Unesco slams city's handling of Caltongate

Published on Tuesday 18 November 2008 08:47

ONE of the most controversial plans ever to go ahead in the city has been slammed by Unesco.

The criticism of Caltongate comes after the city was assured its World Heritage Status would survive, despite fears that several major developments could jeopardise the title.

But Unesco European heritage chief Dr Mechtild Rossler poured scorn on both the council's handling of the planning application and the needless demolition of two listed buildings to make way for the scheme.

She said it was rare that, in such a prized site, a developer should lead the master planning for a development of that scale rather than the local authority, and hinted that perhaps not enough attention was paid to protesters.

Following a visit to the Capital, she said: "There were a number of issues that concerned us about the Caltongate development.

"We do consider that listed buildings should only be demolished as a last resort and generally should not happen in a World Heritage site. It is very important to us that stakeholders are listened to and their views are not overrun.

"It's very puzzling that the council did not lead the original master planning process."