The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Document WHC-07/31.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 30 COM 7B.93, adopted at its 30th session (Vilnius, 2006),
3. Notes the conclusions of the World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS mission to the property of October 2006 and in particular that the outstanding universal value of the site is not threatened although a number of visual integrity as well as management issues have been raised, including the:
a) Overall management of new developments;
b) Lack of analysis and description of the townscape characteristics relevant to the
Outstanding Universal Value of the property and important views related to the property and its buffer zone;
c) Lack of clearly established maximum heights for new development, for the backdrops of the World Heritage areas as well as along the waterfront;
d) Lack of awareness of developers, building professionals and the wider public about the World Heritage property, its outstanding universal value and requirements under the World Heritage Convention;
4. Also notes the State Party’s report and its reference to the Management Plan of 2004 and specifically requests the State Party to:
a) clearly establish and respect prescribed heights;
b) adhere to the townscape characteristics, wider values (building density, urban patterns and materials) and sense of place;
c) inform the general public about the outstanding universal value of the property and its management;
5. Regrets that the Design Briefs for new development do not take into account the Outstanding Universal Value, integrity and authenticity of the property, and requests the State Party to fully take them into account in future briefs;
6. Further notes that further guidance is required on the definitions of the conditions of integrity for cultural properties as indicated in Chapter II E (Paragraph 89 footnote) of the Operational Guidelines, and requests the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS to work together towards the explanatory text for inclusion at the next revision of the Operational Guidelines;
7. Welcomes the offer of the United Kingdom to support the elaboration of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Conservation of the Historic Urban Landscape with a case study analysis;
8. Also requests the State Party to provide the World Heritage Centre with an update
report by 1 February 2008 on progress made on a stricter planning control, a set of supplementary planning documents and a timetable for the implementation of the
works for examination by the Committee at its 32nd session in 2008.