Check Against Delivery
28 March 2006
Speech by Minister for Culture, David Lammy to All Party Parly Group on World Heritage
I would like to thank David and the All-Party Group on World Heritage for inviting me to speak today.
Many of you were present at the Adjournment Debate on 14 December. Many important issues were raised and time did not permit us to consider them all. I welcome this opportunity to follow up on some of those issues.
We here all know that inscription as a World Heritage Site is the highest commendation a place can receive – a real recognition of global significance - and brings with it international prestige.
As I said in December and want to repeat now, the UK has much to be proud about. We have 26 sites across the UK including our overseas territories. All are outstanding in their individual ways and all are managed according to the highest professional standards.
The UK is internationally recognised for its commitment to World Heritage and to the ideal of the 1972 World Heritage Convention. Our achievements at international, national and local level are widely respected. Our work to support the Convention internationally continues even though we are no longer members of the World Heritage Committee.
Climate Change
This month the UK funded and took a leading role in an expert meeting in Paris on the impact of climate change on World Heritage Sites.
Over 50 experts from 16 countries across the world took part. The meeting brought together, for the first time, experts in environmental issues, climate change, natural and cultural heritage and representatives of all the key advisory bodies.
The meeting was a great success. The outcome was agreement on a high level strategy which will be presented to the World Heritage Committee at its annual meeting in July this year.
Turning to our own World Heritage Sites, I would like briefly to return to some of the themes raised during the Debate and, where I know the All Party Group is taking a keen interest.
Tourism Promotion
World Heritage status brings with it both benefits and responsibilities. Considering first one of the key opportunities the World Heritage 'brand' can present, the All Party Group are right to want to focus attention on promotion of sustainable tourism.
Not only do each of our World Heritage sites have unique attributes which can and do draw visitors from all around the World, but considered together across the UK, we have a wealth of riches in one relatively small geographical space. Right that tourism promotion should have World Heritage as a key theme.
This is recognised by VisitBritain which features World Heritage Sites prominently in both its overseas marketing activities and domestic campaigns. VisitBritain's website has a section devoted to World Heritage Sites. England's 16 World Heritage Sites are featured in the 'Great Ideas 2006' guide and VisitBritain's new City Culture campaign also highlights World Heritage Sites. Saltaire recently featured on Classic FM under a promotion that VisitBritain is doing with them.
I am keen to develop this area further in considering better ways to share best practice on how we can capitalise on World Heritage status in a responsible way to promote sustainable development. I have asked my officials to look at how we might best achieve this.
London 2012 Olympics
Looking to the future and the 2012 Olympic Games. These will be an enormous opportunity to showcase what this country has to offer in terms of arts, culture and heritage. And not just in London, but right across the UK.
Experience of previous games shows that a high proportion of the benefits will be accrue as a result of the boost in tourism in the years leading up to and following 2012 itself. Official figures put the benefits to Australian tourism alone at £2.4 billion in the year following the Sydney Games.
To maximise those benefits, comprehensive and inclusive planning at an early stage is vital, and following a tourism summit held by the Prime Minister at the end of last year DCMS, Visit Britain and Visit London agreed to consult widely on the terms of an ambitious Tourism 2012 Strategy.
The aim of the strategy will be to ensure that we are both ready to welcome the world to London in 2012, and also that we make the most of the legacy of the games.
Heritage sites, as well as art and culture, design and innovation, are the foundations on which our unique tourism offer is based. It is essential that the needs and views of these sectors are reflected in the Tourism 2012 strategy.
The consultation will be launched in May and will be open and challenging, it will seek new and innovative thinking across the whole tourism sector. I encourage you all to participate in that consultation.
The resulting Strategy will be issued by the end of 2006.
Funding
Let me now turn to the issue of funding. It has to be recognised that World Heritage Status brings with it issues to be managed. Increased visitor numbers must not jeopardise sustainable development and there are costs associated with managing a World Heritage Site.
The All Party Group has questioned why there is no direct Government funding for World Heritage Sites. This is true, but we must recognise there are many other funding streams. Economic regeneration funds for example - including from the European Union. Government funds are also available for agri-environmental schemes, and the Heritage Lottery Fund, which since 1994 has distributed over £85 million to World Heritage Sites. So while not earmarked for World Heritage, these funds are nevertheless available.
This is a complex equation. Not convinced we yet have a clear picture of the costs and compensating benefits and the balance between each or how these might vary from one World Heritage Site to another. My officials are working with English Heritage to see what lessons can be learned from the recent Periodic Reporting exercise which also enables us to see how the UK compares with other European countries both in terms of legal protection of World Heritage Sites and in funding. My understanding is that our approach is no less favourable than most of the rest of Europe.
