ICOMOS-UK International Cultural Heritage and Conservation News Service » Consultation

Draft Management Plan for the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site

icomos-uk — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:04:11 +0000

The draft Management Plan for the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site has been created by Edinburgh World Heritage, Historic Scotland and the Council. It was approved by the Planning Committee of the Council as a draft for consultation and we are now seeking your help to further develop and finalise the plan.Read more

The case of Orkney Wind Turbines

icomos-uk — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:57:33 +0000

Stenness, Orkney; Copyright: Historic Scotland

Scottish Ministers announced today their decision to refuse planning permission for the proposed development of three wind turbines at Merranblo, Stromness, Orkney. The application was considered at a local public inquiry in January 2008. ICOMOS-UK appeared at the inquiry along with other organisations, such as Historic Scotland, Orkney Archaeological Trust, Orkney Skyline Concern and Scottish Natural Heritage.

The World Heritage Site (WHS) in Orkney was inscribed on the World Heritage List as “a major prehistoric cultural landscape that provides a graphic depiction of life in a remote archipelago in the far north of Scotland some 5,000 years ago. [...] The monuments of Orkney, dating back to 3000-2000 BC, are outstanding testimony to the cultural achievements of the Neolithic peoples of northern Europe” (UNESCO World Heritage Centre). At the Inquiry ICOMOS-UK expressed concern about the adverse impact of the turbines on the historic environment of the WHS and its setting, as we believed that the site of the proposed development was located within the area of visual impact of the WHS.

The World Heritage Convention in 1972 was set out to identify, protect and preserve for future generations cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding universal value to humanity. ICOMOS-UK believed that the erection of the proposed wind turbines would compromise this very sensitive Scottish landscape and therefore have a detrimental impact on the outstanding universal value for which the WHS was inscribed in 1999.

The report by the Scottish Ministers concluded that “given the international importance of the cultural heritage resources of the area [...] the objective of preserving these monuments within an appropriate setting is consistent with the fundamental objectives of national policy”.

Bath School plan dropped

icomos-uk — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:14:25 +0000

Sir James Dyson on 7 October scrapped plans for a £56 million School of Design Innovation in Bath at the old Stothert and Pitt site at South Quays within the City of Bath World Heritage site, which the forthcoming UNESCO/ICOMOS joint mission was to have considered.

The Bath Chronicle reported that Dyson abandoned his plan after the Government’s rejection of a funding proposal and after facing a planning inquiry last August, which was called due to opposition from the Environment Agency.

The school had originally been due to open this autumn. Read full article on the Bath school plans.