A 1-day event aimed at people involved in the planning system within World Heritage Sites, including Planners, Conservation Officers, WHS Co-ordinators and Councillors.

The event, which is being held at two alternative venues, has been organised jointly by the Local Authority World Heritage Forum (LAWHF), English Heritage and ICOMOS-UK.

The Telford event will be chaired by Gillian Clarke, Secretary of LAWHF and the Newcastle upon Tyne event by Susan Denyer, Secretary of ICOMOS-UK.

For more information please e-mail jbl.telshrops@blueyonder.co.uk or telephone Jonathan Lloyd on 01952 587615

Download the programme and booking form

Please join an evening looking at contemporary architecture in the context of a World Heritage City with a special guest from Canada, Herb Stovel, an expert on World Heritage matters, to speak about his experiences with the changing landscape of international world heritage cities.

Please contact Glasgow City Heritage Trust on 0141 552 1331 to reserve your place (limited spaces available).

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”.

A Joint conference organised by the Royal Town Planning Institute, Royal Institute of British Architects and the Belper Civic Forum. This significant annual conference will be held in Belper to closely examine problems such as the conflict between economic development and conservation in a World Heritage Site context. Concessions available for local residents and Civic Forum members.

“New Challenges in Urban Design” Conference Poster

Conference Booking Form

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.

28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, at 5.45 for 6.00pm (to end by 8.00pm)

The Antonine Wall

Tuesday 7 October 2008

Dr David Breeze (Historic Scotland) on “The Antonine Wall and its relevance to the wider European definition of the boundaries of the Roman Empire”

Tuesday 18 November 2008:

Robin Turner, Head of Archaeology at the National Trust for Scotland, will describe the process of submitting St Kilda for the double nomination of both cultural and natural values, and will set this in the context of other similar sites.

Tuesday 20 January 2009:

Adam Wilkinson, Director, Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, will discuss the issues for the management and enhancement of the central core of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh within the wider city, and its broader social and economic planning framework, with reference to other similar World Heritage cities in Europe.

Tuesday 17 February 2009:

Dr James Arnold, Director of New Lanark Heritage Trust, will speak about the mixed use of the World Heritage Site with its social, economic and historical values, and will make comparisons with other similar multi-use sites in other parts of Europe.

Spaces at each lecture/discussion will be limited, and early reservation of places is recommended (contact Lester Borley: e-mail: lesterborley@waitrose.com or tel: 0131332 2364).

Cost for each lecture is £5 (Europa Nostra UK or NTS member) or £7 (non-members), to include a glass of wine at the conclusion of each event.

“World heritage status, enjoyed by 885 sites on the planet, means absolutely nothing” and goes on with: “The decline of British urban design is a mystery. Projects that would not survive a minute in other European cities must be fought line by line through British planning committees, public inquiries and courts.”

Read the full article by Simon Jenkins

Read ICOMOS-UK’s response

We welcome your comments on this story below.

By Sarah Simmonds, Avebury World Heritage Site Officer

Avebury WHS Residents' Pack

One July evening in 2006 residents of the World Heritage Site were invited to appear in an aerial photograph of the Avebury henge. The evening marked the launch of a project to produce a Residents’ Pack for Avebury and the chance for local people to get involved and say what they would like to see in it. After two years hard work by a wide range of contributors the World Heritage Site Residents’ Pack was launched at the local Avebury Day celebrations on 19th July this year. The pack is the first of its kind produced specifically for those who live within one of the UK’s 27 World Heritage Sites.

The purpose of the Residents’ Pack is to raise awareness and understanding among local residents of the uniquely valuable nature of Avebury World Heritage Site.

It aims to encourage a sense of ownership and responsibility for sustaining the values associated with the site whilst providing residents with the information they need to assist in looking after it.

The pack includes a book, Voices and Values, that consists of a collection of pieces by people with unique personal and professional insight into the area many of whom are local residents. These pieces cover not only the archaeological and historical values of the site but also its ecological, spiritual and social significance. The accompanying leaflets provide practical information for both new and long-standing residents on the roles of the various organisations involved in looking after the World Heritage Site and how to contact them and get involved. The pack has been very well-received with residents keen to get hold of their copies.

The pack was generously sponsored by a number of national and local funders including the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding National Beauty, English Heritage, the National Trust and Kennet District Council.

For further information contact Sarah Simmonds, Avebury World Heritage Site Officer
sarah.simmonds@kennet.gov.uk

The first The first Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Festival was held in 2005 and its aim was raise local awareness and appreciation of the unique heritage of the Ironbridge Gorge. Each year, the Festival has gone from strength to strength and last year several thousand visitors, along with traders and entertainers, came together in the centre of Ironbridge to enjoy the stunning surroundings of the Gorge on a beautiful autumn day.

