Mayor of London publishes new planning guidance on World Heritage Sites

The Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) updates and replaces the draft 2011 SPG. It is “much more explicit about the importance of the settings of World Heritage Sites and their relationship to the outstanding value of each," Johnson said.

The guidance, 'London’s World Heritage Sites – Guidance and Settings' is part of the London Plan framework.

The setting of WHSs and other heritage is defined in the London Plan 2011. “Setting is the surroundings in which an asset is experienced," the Plan says. "Its extent is not fixed and may change as the asset and its surroundings evolve. Elements of a setting may make a positive or negative contribution to the significance of an asset, may affect the ability to appreciate that significance or may be neutral”.

Sites designated as WHS include the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Maritime Greenwich, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Darwin Landscape Laboratory. 

Policy 7.10 of the Plan applies and seeks to conserve, promote, make sustainable use of and enhance WHSs and their settings. The new SPG underpins this policy and will support its implementation.

“London has continued to grow with pioneering new developments juxtaposed with the city’s fantastic World Heritage Sites," said Johnson. "It’s vital that we ensure we strike the right balance, and protect out historic landmarks while at the same time allowing London’s economy to grow and prosper”.

The Mayor said that the aim of the guidance was to provide clarity for developers in approaching new schemes that may have implications for WHSs.

UNESCO WHSs are designated for protection and conservation for their outstanding universal value and international significance.