A MAJOR milestone was last week reached by the team submitting West Devon and Cornwall?s bid for World Heritage Site status.

The first part of the bid, the nomination document, was amended and agreed at a meeting on October 12 and is being passed back to local authorities for endorsement before being put forward to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for approval.

The document puts the case for the outstanding international importance of mining in Cornwall and West Devon and states why the ten areas within the bid should be granted World Heritage Site Status.

It has taken almost three years to produce, such is the breadth of the research and writing involved.

Before being submitted to DCMS, the document underwent extensive public consultation, with suggested amendments taken on board, and had to be approved by the partnership involved in the bid, which gave the green light at its October meeting.

Stephen Gill, planning chief at West Devon Borough Council, one of the partners, said: ?The bid has been widely supported by West Devon. We made a series of comments on the nomination document and we are delighted to say they have all been taken on board and all agreed by the partnership. We are very happy with the outcome.?

Deborah Boden, world heritage site co-ordinator, said: ?We were delighted with the responses received during the recent public consultation exercise, and we are grateful to all those who took the time to send us their thoughts on the nomination document.

?The bid has met with widespread support from people in Cornwall and West Devon and the bid partnership has now updated the document to reflect their views.?

Once approved by the authorities, the document will be considered and endorsed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport before being sent on to UNESCO.

Ms Boden said DCMS will prepare a ministerial foreword on behalf of Heritage Minister Lord McIntosh, before the final submission is sent to UNESCO, who will assess it in 2005.

The second part of the bid, the management plan, is being amended following consultation and will be considered for approval by the partnership at its meeting on November 25.