The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Cumbria

News

Lake District gets World Heritage status


As expected UNESCO award World Heritage status to the Lake District.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-40547691
tjj Posted by tjj
10th July 2017ce

Comments (4)

George Monbiot doesn't think it'll be very helpful for the environment as it'll just reinforce the current culture of overgrazing.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/11/lake-district-world-heritage-site-sheep
It makes you start wondering what WHS is for. I don't see it protecting the Stonehenge landscape against the putative tunnel / highway? Though I see they've Said Something. But can they insist? Or do they just threaten to take away its status if the govt insist on doing it over?
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
12th July 2017ce
I visited the Pont du Gard recently, which also got WH status a few years back. When you look at the structure in its setting, you say "rightly so", but then look at the new tourist infrastructure which it has funded close-by and you understand it's just the organisations who run these places shuffling money and resources around to facilitate more tourism. The visitor centre there is a MASTERPIECE of audio-visual display on a huge scale, but did the world have nothing better to do..........the reason for going is the f*****g viaduct in its natural setting. A toilet block at the car park would have been fine - there's already one on the opposite river bank.
In the case of the Lakes, this is about the ongoing journey for The National Trust and the National Park Authority.......end of!
Posted by tomatoman
12th July 2017ce

Monbiot's travails as to the problem of getting information from various bodies.

"So yes, people – and their dogs – are “free to write to express their concerns about World Heritage Sites”. And we are free to be ignored, fobbed off and funnelled into a farcical bureaucratic roundabout.

This is how UNESCO operates. There are no formal channels for public engagement, no established means of challenging misrepresentations and falsehoods, no accountability, no transparency, no concessions to anything resembling democratic legitimacy. So it leads me to ask, on whose behalf does it operate?"
http://www.monbiot.com/2017/07/11/black-box/
moss Posted by moss
12th July 2017ce
A slightly different outlook on making the Lake District a Heritage Site. The difference is of course the blurb on the tourist leaflet and the actuality of living in a far from pristine environment with low paid jobs and expensive housing.....

https://haveabitofclass.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/whose-heritage/
moss Posted by moss
18th July 2017ce
You must be logged in to add a comment