UNESCO Decisions Concerning World Heritage Mining Site

Following on from an announcement that permission has been granted for a new supermarket development at Hayle, Cornwall and west Devon's prestigious World Heritage Mining Site may be placed on an endangered list this week.

In the far off reaches of Cambodia, a UNESCO world heritage committee could make the decision that  the retail outlet would be out of place with the rest of the site. World Heritage Status could be removed, but it is hoped that this will be unlikely.

Echoing the feelings of the full council, Phil Mason, Cornwall Council's head of planning, housing and regeneration said: "The really important thing is the community of Hayle. The development was approved because we believed it would help the community of Hayle. That's why I think the decision was the right one to make."

UNESCO is set to make some big decisions

Deborah Boden, the Cornwall co-ordinator of the World Heritage Site, said: "In theory they could say Hayle Harbour has been negatively impacted and decide to remove the status from the whole of the site. I doubt they would do that.

"It's only a small part of the much wider 20,000 hectare World Heritage site across Cornwall and west Devon."

If the status is put on an endangered list, then a spokesperson for UNESCO said it would consult with the UK government to create "a programme for corrective measures, and subsequently to monitor the situation of the site".

A sign in Hayle states the town was the "cradle of the Industrial Revolution", and shipbuilding, as well as Harvey's Foundry, a reminder of the local mining industry, make Hayle a part of the heritage site.  UNESCO says that the mining heritage of the region operates as a "testimony to the contribution Cornwall and West Devon made to the Industrial Revolution in the rest of Britain".