Tag: historic environment scotland

World Heritage Site – Draft Management Plan 2023

View of Old Town from the Crags looking North West with the Forth Bridges in the distance.

The Management Plan for the Old & New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site is being reviewed and we want to hear your views.

An updated Draft Management Plan is being prepared by the City of Edinburgh Council, Historic Environment Scotland and Edinburgh World Heritage. It identifies issues and opportunities within the site and presents an action plan for implementation over a five-year period.

The issues identified include:

  • care and maintenance of buildings and streets
  • control and guidance and contribution of new development
  • awareness of World Heritage Site status
  • visitor management
  • influence and sense of control

This is your opportunity to tell us what matters to you and to help us to best address these issues. We want to hear your thoughts on how the World Heritage Site has been looked after, what works well and what we could be doing better. 

We specifically want to know whether you feel we are doing enough to protect and enhance the Site, and any other ideas or suggestions which you may have. 

Complete the consultation online by 12 December 2022.

Strategy for Setted Streets

Stone setts add significant historic and cultural value to the streets of Edinburgh and are an important feature of our cityscape.

The City of Edinburgh Council has a duty to protect the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site, Conservation Areas and other historic parts of the city. This protection includes the setting of Edinburgh’s many listed buildings, where setted streets are an integral part of their identity and authenticity.

Setted surface looking West along Dean Park Crescent
Setted Comely Bank Avenue looking South
Setted surface looking East along St. Bernard’s Crescent

When they are not properly maintained, setted streets can have implications for walking, cycling and driving. Damaged setts are often replaced with alternative materials like tarmac as a temporary solution. This can result in an unsightly and uncared for appearance.

Tarmacked corner of Learmonth Place and Comely Bank Grove
Setted surface looking West up Dean Park Crescent
Tarmacked surface looking West towards Edinburgh Castle on Market Street

We are working in partnership with Edinburgh World Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland to develop a strategy for the protection and maintenance of setted streets.

Have your say

To help inform the strategy we’d like to know what you think about setted streets and their value to the city. We are also interested to know what issues you think setted streets can have on our movement.

You can give us your views until Wednesday 11 October 2017.

World Heritage Day 2017

Promoting diversity of cultural heritage of humanity, their vulnerability and the efforts required for their protection and conservation… or something like that idk.

Emma’s blog post #5: World Heritage Day 2017

World Heritage Day 2017 is on Tuesday 18th April, and there’s an event you should go to at the National Museum of Scotland. It starts at 10, and runs through til 4 with workshops on the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh (which make the Edinburgh World Heritage site). There’ll be loaaaaaaads of stuff to do; Victorian materials, a brass rubbing map of the New Town, some World Heritage-related music… I’m also told there’ll be colouring involved. Get HYPED.

The event will also give you an opportunity to talk about the consultation for the Old and New Towns Management Plan, so you can help us manage the World Heritage Site.

You can learn about the statue of David Hume, on the High Street. It’s become a superstition that rubbing Hume’s right foot will bring good luck. Which is ironic, given that Hume believed logical thought is an answer to superstitious beliefs.

Or about the Sir Walter Scott Monument, the biggest monument to any writer in the world.

ORRRR you could find out about the ears of the Alexander and Bucephalus statue in the City Chambers courtyard. You wouldn’t think ears would be interesting. But you’d be wrong.

 

So do go to the event on Tuesday, it sounds like it’ll be good.

As such, I’ll be getting involved in the World Heritage Hour twitter event later on Tuesday, between 18:04 and 19:04. The theme: ‘tell us 5 extra-special things about your WHS’. Get involved even from the comfort of your own home, people, and use the hashtag #WHSHour so we can all appreciate Edinburgh World Heritage ~*together*~.

Also, follow @planningedin on Twitter or Instagram ok thanks.

Emma