Further protection of the World Heritage site?

Caltongate plan as proposed in 2009

A council official today stated that the  city council is now committed to a "harmonious integration of new development with the existing built environment".

Unesco inspectors, who visited Edinburgh in November 2008 atthe request of campaigners against insensitive developments in and around the World Heritage Site had, warned that towering new buildings, large-scale developments and modern schemes out of keeping with their historic surroundings risked damaging the city's Old and New Towns, which won world heritage status in 1995.

Unesco's world heritage centre - which will discuss the condition of Edinburgh's Old and New Towns at its annual summit in July - has been told the height of new buildings may need to be "held in check or suppressed" so that the city's traditional topography is protected.   

There was also controversy over plans to build a hotel on the site of the fire which devastated parts of the Cowgate, although the proposed scheme was shelved when an operator pulled out.

Edinburgh council's planning convener Jim Lowrie said: "Since the Unesco visit, the new Edinburgh City Local Plan has been developed to specifically protect the qualities of the World Heritage Site. 

Read Brian Ferguson's report in the Edinburgh Evening News here