external funding. He said he was optimistic that this could be secured.

The Head of Service for Parks and Countryside, and the Birkenhead Park General Manager, introduced the report. They explained that Birkenhead Park was refuted to be the world’s first publicly-funded, municipal park, and was one of the UK’s most significant parks, holding a Grade I Historic England status. It had a profound impact on parks worldwide, most famously on Central Park in New York.

Officers had been working for years to get recognition as a World Heritage site. Obtaining this would have a significant impact, building international awareness and a global reputation, and increasing opportunities within the visitor economy and for investment. It would also have an impact on the Birkenhead regeneration project, though it was not officially a part of the project. Officers stressed the impact of the World Heritage brand, and told the committee that research into this had suggested that world heritage sites were significant contributors to the local economy, and were also usually successful in attracting external funding.

In April 2023, they had submitted an application and Birkenhead Park was accepted onto the UK’s tentative list of potential future sites of nominations to UNESCO. This list was reviewed every 10 years, and Birkenhead Park was now one of five sites on this list. Whilst  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22