The production of the Liverpool - Maritime Mercantile City Management Plan was approved by the Liverpool World Heritage Site Steering Group, Liverpool City Council and the Secretary of State at the end of 2003 following an extensive public consultation exercise. The Management Plan recognises the necessity of securing a consensual approach to the management of this complex site, and has provided a vehicle for all key stakeholders (agencies, owners, interest groups and public) to agree a strategy and sign up to it. The need to ensure an appropriate and equitable balance between conservation, sustainability and development has been fundamental to the preparation of the Management Plan.   

The format of the Management Plan is based upon advice in Management Guidelines for World Cultural Heritage Sites by Bernard Fielden and Jukka Jokilehto for UNESCO and ICOMOS.    

The Management Plan addresses all of the key issues affecting the proper management of the Nominated Site, including conservation, regeneration and interpretation. The primary purpose of the Management Plan is to ensure that the structures and values that contribute to Liverpool's World Heritage interest are identified, protected, conserved and promoted. However, it also positively promotes new development, provided that it is of a suitable scale and high quality design and that it does not involve the loss of heritage assets or damage their setting.     

The Management Plan provides a framework for the on-going management of the site and should become a point of reference for all decisions taken by stakeholders that may affect the Site's World Heritage values. The Management Plan is a lengthy document, comprising a summary of the description of the site from the Nomination Document, the Statement of Significance, a discussion on management issues, objectives for those issues and an action plan to achieve those objectives. However, the over-arching aims of the Management Plan are set out in  "The Future for the World Heritage Site" (pdf 48kb).

 A Summary of the Management Plan and a CD of the whole Management Plan are available from the World Heritage Officer. 

World Heritage Site management plan

Introduction (pdf 720kb)

Description of the site  (pdf 585kb)  

Statement of significance (pdf 410kb)    

Opportunities, threats and management issues  (pdf 1.1mb)     

Future for the WHS' and management plan (pdf 225kb)    

Implementation and monitoring (pdf 148kb)     

You will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader (this will open in a separate browser) to view these documents.