The protection of views of St Paul's cathedral and its influence on the London landscape

London Journal

Volumn 33, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 271-287

  Markham, Lucy ^a  

^a Alan Baxter and Associates   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DECISION MAKING; HERITAGE CONSERVATION; HISTORIC BUILDING; LANDSCAPE; POLICY MAKING;

ENGLAND; EURASIA; EUROPE; LONDON [ENGLAND]; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE;

EID: 57349126911     PISSN: 03058034     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1179/174963208X347727     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Interviews were conducted with: Giles Dolphin, Greater London Authority; Alan Byrne, English Heritage; Les Sparks, CABE; Clive Cornwall, Corporation of London; Graham King, City of Westminster; Martin Stancliffe, Surveyor to the Fabric of St Paul's; Adam Wilkinson, SAVE; Hal Moggridge, landscape advisor to the Royal Parks; Richard Coleman, Richard Coleman Consultancy; Chris Miele, Montagu Evans; and Alan Baxter, Alan Baxter LLP.
2. W.G. Allen, St Paul's Cathedral. A Survey of Views Shewing the Potential Results of Extensive Reconstruction of Buildings Near the Cathedral to the Height Authorised by the London Building Act, 1930 (1934), 5.
3. City of London, Development Plan. Subject Study St Paul's Heights (1978), 29.
4. Corporation of London Bridge House Committee Minute Book, Jan 1955-Dec 1959, London Metropolitan Archives COL/CC/BHC/02/01/65.
5. London Metropolitan Archives COL/PL/01/166/B. March 1968 City Engineer Plan of Blackfriars Bridgehead Improvements.
6. S. Bradley and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England. London I: City of London (New Haven, 1997), 617.
7. Ibid. 618.
8. Greater London Consultants and London Research Centre, London's Skylines and High Buildings (1989).
9. Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions, Regional Planning Policy Guidance RPG03: Supplementary Guidance for London on the Protection of Strategic Views Annex A (1991), 3.
10. M. Stancliffe, Proof of Evidence on Behalf of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's at the London Bridge Tower Public Inquiry (2003), para 5.3, 6.
11. Alan Baxter argued this in an interview conducted on 27 July 2006.
12. Stancliffe, ibid. para 5.4, 6.
13. J. Greer, Proof of Evidence at the London Bridge Tower Public Inquiry (2003), section 7.1.
14. The decision letter from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said that he agreed with the Inspector's conclusions that: 'the proposal would represent an improvement over what exists, and would not reduce the visibility or setting of St Paul's, nor would it devalue or diminish its status or significance to any material extent'. Letter from Miss A Gerry, ODPM, to Berwin Leighton Paisner, 18 November 2003.
15. London School of Economics (for Development Securities Plc), Tall Buildings: Vision of the Future or Victims of the Past? (2002), 22.
16. GLA, Interim Strategic Planning Guidance on Tall Buildings, Strategic Views, and the Skyline in London (2001), 3.
17. GLA, London Plan, policies 4B.15-17, (2004), 188.
18. GLA, London View Management Framework Draft SPG (2005), 7.
19. GLA, ibid. (2004), 188.
20. This issue was raised by Martin Stancliffe, Surveyor to the Fabric of St Paul's, when interviewed on 26 July 2006.
21. Interview with Clive Cornwall, Urban Design and Planning Officer, Corporation of London, 10 July 2006.
22. Interview with Alan Byrne, Senior Regional Planner for London, EH, 31 July 2006. Stancliffe, 2006, op. cit.
23. H. Moggridge, Poetic Views in Central London Endangered (2005).
24. Interview with Richard Coleman, author of the LVMF Draft SPG, 17 July 2006.
25. City of Westminster, Metropolitan Views Draft SPD (2007).Westminster propose to designate 45 views, including buildings and monuments outside Westminster, and buildings and monuments inside Westminster from neighbouring boroughs. This is an attempt to regain some control over tall buildings in neighbouring boroughs, such as the consented Vauxhall Tower in Lambeth which will affect the setting of the Westminster World Heritage Site.
26. English Heritage, Seeing the History in the View. A Method for Assessing Heritage Signifi cance Within Views (draft, 2008). English Heritage has produced some draft guidance which uses the methodology of environmental impact assessment to identify all the 'heritage assets' in a view (including World Heritage Sites, listed buildings, conservation areas, and Registered Parks and Gardens), to weigh up the contribution of each of these to the view, and thus assess the impact of a proposed development on the significance of the view. This guidance is in draft and is not likely to be well received by the GLA who may see it as a challenge to their system of view management.
27. D. Keene, A. Burns and A. Saint, St Paul's the Cathedral Church of London 604-2004 (New Haven, 2004), 461.
28. Richard Rogers made this distinction in his Proof of Evidence at the Heron Public Inquiry, para 3.15, 10.
29. GLA, Press release: 'Mayor's London Tourism Action Group secures £4m for tourism recovery', 15 November 2001.