GUELPH POLITICAST #446 – The Good Old Guelph (feat. Stephen Robinson & Jack Mallon)

There has been a lot of heritage news this year, and especially in the last couple of weeks. This should not be surprising because heritage staff in all municipalities have been in a mad scramble these last few years to designate as much heritage as possible before the end of this year due to Bill 23. That changed back in the spring, so it's probably a good time now to catch our breathe and look at the work done so far, and all the work that is to come.

You may recall that November’s planning meeting was super-sized over two different days, and that was largely due to two heritage matters: The proposed designation for the old conservatory on the University of Guelph campus, and the draft policy for the Heritage Conservation District at the Ontario Reformatory lands. That’s a lot of pressure to put on the heritage planning staff, but the pressure was being felt before last month’s meetings.

Back in 2022, the Ontario government passed Bill 23, which made a great many changes to municipal planning policies, including the direction to delist any properties on the heritage registry not already designated by the end of this year. Now, thankfully, our undesignated heritage assets have a reprieve until the end of 2026, but that doesn’t mean the workload is any less lighter.

Stephen Robinson and Jack Mallon, who are heritage planners at the City of Guelph, join us this week to talk about what kind of year it’s been for heritage, the status of all the heritage conservation district studies and the special controversy around the recent presentation about the OR Lands HCD. They'll also talk about public engagement, why development is not a bad word, what’s coming up in 2025, and why we maybe need to start loving architectural brutalism(?).

So let's dig into the very busy heritage file on this edition of the Guelph Politicast! 

The next scheduled meeting of Heritage Guelph is on January 13, and in the meantime you can visit the heritage planning page on the City’s website to get the lowdown on various plans and strategies. For your information, you can see the Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Properties here, and stay tuned for future engagement opportunities on the OR Lands, Downtown and Ward West Heritage Conservation District studies.

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