Aerial view of Edinburgh, photo: Edinburgh World Heritage Trust
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee at its 32nd session in Quebec, Canada, from 2 – 10 July 2008 agreed that joint UNESCO World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS Missions should be sent to both the Edinburgh Old and New Towns World Heritage Site and the City of Bath World Heritage Site to consider the overall state of conservation of the properties and also the potential impact of proposed new developments on their Outstanding Universal Value.
In particular, the Caltongate scheme, the possible St James’ Centre projects and developments Leith were mentioned for Edinburgh, and for Bath, the Bath Western Riverside development and the proposals for the Dyson Academy.
Summaries from the World Heritage Committee:
Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
- Expresses its concern at the potential impact of the Caltongate development
- Requests the State Party to invite a World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS joint reactive monitoring mission to the property to consider the overall state of conservation of the Old and New Towns and particularly the possible impact of the Caltongate development on the integrity and Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage property, as well as the outline proposals for Leith Docks, the St James Centre, and other current proposals
Read Times Online article: ‘Edinburgh risks losing status as world heritage site’
Read ICOMOS-UK Comment on Caltongate development with Press Release (document viewer)
- Expresses its concern at the potential impact on the outstanding universal value and integrity of the property of the proposed Bath Western riverside and the Dyson Academy development
- Requests the State Party to withhold final approval of the developments until the World Heritage Committee has had the opportunity to fully review these proposals
- Also requests the State Party to invite a World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS joint reactive monitoring mission to the property to consider the overall state of conservation and particularly the possible impact of the Bath Western riverside development and the Dyson Academy on the outstanding universal value and integrity of the property
- Expresses its concern at the potential impact of the proposed wind turbines on the integrity and Outstanding Universal Value of the property; and requests the State Party to suspend the project
Read ICOMOS-UK Precognition for the Public Local Inquiry on the construction of wind turbines affecting the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site (document viewer)
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Visit the Save Our Old Town website http://www.eh8.org.uk for more on the Caltongate development and http://www.independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com for updates and national and worldwide campaigns
Dear ICOMOS
I gather you are in Bath at the moment. Welcome. I support the idea of expanded Park and Ride facilities to preserve the limestone buildings but the Newbridge extension plans abutt a site which predates all the Edwardian city, dating back to at least 1700 and probably much earlier. The World Heritage site citation given Bath is for its mix of heritage through the ages. The Newbridge Park and Ride extension is in the wrong place and should be 1.5Km to the West, south of the river with access from the dual carriageway.
Ever since the news that Bath’s World Heritage Status was to be discussed at the 32nd Session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, harbingers of Heritage doom have been crowing that the end is nigh for Bath.
It virtually impossible for a layperson to make their voice heard when it comes to planning and architectural issues, yet there are Bath residents who, like me, think that Bath is STILL a nice place to live. What do I know? Only that I have an uneducated opinion.
The same can not be said for Professor Mannfredd Wehdorn, who works for ICOMOS, the international monuments committee which advises Unesco. During the much heralded Site visit to Bath, Professor Wehdorn, told the BBC: “We do not look after a city for the tourists, but for the people living here. And I must pay a big compliment to Bath for the way it has looked after its city.”
ICOMOS is the body which has consistently been identified by the harbingers of heritage doom as the ones who will bring B&NES Council and the Department for Culture Media and Sport into line. The NIMBYs will continue to criticise the development proposals for Bath and Professor Wehdorn is likely to join the ranks of those accused of ‘the sack of Bath’.
Personally, I’d never stop anyone from expressing their opinion about how their City should be run. Its just nice to know that my opinion that Bath isn’t such a bad place to live, is equally valid.
I can agree with Ian Nockolds in some respects. Bath is a nice place to live, or at least my bit of it is. But there are areas of serious neglect, planning decisions that pay scant regard to the heritage guidelines, and future plans that deliberately set out to destroy the ambience of the city and its surroundings. That is why, when Bath Heritage Watchdog met Professor Wehdorn he was given a dossier of the things that might give him cause to think that the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage Site is indeed in danger, despite the main tourist attractions being well looked after. Photographic evidence and extracts from documented plans carry rather more weight than opinions.