Fresh safeguards for world heritage site

Published on Friday 30 July 2010 15:34

EDINBURGH'S world heritage site is set to win extra protection under plans to ensure new buildings are "sympathetic" to the capital's landscape.

Developers would be ordered to ensure the "traditional townscape character" of the city is preserved and enhanced by new schemes under a blueprint aimed at safeguarding the Unesco designation won by Edinburgh in 1995.

New rules are expected to insist that the height, design and massing of new additions to the city's Old and New Towns, which make up the world heritage site, preserve and enhance the existing landscape.

And a review of how the world heritage site is managed is expected to look at creating a buffer zone around the Old and New Towns, after the move was recommended by Unesco inspectors in the wake of damaging rows over new hotel developments.

The city's planning committee is to be asked to ensure that they take the world heritage site's "outstanding values" into account when considering major schemes. These include the "unique coupling of a medieval Old Town and an Enlightenment New Town".

A new strategy for the world heritage site, due to be discussed by councillors next week, recommends working with tourism operators to step up promotion of Edinburgh, drawing up policies to improve the public realm and overhaul monuments, and encouraging owners of historic buildings to seek financial help to carry out repairs to the highest possible standard.

The draft management plan for the site - drawn up by the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, Edinburgh city council and Historic Scotland - has been produced following prolonged criticism of the way major developments in and around the zone have been handled by the local authority.

A 17-storey hotel development in the Haymarket area was rejected after a public inquiry, while supporters of the Caltongate scheme, which would have seen two listed buildings make way for a five-star hotel and conference centre next to Waverley Station, blamed the length of time it took to clear the planning process for its developer going into administration.

The new study, published yesterday, states that Edinburgh's world heritage site is "inextricably linked" to economic development of the whole city, with the beauty, history and heritage of the Old and New Towns the key attraction for the capital's 2 billion-a-year tourism industry.

It states: "The city is consistently rated as one of the best places to live in Britain and Europe in terms of quality of life.At the heart of this are the qualities that led to the inscription of the Old and New Towns as a world heritage site.

"Edinburgh's distinctive character derives from its architectural heritage and the unique topography of its historic environment.

"It is, therefore, critical that the architectural form, building heights and massing of new developments consider and take account of their locations within the site."

Adam Wilkinson, director of Edinburgh World Heritage, said: "The management plan is a framework that helps us to prioritise ways of conserving and enhancing the world heritage site and align everyone's actions. As Edinburgh's world heritage site is a place where many people live and work as well as visit, it is essential that the plan is a collaborative document."

Jim Lowrie, the city council's planning leader, said: "The development of this plan is not about creating a checklist for developers, it is about involving all stakeholders, including the wider community, in the management of our world heritage site."