“any new visitor centre must be built in the footprint of the centre that was burnt down”

Good example of the benefits of fact-checking from the Belfast Telegraph, after they did the straight reporting of the controversial Causeway developer Seymour Sweeney’s claim that UNESCO’s Mechtild Rossler, the European chief of heritage sites at the organisation, was “impressed” by his proposal. They went to the source. And Dr Rossler pointed back to the UNESCO report[pdf file] from 2003 – noted here. – From today’s Belfast Telegraph report

When contacted by the Belfast Telegraph this week, Dr Rossler said the 2003 mission team’s findings had been “quite clear”. She added: “We were absolutely clear that any new visitor centre must be built in the footprint of the centre that was burnt down. That is my position and I am not moving one millimetre from that.”

From the 2003 UNESCO report

However, a number of potential threats exist, including development proposals, which could threaten the values and the integrity of the site. None of these proposals have been through the full planning process and have been approved. No approval should be given without reviewing a proposed development within the context of the protection and safeguarding of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the World Heritage site and its management.