THE leader of Liverpool council today used his New Year report to reaffirm his commitment to the £5bn transformation of the city’s waterfront.

Joe Anderson spoke of his determination to back Peel’s Liverpool Waters, despite it potentially coming at the price of losing the city’s World Heritage Site status.

The Labour councillor highlighted the benefits of north docklands regeneration, citing the possible creation of 20,000 jobs and the complete transformation of a large deprived area of north Liverpool.

A recent inspection by a Unesco committee revealed the very real danger that the organisation’s opposition to a multi- million pounds skyscraper could scupper the city’s Heritage status.

But Cllr Anderson made clear what his priority for 2012 would be. He said: “Turning Peel Holdings (the developer) away doesn’t say to the world that Liverpool is a thriving modern city.

“It says we’re a city that is stuck in the past.You really do need to see the scale of this project to understand just how much impact it could have. This, very simply, would transform our city.

“It is too big an opportunity to let slip by.

“The city’s leading Lib-Dem, Cllr Richard Kemp, says that World Heritage Site status is more important than the Liverpool Waters Scheme. The Lib-Dems would turn away 20,000 jobs and £5bn of regeneration, all for the sake of a certificate on the wall in the Town Hall. I say that’s madness.

“Whatever happens in 2012, let me be absolutely clear about one thing: we will back Liverpool Waters.”