Environment

The journey to World Heritage Site status for Saltaire was relatively short but not lacking in drama. For several years many local people had hoped that Saltaire might one day become a World Heritage Site. The first stage in this process was to be included on the United Kingdom’s Tentative List. Each country has to prepare a Tentative List of sites it believes are worthy of inclusion on the World Heritage List and submit it to the World Heritage Committee.

Between 1997 and 1999 the UK government reviewed its Tentative List and made visits to Saltaire and many other sites. However, when a consultation paper was published by the Department of Culture Media and Sport in August 1998, as a draft version of the Tentative List, Saltaire was not included. A concerted campaign was then launched to champion Saltaire’s case by the Saltaire Village Society, Chris Leslie MP and Bradford Council. The campaign was a success and in June 1999 Saltaire was one of just three sites to be included on the Tentative List after being overlooked at the draft stage.

There was no time for complacency however as Saltaire was selected in July 2000 with three other UK sites to be nominated for inclusion on the World Heritage List at the World Heritage Committee in December 2001. This left just six months for Bradford Council to co-ordinate all the necessary information contained in the Nomination Document and the Saltaire World Heritage Site Management Plan to meet the World Heritage Committees strict deadlines.

In December 2001 the efforts of all involved were rewarded with Saltaire’s inscription on the World Heritage List.