College responds to criticism of UNESCO site plans

Approval for the Caroline Street car park scheme was given in February

A further education college has addressed concerns its new building would harm the area's World Heritage status.

Shipley College received planning permission in February to build a new community and arts centre in the village of Saltaire, which is a designated UNESCO site.

However, a petition for the decision to be reconsidered has been signed by hundreds of people, after it was revealed a body which advises UNESCO had raised concerns about the scheme.

The college said those issues had been addressed in the final proposals.

The scheme would see a £6m community, arts, heritage and future technology centre built in Saltaire's Caroline Street car park.

As well as featuring classrooms, the venue would also include a visitor centre, exhibition space and a public garden.

It will also be the new home of the Saltaire Collection, made up of 6,000 artefacts detailing the history of the village, which was built in the 19th Century by the mill owner and philanthropist Titus Salt.

The area was given UNESCO World Heritage status in 2001.

Saltaire was granted UNESCO world heritage status in 2001

Earlier this week, it was revealed the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) – a body that advises UNESCO - had been critical of the plans in February 2023.

In documents obtained by a resident under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), ICOMOS said it was "difficult to understand how this site could be considered as acceptable for a large new building".

It added: "As proposed, it is likely that the centre would have a highly adverse impact on the integrity of the property and its Outstanding Universal Value."

More than 800 people have signed a petition calling for the planning approval to be reconsidered following the revelations.

However, both Bradford Council and Shipley College said ICOMOS' concerns were addressed at the pre-application stage of the proposal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Shipley College also said it took Historic England's advice "from a very early stage".

A college spokesperson said: "We take our status as long-time custodians of the historic buildings and artefacts of Saltaire very seriously.

"ICOMOS did provide feedback at the pre-application stage, and we of course then addressed all of their concerns in the very detailed full application stage.

“Historic England, via the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, kept ICOMOS informed throughout and ICOMOS were then given an extended amount of time to comment on the full application, which they chose not to do."

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