Forth Bridge World Heritage Site status

We’re delighted to have been part of the team that successfully took forward the bid for World Heritage status for the Forth Bridge.  The success gives the city its second world heritage site, the other being the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh.

Responsibility for looking after the bridge will remain with Network Rail but the City of Edinburgh Council and Fife Council will have responsibility for ensuring that appropriate planning policies are in place for its protection.  This will not involve a great deal of additional controls as the bridge is already listed at category A – the highest category of listing.

At one level world heritage site status brings international recognition and a boost for tourism.  However, at another level, if managed properly, it can be a boost for the local economies and an encouragement for traditional Scottish engineering skills.  It can help to raise awareness and re-engage people with their environment as the writing competition with schoolchildren showed.

Thanks to this, one of Scotland’s most recognisable icons looks set for another 125 years.