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ONTE World Heritage Site: Communal Bin Review Heritage Impact Assessment

Adapted from media release on the recently issued Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) by Simpson & Brown (commissioned by the New Town and Broughton Community Council and New Town residents’ associations) which reviews the impact of the decision by Edinburgh Council to replace the existing gull-proof-bag waste collection system in use in parts of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh (ONTE) World Heritage Site with on-street bin hubs. 

A new report shows Edinburgh’s heritage is at risk from the Council’s decision to impose hundreds of permanent bin hubs across the World Heritage Site

The decision by Edinburgh Council to impose hundreds of communal bin hubs across the city centre will have a significant adverse impact on the outstanding universal value (OUV) of the World Heritage Site (WHS), according to a new and independent report.

The Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) by Simpson & Brown was commissioned by the NTBCC and residents’ associations in response to the Council’s decision to place several hundred communal bins in hubs every 100 metres along streets across Edinburgh. Each bin hub is set to be 7 metres long. The assessment examined the potential effects of the Council’s decision across the Old and New Town World Heritage Site.

The report was commissioned after the Council refused to conduct its own Impact Assessment and failed to consult any heritage organisations, resident groups or the public before taking its decision. The study’s key findings are:

  • The introduction of bin hubs would have a significant effect on the New Town and Old Town conservation areas, and on the Edinburgh World Heritage Site.
  • There would be a negative effect on Edinburgh Key Views, which are required to be protected under Council planning policy.
  • The mitigation currently proposed by the Council is not judged to be effective, as it focuses on superficial aspects of the hubs such as bin lid colour.
  • There is a risk both to the character and appearance of the conservation areas, and to the OUV of the World Heritage Site, if communal bin hubs were to be installed.

The report also states that its findings contradicted the decision taken by the Council that an impact assessment was not necessary. According to the guidance produced by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), wherever a significant effect is anticipated, an impact assessment should be carried out.

The review concluded:

“Overall, this report comes to the conclusion that since negative effects on heritage assets which are significant in EIA [Environmental Impact Assessment] terms are anticipated, there should be a presumption against the installation of communal bin hubs within the Old Town Conservation Area, New Town Conservation Area, and Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site.”

Surveys carried out last year showed that around 90% of affected residents were against the imposition of communal bin hubs. Some residents are currently piloting a scheme, using green gull-proof sacks for recycling to show that other alternatives to hundreds of bin hubs are feasible, cheaper and more sustainable.

Carol Nimmo, the Chair of the NTBCC said:

“This Heritage Impact Assessment provides essential and impartial evidence to the Council that the introduction of communal bin hubs across this city centre would have a significant impact on its cultural and heritage assets. It is putting its World Heritage status at risk and the Council should listen to its residents and rethink.”

 

 

Notes to Editors:

  • Edinburgh’s New and Old Town was designated a World Heritage Site in 1995.
  • The NTBCC is the New Town and Broughton Community Council. A Community Council is a voluntary organisation set up by statute by the Local Authority and run by local residents to act on behalf of its area. As the most local tier of elected representation, Community Councils play an important role in local democracy.
  • In order for a site to retain its World Heritage status, a body with authority over change in the site (known as a state party) is required to protect its OUV (outstanding universal value), which is a collection of attributes that make the area special. Failure to protect the OUV can result in an area losing its World Heritage status. In 2022, UNESCO deleted Liverpool from its World Heritage List “due to the irreversible loss of attributes conveying the outstanding universal value of the property”. (https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2314)
  • Edinburgh City Council took the decision to place Communal Bin Hubs across the entire City in April 2021.
  • Simpson & Brown is one of the UK’s leading conservation practices with over 40 years of experience working with some of the country’s most important built heritage. It provides expert advice on how to balance the conservation of historic buildings and sites with the social, cultural and economic needs of today. It has conducted numerous impact assessments for cultural-heritage sites across the UK.
  • An EIA is an Environmental Impact Assessment that any developer is required to carry out when there is a potential adverse impact on the environment. It is a process that identifies the environmental effects of a development proposal and any planned mitigation measures.
  • A HIA is an Heritage Impact Assessment and normally forms part of any Environmental Impact Assessment
  • ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites and panel member of UNESCO is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage sites across the world. It provides technical and scientific advice to UNESCO on, among other things, management of World Heritage sites.