World Heritage Patrimoine mondial 33 COM - Historic Scotland

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The mission recommended giving special emphasis on these needs and considerations during the further development of the project. The mission also reviewed a number of other projects including: 5. Cowgate site/South Bridge: The mission recalled that a blaze affected parts of the Old Town area of Edinburgh (Cowgate) on 7 December 2002 and that a report was provided to the World Heritage Committee in 2004. The damage was limited to less than 1% of the whole area, to 13 out of nearly 4,500 registered historic buildings. From the World Heritage point of view, South Bridge can be seen as a link between the Old and New Towns; The mission visited the Cowgate fire site and noted that the proposals to redevelop the site (currently empty) have advanced. The mission noted the big efforts by the authorities and the developing company to find the right solution between reconstruction and modern design taking into account the historic volume are noted, despite concerns by local communities and conservation groups; The mission was informed of the wish of ICOMOS UK to entirely reconstruct the old building creating a new interior and had to disagree with this approach already from the scientific point of view. The mission however recommended to carefully taking into account proper volumes and scale of this re-development and its integration into the town quarter as shown by the presented plans which “translate” the historical pattern of the facades into contemporary architecture. 6. Princes Street and Quartermile: The mission was informed briefly about the re-development of Prince’s Street, the main shopping street of the New Town, and Quartermile in the south of the World Heritage property based on an analysis of its original layout and form. The Princes Street Development framework was approved as a policy document by the Planning Committee in October 2007 to regenerate the shopping street. The mission did not review this project on-site has however no major concerns about the generation of the area based on information received. The mission briefly reviewed the Quartermile project and mission noted that the Quartermile scheme granted in 2003 for a mixed use development, secured the 19 th century hospital buildings and proposes office and housing development. The mission considered however that due to the scale of such a development social impacts need to be carefully considered and development has to be adapted to local needs. 7. Traffic concept: The mission was not informed in detail on the traffic planning and development and considered that this was an important issue for the World heritage property as a whole. The mission noted that the tramway project was as such a positive development and could be based on experiences in other major cities, including World Heritage cities or districts. The mission specifically encouraged the authorities to take into account the linkages between the different projects and between projects in the World Heritage area (e.g. Caltongate) and outside (e.g. Leith Docks) and their traffic connectivity to avoid major secondary impacts on the values and integrity of the site. 14
4 ASSESSMENT OF THE STATE OF CONSERVATION OF THE PROPERTY 4.1 Review whether the values and the conditions of integrity/authenticity are being maintained The mission concluded that the values for which the site has been inscribed and its overall authenticity and integrity has been maintained despite considerable development pressures. However to maintain its current state of conservation, joint action to create more awareness among stakeholders including local communities, business and developers needs to be enhanced. Edinburgh World Heritage as an NGO is well placed to play a greater role in this regard beyond the management of the property by the authorities. The mission specifically considered that the skylines study (Colvin & Moggridge) was an important and proactive tool to protect important views in compliance with the Operational Guidelines and to ensure the visual integrity of the World Heritage property and its skyline. This tool can be used to assess any new developments and specifically high-rise buildings in the future. The mission recommended that for any future development projects proper consultation would be required and well planned and should not be development driven, but should be based on the clearly defined outstanding universal value of the property and its integrity and authenticity, as well as properly identified needs. 4.2 Review any follow-up measures to decisions of the World Heritage Committee In addition to the state of conservation report to the World Heritage Committee at its 33 rd session in June 2009 (Seville, Spain, 2009), it would be necessary to complete the statement of significance adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 32 nd session (July 2008) with the conditions of authenticity and integrity as well as management. The World Heritage area covers 450 ha and does not have a buffer zone. The mission recommended that discussions on the buffer zone as well as integrity and authenticity statements could be part of the process for the revision of the management plan in 2009. 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The mission team concluded that the overall state of conservation of the site is satisfactory and that inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger would not be required. The mission made the following specific recommendations for consideration by the National and local authorities and other stakeholders and for review by the 33 rd session of the World Heritage Committee: 7. The mission team reviewed the overall state of conservation of the property and underlined that it is satisfactory and that World Heritage has been the focus of conservation. Without any question, a professional team is in place which proceeds according to the rules under Scottish and British law and that 15
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Page 4 and 5: could become a good example of cont
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Page 12 and 13: ensure highest quality of design an
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Page 28 and 29: Edinburgh skyline: protecting impor
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