Dear Editor:
The good news is that the recently released Cultural Heritage Landscape Study Report prepared for Centre Wellington triggers the statutory requirement to protect these 18 cultural heritage landscapes valued and identified by the community.
The bad news is that a recent decision by Wellington County could, if the township fails to take an integrated planning strategic approach to the conservation of our cultural heritage resources, put the fragile 19th century small-town charm of the residential neighbourhoods of the heritage towns of Elora and Fergus at great risk from inappropriate intensification.
The township director of planning and development recently approved a critically important planning report to the committee of the whole which acknowledges that the provincial land use planning framework requires that identified cultural heritage landscapes be conserved such that their cultural heritage value and interest is retained.
Alarmingly though, that critically important planning report of Nov. 30, 2020 was silent about explaining to decision makers and the public any integrated planning strategy by staff planners which, consistent with provincial law and policy, would ensure that in the event of conflict between the requirement to conserve our identified cultural heritage resources and a provision of an official plan or by-law, that the statutory requirement that planning decisions ensure cultural heritage resources be conserved shall prevail to the extent of any conflict.
It’s high time that our township planning staff provide our decision makers and members of the public with full, clear and accurate information on how the provincial land use planning framework provides protection under Section 3 of the Planning Act to the eighteen (18) significant cultural heritage landscapes identified by the Township’s $42K Cultural Heritage Landscape Study and on how that protection will be implemented through planning reports provided to decision makers and the public going forward.
Ian Rankine,
Elora