Warwick could join places such as Sydney Opera House, the Taj Mahal and Stonehenge as a world heritage site.
Senior officers at Warwick District Council are considering applying to Unesco for the castle and parts of the town centre after the idea was raised by town and district councillor Elizabeth Higgins.
Coun Higgins said she had thought of the idea a
fter returning from the Baltic states, where the old town areas of Tallinn in Estonia and Riga in Latvia are recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organis-ation’s world heritage committee.
Existing sites in the UK include Durham’s cathedral and castle, Bath city centre and the old and new towns of Edinburgh.
Coun Higgins (Con, Warwick West) said: “I don’t see why the historic centre of Warwick could not become a world heritage site.”
Coun Higgins believes the status would help conserve old buildings and prevent unsympathetic new building in the town.
Warwick District Council head of planning John Archer said the idea had not been raised before.
He said: “It’s a legitimate point to raise and we need to give consideration to its implications for the town and the district council.”
He warned that the standard, which includes criteria such as being “of outstanding universal value” and “representing a masterpiece of human genius” set “a pretty high bar” and that the council would be taking advice from English Heritage on whether it was a course of action worth pursuing.
To be considered, Warwick would first have to become part of a ‘tentative’ list of sites the government can put forward to Unesco.
A list of 25 sites was drawn up in 1999.
The full article contains 285 words and appears in Warwick Courier newspaper.
