Decision 45 COM 7B.63

The English Lake District (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) (C 422rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 8B.30 adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Welcomes the efforts made by the State Party to address the recommendations adopted at the time of the inscription of the property on the World Heritage List but notes that progress in the implementation of those recommendations is very slow;
4. Also welcomes the State Party’s confirmation that no projects for a gondola/cable car at Whinlatter and a Geological Disposal Facility for hazardous waste within the property are currently being considered, recommends that no such project be considered in the future and requests that timely information and documentation on the possible redevelopment and expansion of the Whinlatter Centre of recreation be submitted to the World Heritage Centre before any decision is taken on the future of this facility;
5. Welcomes furthermore the information concerning the approval of the update of the revised joint World Heritage and National Park Management Plan;
6. Regrets that the planning consent for Honister Zip Wire was issued, despite objections of several preservation organisations and contrary to the advice contained in ICOMOS’ Technical Review and encourages the State Party to pursue all possible ways to resolve this issue and to avoid the construction of this infrastructure;
7. Expresses concern at the lack of a clear strategy to address the vulnerability of the property’s agro-pastoral traditions and urges the State Party to devise and implement, in consultation with the Lake District’s farming communities, appropriate policies and adequately resourced funding schemes to support and compensate them for their heritage services in order to sustain in the medium to long term the key attributes of this landscape that underpin its integrity and authenticity;
8. Notes the growing imbalance between houses for residents and holiday homes, despite efforts to provide affordable housing for residents, and further requests the State Party to establish measures that discourage the conversion of residential houses to second or holiday homes to guarantee affordable housing for residents and at the same time reduce urban development pressures on the landscape;
9. Recommends to the State Party to address the issue of excessive private vehicular traffic by enhancing the public transportation system within the property and discouraging access to the property by non-resident private vehicles;
10. Also notes the concerns raised in the ICOMOS Technical Reviews regarding the use of off-road motorised vehicles on green lanes within the property, urges the State Party to harness the already available instruments to prevent vehicular access to unsealed roads in highly sensitive and emblematic valleys, and also requests the State Party to ensure as a matter of urgency that systematic monitoring is carried out on all unsealed roads open to vehicular access to assess the status of this activity and its impacts on the tangible and intangible attributes of the property, as a basis for a comprehensive regulatory policy focused on safeguarding the attributes of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
11. Notes furthermore that the Cumbria Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, approved in 2022, makes no mention of World Heritage and, as a change of scale in the Natural Flood Management (NFM) projects is envisaged within the property, recommends the State Party to promptly set out an overall place-based strategic approach to demonstrate how both natural flood management and protection of the attributes of the OUV might be achieved;
12. Welcomes that an interpretation strategy for the property is under preparation and requests that this strategy be developed around the OUV of the property, finalised as soon as possible, submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, and used as a reference to determine, which tourism uses are compatible with sustaining the property’s OUV;
13. Requests furthermore the State Party to suspend the approval process of the tourist attraction at Elterwater Quarry in Great Langdale, and any other such project proposals, and to reconsider it in light of its potential negative impacts on the attributes of Langdale underpinning the OUV of the property, until an OUV-based interpretation strategy is approved;
14. Notes furthermore the declining water quality of Lake Windermere caused by public and private sewage systems and land management practices, as well as by the impacts of climate change, and encourages the State Party to continue its efforts to tackle the sources of the lake’s pollution through a multi-stakeholder approach including public, private and community partners and to secure its long-term funding;
15. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2024, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 47th session.