World Heritage Site: Inspectors come calling

Published on Wednesday 9 July 2008 10:27

Developments like Caltongate are putting the city's World Heritage Site status under the spotlight, sparking a Unesco visit, finds Gina Davidson.

TEN years ago there was a plan to build a motorway to the south of Cairo which had the potential to destroy large parts of the ancient pyramids of Giza, the last of the seven wonders of the world.

Tombs and sarcophagi were being discovered just metres from completed parts of the ringroad, and the next step was to take the road to within four kilometres of the pyramids themselves.

It didn't happen. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, or Unesco, stepped in and threatened to remove Giza from its list of World Heritage Sites (WHS) should the planned road go ahead.

And Unesco's Word Heritage committee has done the same thing just this month with the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany in the hope that work on a four-lane bridge will be stopped. In the meantime the site is on the "danger list".

Edinburgh too could quite possibly end up on that list. With the Caltongate development being approved for the heart of the historic Old Town – the area which, along with the beautiful symmetry of the New Town, won the capital its WHS status in 1995 – Unesco's inspectors are coming to town.

The watchdogs will visit later this year to assess just what is happening to the conservation of the city and the Scottish Government has been asked to submit a report defending Edinburgh's WHS status by February next year.

It seems Unesco is "deeply concerned" it wasn't consulted on the Caltongate development given the site's importance, and while they're at it the inspectors will also be taking a look at what's being planned for the St James Centre as well as Forth Ports' scheme to transform Leith Docks. The high-rise plans for Haymarket have not yet reached their radar.

Ever since Mountgrange mooted its plans to build on the derelict site which is bounded by New Street, Calton Road and the Royal Mile, there have been objections. The developers want to build a five-star hotel, conference centre, scores of shops, offices and homes, all of which will involve the demolition of two C-listed buildings, the Sailors' Ark and the Canongate Venture school. Their opponents – the council received 1800 objections to the plans – believe the plans, especially the demolitions, will ruin the historical integrity of the Old Town.

But is Edinburgh's status as a World Heritage Site really in jeopardy?

Certainly Unesco's visit is justified under its own regulations. It can look at any WHS which it believes is in danger of losing its natural or cultural characteristics for all manner of reasons – including "large-scale public or private projects". The 1.4 hectare Caltongate development easily qualifies.

The visit is also reasonable as with any development in a WHS site, the Government has to consult with Unesco before approval is granted. In this case, that consultation never happened.

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland says there was "no requirement" to notify Unesco because the heritage body was "content that the amendments made during the consultation on the Caltongate development removed any threats to the outstanding universal value to the World Heritage Site".

Scotland's Culture Minister, Linda Fabiani, says the only reason the inspectors are coming to Edinburgh at all is because the Government invited them.

"We have extended an invitation for a Unesco mission to visit Edinburgh and evaluate its status as a World Heritage Site," she says. Other heritage bodies don't agree with Historic Scotland, but rather oddly neither the Cockburn Association nor the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust were yesterday willing to talk in-depth about Edinburgh's WHS status. However, both have objected to the Caltongate development in the past.

But James Simpson, conservation architect and vice-president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites – an advisory body to Unesco – is more vocal.

He says: "The main problem with Caltongate is that the decision to demolish two listed buildings has effectively allowed the developer to greatly expand the size and scale of their scheme."

But Ron Hewitt, chief executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, denies the development will be detrimental. He says: "There is no indication that heritage interests are threatened by development.

"As a city, Edinburgh should welcome a developer offering to invest more than 300 million, create more than 2000 jobs, and make something useful."

"As has been well articulated by Historic Scotland, heritage management is about more than preserving old buildings. It's also about balancing economic and social need with the attractiveness and utility of the built environment."

And he adds: "Caltongate will bring new life to an area where it is most needed. No great heritage buildings are suffering."

Of course the arguments for and against Caltongate have been well aired. Now it's down to the Unesco inspectors to decide once and for all. And whatever their conclusions, the future development of Edinburgh hangs in the balance.