The 2008 Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Festival will be held in Ironbridge on Saturday 27 –  Sunday 28 September. The weekend is set to be an exciting and enjoyable time for residents, businesses and visitors as we celebrate the area’s unique heritage. Also, this year we have the added attraction of a light show, organised by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, to mark the regional launch of the Cultural Olympiad, and some of you will already have received details of this from IGMT.

The celebrations will kick off at dusk on the Friday when the Museum of the Gorge, the Iron Bridge and Bedlam Furnaces will be illuminated in an exciting and attractive display, which will be repeated on the Saturday evening. The light show will end at 10.00pm each evening.

On Saturday and Sunday, the World Heritage Festival will take place and this will involve a wide variety of entertainment, activities and displays. As a result of the recent flooding, the original plan to use Dale End Park for the Festival has had to change and the activities will now be focused on Dale End car park (Victorian Funfair), Merrythought (entertainment, stalls, art exhibition and displays) and The Wharfage (street market, on Saturday only). There will also be a Flower Festival and concerts in Jackfield Church. In addition, a major piece of public art, depicting the Iron Bridge and produced by an artist from Ironbridge working with local schoolchildren, will be on display during the event. More information about the event is available on www.ironbridgeheritagefestival.org.uk.

The Festival weekend is an important event for Ironbridge. It is an opportunity for the local community to enjoy a fun day on their doorstep; it will give a boost to local businesses and it will encourage more visitors to the area.

The Festival is organised by a partnership of local organisations and businesses and co-ordinated by Ken Toyne. The aim of the event is to raise local awareness and appreciation of the World Heritage Site and encouraging more people to enjoy the unique attractions that the area offers.

The main funders of the event are the European Regional Development Fund, Birse Civils and Telford & Wrekin Council.

ICOMOS-UK Summer Conference delegates on Todd Crag, Lake District

Selected Summary Proceedings of the ICOMOS-UK 2008 Summer Conference are now online.

The conference was organised in collaboration with the University of Cumbria and took place on 12-14 June 2008 at its Ambleside Campus in the Lake District. The packed conference programme showcased speakers from across the UK and Europe, with a particular focus on cultural landscape World Heritage sites.

The persistent themes were how cultural and natural environments can be integrated in landscape management; the importance of educating local communities, especially young people in and about their landscapes; sustainable infrastructures and sustainable methods; the importance of a spirit of place or terroir in making one landscape, its produce and people, distinct from another; the challenges posed by government agendas and the use of international guidelines such as the European Landscape Convention and World Heritage Convention in protecting the integrity of cultural landscapes; and how landscape encompasses both tangible and intangible qualities, past and present.

If ever there was a conference which allowed delegates to ‘live’ its themes, it was this one. The peaceful and breath-taking environment of Ambleside was a constant reminder of the human yearning for discovering a sense of place. After the formal proceedings over two days, all delegates were invited to sign up to an afternoon guided walk on the Friday (13 June) (Rydall Hall followed by a circuit of Rydal Water; Low and High Sweden Bridge); Todd Crag) and a day’s excursion on Saturday (14 June) with options to visit a number of sites in the Lake District (Evolution of the Great Langdale landscape; Aira Force and Lyulphs Tower, Ullswater; Tarn Hows and Monk Coniston; Vernacular Buildings in Troutbeck; Villa architecture in the Lake District 1770 – 1900; Hill farming and land management at
Glencoyne Farm, Ullswater).

Prehistoric rock art on a boulder, Great Langdale Valley, Lake District

The close relationship between people and their landscape being part of the continuity of ‘place’ was most evident in the passion with which our guides led groups of delegates over Fells, in the valleys, around historic buildings and around the Lakes.

On behalf of the conference, we thank all the guides for leaving us with such a refreshing impression of the history and nature of the Lake District.

Some will remember the conference for the picturesque scenery and walks, some for the new information they gleaned from listening to others, others still, from the many opportunities afforded by meeting over lunch, tea and dinner, or while on a tour. After the evening buffet on Thursday 12 June, delegates who attended the conference dinner were treated to a short but highly-charged performance (a mini ceilidh) of Lake District folk music by local band, Striding Edge, including traditional clog dancing: a true demonstration of how place, landscape, and culture function as one. Listen to traditional Lakeland music by Striding Edge

Selected Summary Proceedings of Cultural Landscape Management