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
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Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site- Defining its Outstanding Universal Value
Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site is one of Wiltshire and the UK’s greatest assets. It is internationally recognised as one of the top ranking places in the world alongside cultural marvels such as the Pyramids and natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef.
World Heritage Sites need very careful management and protection. A new consultation has just been launched on a document that should help us to provide this.
The consultation gives the public a chance to comment on a document that summarises exactly what it is that makes Stonehenge and Avebury internationally important. The document will provide a crucial reference for those making decisions on how best to manage the World Heritage Site and look after the very special features which qualify it to appear on the World Heritage List. A clear definition in one document should help us protect the World Heritage Site for this and future generations.
Since 2007 UNESCO has asked new World Heritage Sites to provide a Statement of Outstanding Universal Value as part of the nomination process. Stonehenge and Avebury became a World Heritage Site back in 1986 and along with a large number of other sites across the world we now need to produce a Statement of Outstanding Universal Value.
Stonehenge and Avebury are important to very many people for a wide range of different reasons that are taken into account in their respective Management Plans. The Statement of Outstanding Universal Value sets out to define only the values related to its impressive prehistoric monuments which got Stonehenge and Avebury onto the World Heritage Site list in 1986.
If you would like to be part of the process of protecting the World Heritage Site you can look at the draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value on line and leave your comments. The consultation is open until the end of October. You can find it by visiting the Wiltshire Council website.
The consultation closes on 31 October 2010.
For further information please contact:
Sarah Simmonds, Avebury World Heritage Site Officer
Email: sarah.simmonds@wiltshire.gov.uk
Tel: 01225 718470
Mobile: 07966 900324
ICOMOS-UK COMMENT ON THE 2010 EMERGENCY BUDGET
PRESS RELEASE, 23rd June 2010
Like other parts of the Third Sector, ICOMOS-UK understands the need for government cut-backs but is concerned about the possibly severe implications of the budget in terms of the capacity of the charitable sector in general, and the heritage sector in particular to deliver appropriate services in the light of the re-trenchment of the public sector in many areas.
The ability of the heritage sector to deliver important cultural services (alongside equally important eco-system services) is now widely recognised. These resources relate to the social aspects of the ‘big society’ that the Government has rightly focused on – the sense of place, sense of well-being and the idea of local distinctiveness, all of which have been acknowledged in the new PPS5 and in the work many Agencies have been undertaking in response to the ratification of the European Landscape Convention. The ability of the heritage sector to contribute substantially to GDP is now also widely recognised, through the way it underpins much of the tourism sector, as has been confirmed by the arrangements for the 2012 Olympics.
Yet the cultural heritage sector relies to a much greater extent on the charitable sector than either the Arts sector or the Environment sector. And the anticipated cut-back of DCMS resources linked to a potential decrease in revenue from gift aid, as a result of the £1,000 increase in the personal income tax allowance, and to an increase in VAT, will all impact negatively on the charitable sector.
There is an urgent need for the heritage sector to create a platform from which to engage with the government in order to underline the strong relationship between the charitable sector, government agencies and local authorities and to make the case for appropriate resources to sustain these relationships, in straightened times.
