St. John's completes public engagement phase of heritage plan

The City of St. John’s has announced the completion of the public engagement portion of the Heritage Plan which began back in February.

Among other things, participants agreed heritage should not be limited to buildings, but should include cultural landscapes and streetscapes.

It was also suggested that the city should look outside the traditional historic districts and look at the city as a whole.

Concerns were raised pertaining to the protections and standards currently in place for historic buildings, including regulations related to when a building can be torn down.

Respondents also suggested that legislation was needed to have stronger protection of heritage buildings and areas.

Several groups were consulted including City committees, heritage building owners, Heritage NL, NL Historic Trust, various neighbourhood associations, and the Ecclesiastical District Working Group.

The city has received feedback via online comments, email submissions, surveys, and a public meeting.

The report will be received by Council during the regular meeting this Monday.

The public will have another opportunity to provide feedback this fall after the draft plan gets presented to Council.