The World Heritage Bid Steering Group

A Steering Group has been established to take this work forward:

Chair : Dr Dawn Roberts (Wrexham Country Borough Council), Peter Birch (British Waterways), Stephen Hughes (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales), Sian Rees (Cadw), Del Roberts-Jones, Karina Kucharski, Anna Irwin, Peter Smith, Paul Nelson, Dave Gittins and Paul Blackburn (Wrexham County Borough Council), Fiona Gayle (Denbighshire County Council), Peter Booth (Oswestry Borough Council) and Prof. Richard Neale (on behalf of UNESCO Wales).

Funding and staff resources are being committed by the organisations involved with this work. In addition, Tourism Partnership North Wales, and the Institution of Civil Engineering have agreed to assist with funding contributions to the campaign.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is already on the UK’s tentative list of 25 potential World Heritage Sites which was published in 1999. Since then a number of sites have successfully been inscribed with a further one with UNESCO awaiting a decision. Of the remaining sites, Pontcysyllte is the only site in Wales.

Work currently underway includes:

• An application for Heritage Lottery Funding by British Waterways.
• The commissioning of a Conservation Management Plan by British Waterways.
• The commissioning of consultants Chris Pound and Jane McDermott by Wrexham County Borough Council to undertake research and write up a section of the Nomination Document:
• A comparison exercise on Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, comparing it with other comparator key sites world-wide.
• A statement of significance based upon the report already done in Phase I.
• A statement of Outstanding Universal Value for Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
• A section on Authenticity.
• A photographic survey of the Aqueduct and canal from Chirk to the Horseshoe Falls, Llangollen - by Royal Commission on The Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW).
• Specialist work by RCAHMW staff to produce computer graphic images of cross-sections of the Pontcysyllte and Chirk Aqueducts.
• Discussions between British Waterways, Wrexham County Borough Council, Denbighshire County Council and Oswestry Borough Council as to the exact boundary of the site to be nominated.
• Joint working by the Local Authorities’ Planning Conservation Officers, Consultants and Cadw to look at listed structures along the route and identification of other sites for listing.
• Mapping work to prepare base plans for the Nomination document.
• Continued community involvement through a touring exhibition and opportunity to ‘sign-up’ support for the nomination.
• Activity to raise the profile of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the bid.