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Tentative List Review
Turning from current World Heritage Sites and looking to the future. Shall shortly be announcing the review of the current UK Tentative List. My officials have begun consulting with the Devolved Administrations and other key stakeholders on how we might develop criteria for assessing potential future sites for a revised list. This is an important piece of work and we are keen to ensure that all claims for inclusion are fully considered.
We will, of course, need to have regard to priorities set by UNESCO to fill gaps in the type of sites represented on the World Heritage List.
For instance, during the Adjournment Debate on World Heritage Sites, the Hon. Member for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland, Dr Kumar, rightly highlighted the importance of sites that reflect advancements in science or engineering. We are already actively supporting UNESCO's aim to increase the representation of such sites on the World Heritage List.
The nomination of 'Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape' which will be considered by the World Heritage Committee this year reflects a vital contribution to the development of technological expertise which, for 200 years from the 18th Century, defined mining and engineering culture across the world.
In celebration of scientific achievement, this year's nomination for World Heritage status is Darwin at Downe - Charles Darwin's home and surrounding landscape - which recognises Darwin's supreme scientific achievements and unrivalled contribution to our understanding of the natural world.
Heritage Protection Review
Also looking to the future, I know that members of the All-Party Group have raised the issue of a new designation for World Heritage Sites as part of the Heritage Protection Review. I know that LAWHF, among others, has provided detailed comments, for which I am grateful.
Our intention is that World Heritage Sites should be included in the new Register of Historic Sites and Buildings of England. This will, for the first time, put World Heritage Sites alongside national designations as part of a unified heritage protection system. We are currently looking at the practical implications of the Review for World Heritage Sites and we will be publishing our detailed proposals in the summer.
We also need to look at what the Heritage Protection Review means in terms of planning control on World Heritage Sites. Any consideration of planning control needs to recognise the diverse nature of these Sites, and recognise the fact that World Heritage Sites often incorporate within their boundaries significant numbers of listed or scheduled assets. We must be sure that the development controls we have in place for World Heritage Sites are proportionate, defensible and robust, and are the types of control that enable World Heritage Site to manage change effectively.
Tall Buildings
Turning now to an issue that affects a number of our World Heritage Cities. APAG Members raised the important question of how we reconcile the need for cities to develop and adapt to meet the demands and embrace the architectural styles of the twenty-first century without detriment to the past. Much of this discussion has focussed on the appropriateness of tall buildings close to the setting of World Heritage Sites.
Recognise that this is an issue facing a number of our cities and one which rightly exercises the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The UK has worked closely with the Committee to draft "The Vienna Memorandum". This sets out a protocol which attempts to both prevent unsympathetic modern development in the proximity of World Heritage Sites while recognising the social and economic needs of today's cities and their residents. English Heritage and CABE are together working on a revision to their joint guidance on tall building development.
Our historic cities are economically viable, vibrant living places which must meet the needs of residents and visitors from all corners of the globe and at the same time sustain and conserve their heritage. This issue is particularly, though not exclusively, pertinent to London where our World Heritage Sites cannot be treated in isolation from the capital city surrounding them.
Decisions on tall developments that affect London's World Heritage Sites have to be taken within the context of London. London's architecture reflects its diversity, its character and its development over many centuries. London is not a product of one architectural period or style. It is this blend of old and new, with contemporary architecture of the highest quality complementing the splendour of the past, which we have to get right. And that holds true for all our heritage cities
DCMS will be strengthening links with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which has responsibility for spatial planning and development. We will be keeping the World Heritage Committee informed of overall policy developments and on any specific development proposals which are relevant.
Stonehenge
Finally want to update APAG Members on Stonehenge. The Public Consultation on the Review of Options for the A303 is now underway and will close on 23 April. The public exhibitions held in Salisbury and in London attracted many visitors and responses to the consultation are reaching the Highways Agency every day.
I want to see an answer to this problem which I know has bedevilled so many of my predecessors for far too long. The problem is how to find a solution which is right for Stonehenge and which is affordable and deliverable.
I know that all in the heritage sector are developing their respective positions on what is, arguably, the most challenging issue we face. I am aware that there are currently different opinions, even between key stakeholders, on what should happen. But however we get there, we want to find a way to reunite the Stones with their landscape and provide proper visitor facilities in keeping with this unique World Heritage Site.
But you will understand that it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on the Review and the options outlined while the statutory process is still underway.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the UK has much to feel proud about. Our commitment to the World Heritage Convention is demonstrably clear and the UK will continue to offer support internationally as well as discharging its responsibilities at home.
But am aware that there are opportunities to look at and strengthen that commitment. That is why I welcome the establishment of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on World Heritage Sites and look forward to continuing fruitful discussions with you.
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