Mayor issues consultation on planning guidance for World Heritage Sites in London

The consultation document identifies four World Heritage Sites in London that have each been designated because of their "outstanding universal value of international significance".

The areas identified are: The Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey, including St Margaret's Church; the Tower of London; Maritime Greenwich; and the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew.

These sites have been designated due to their "universal value of international significance" and are each set in complex urban environments where "pressure for development is high", the consultation says. The SPG aims to promote growth and development around the sites, whilst protecting their value.

"One of the things that makes London distinctive is the way it combines old and new, protecting heritage but encouraging change. The challenge is to ensure we protect the qualities of the designated sites that make them worthy of international designation, while allowing the city to grow and change around them," the consultation paper  said. 

The draft SPG is intended to work alongside London's strategic planning document, the London Plan, and support the implementation of policy 7.10 on World Heritage Sites.

It will achieve this by promoting understanding of the World Heritage Sites and their setting in London, whilst advising on how their setting contributes towards their value.  

The draft SPG also sets out a development management tool with a framework, which prescribes a stepped approach to assessing the effect of development proposals on London’s World Heritage Sites and their settings.

It is not designed to define the specific settings for each site, but to ensure "a more consistent interpretation of setting and understanding of their importance", the consultation paper said.

The consultation runs until 20 January 2011.