UK Government appears to endorse clustering skyscrapers to avoid impacting Tower of London
In a recent report, the Government states that the City of London Corporation’s approach to clustering skyscrapers is in line with the World Heritage Committee recommendations.
The UK Government has appeared to endorse the City of London Corporation’s approach to clustering skyscrapers in a review of the impact on the Tower of London.
In an Executive Summary submitted with UNESCO, the Government wrote that the concept of clustering high-rise blocks to avoid impacting the Tower ‘is in line with the direct recommendation from the World Heritage Committee’.
It added that the Corporation’s draft local plan, entitled City Plan 2040, would continue to consolidate the collection of tall buildings nearest the Tower and that it does not believe a buffer zone is necessary.
A Corporation spokesperson said the report ‘makes clear the Tower of London’s importance and influence over the shaping of Central London, which we encapsulate and celebrate in the City Plan 2040’.
UNESCO, a United Nations agency which promotes education, arts, sciences and culture across the world, had requested the UK Government submit a State of Conservation Report reviewing the impacts of tall buildings on the Tower of London.
The Tower, which is located on the western edge of Tower Hamlets next to the City of London, is a designated World Heritage Site. Fears were raised that the report may lead to the status being reconsidered by UNESCO.
The Government was given a deadline of December 1 2024 with the report to potentially be examined by this year’s Committee in July.
UNESCO’s request was first flagged by Historic England in its response to the draft City Plan 2040 consultation last year and later confirmed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
A UNESCO spokesperson said at the time: ‘This request arose from the Centre’s view that the World Heritage property may face cumulative impacts, including from the rapid development of new high-rise buildings in the immediate vicinity of the property, and the lack of protection of the property and its Outstanding Universal Value – the reason why it was inscribed – through an adequate buffer zone and a thorough visual impact study.’
The State of Conservation Report, compiled by the UK Government but contributed to by parties including Historic England and the Corporation, was submitted with UNESCO in November. An Executive Summary has since been published.
In that summary, which is just over a page long, the Government wrote it ‘takes seriously’ the cumulative impact on the setting of the Tower of London.
‘The concept of clustering tall buildings in such a way as to avoid a harmful cumulative impact on the property’s OUV is in line with the direct recommendation from the World Heritage Committee in 2007, and this policy approach has not changed,’ the summary continued. ‘The City of London Corporation has proposed a new City Plan 2040, which would continue to consolidate the existing City Cluster of tall buildings in line with the World Heritage Committee’s recommendation.
‘The ongoing local plan review has explored in detail how the approaches to tall buildings and the accompanying evidence base would manage the effects of such development within the Tower’s setting.’
The Government added that its position remains that the protections under the planning system and national policy remain the best way to protect the Tower, and that it does not consider a buffer zone to be necessary.
‘How history and modernity combine’
When asked about the Executive Summary, and whether the full State of Conservation Report would be published ahead of this summer’s World Heritage Committee, a UNESCO spokesperson said: ‘The State Party (United Kingdom) submitted its State of Conservation Report for the Tower of London on 29 November 2024, in response to UNESCO’s request for possible examination by the World Heritage Committee.
‘As part of the review process, ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) experts are currently conducting a comprehensive Technical Review. Based on this review, it will be determined whether a new state of conservation report will be requested from the State Party for consideration by the Committee next year.
‘As the report will not be presented to the Committee this year, only the Executive Summary has been uploaded online.’
A City of London Corporation spokesperson said: “One of the reasons why the City Corporation seeks to cluster tall buildings together in specific areas, is to preserve key views and prized heritage features, like the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral. This is how history and modernity combine to define what is unique about the Square Mile – a dynamic and ever-changing world city.”
State of Conservation Reports are not uncommon, with three listed for the Tower of London on UNESCO’s website since 2011. Two have also been submitted by the UK Government, in 2014 and 2015, plus the recent Executive Summary.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), ICOMOS and Historic Royal Palaces, which runs the Tower, declined to comment on the summary. Historic England was also approached, though it had not responded at the time of publication.
The Corporation’s City Plan 2040 is in the process of being reviewed by inspectors, with a series of public hearings held earlier this year.
The final three days are planned from 10 June to 12 June, with the topic of heritage and tall buildings, regularly a point of contention in the Square Mile, to take centre stage.
If you like this, read Residents launch fundraiser for legal costs against Chinese embassy near Tower of London