The vice-chairman of Arbroath Abbey’s failed campaign for World Heritage Site status has accused selectors of trying to “wriggle out of the blame” for the site being snubbed.
The department for culture, media and sport (DCMS) this week claimed the Angus landmark had been overlooked for the UNESCO award because it did not have the potential to “demonstrate outstanding value.”
Harry Ritchie, of the Arbroath Abbey World Heritage Campaign, has now hit back, claiming he has reason to doubt the explanation provided.
He said, “The category under which our campaign was submitted was listed under section six of UNESCO’s criteria for assessment of outstanding universal value that is, ‘be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance’.
“If The Declaration of Arbroath does not totally fit that requirement, when it is widely regarded as being the birth of democracy in Scotland and is also regarded as being linked with the American Declaration of Independence, then I do not know what does.”
Campaigners felt the abbey’s connection with the Declaration of Arbroath would stand it in good stead to be chosen for the shortlist to be considered for the international honour.
However, the panel of expert assessors who make up the recommendations for the UK Tentative List instead opted for the Forth Bridge, the Crucible of Iron Age Shetland and the Flow Country in the Highlands as the Scottish sites to be put forward.
“I received a telephone call a few weeks ago from the DCMS, saying that the department had received the proposed list from the expert panel,” Mr Ritchie said.Economic climate”The minister was asking, that before he went further and due to the current economic climate, did we still want to be considered.
“If we were not on the list submitted by the expert panel, why did the DCMS ask us if we wanted to continue with our application.
“I cannot see a government department wasting time and money contacting all applicants who were not on the experts’ list. The reason for so doing seems pointless.”
The DCMS was responsible for collecting the assessments from the panel of experts and passing their choices on to UK Government ministers and their counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Mr Ritchie said Holyrood representatives must also take their share of the blame for Arbroath missing out on a potential boost to the tourist trade.
“It would appear that the DCMS are trying to wriggle out of the blame and are afraid to accept responsibility for their actions,” he said.
“Blame must also be accepted by Holyrood, as they were also involved in the final selection.
“It is interesting to note that our government see democracy as being sufficiently important enough to send fighter aircraft to Libya, yet feel that Scotland’s first act of democracy (the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320) is not worthy of mention or promoting on the world stage.”
A spot on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list is a prestigious accolade that is reserved for sites of outstanding importance.