Learning about the protection of a community's heritage
by Michelle Minnoch

On Saturday, October 14th the Ministry of Culture held a workshop in Churchill for various municipalities entitled 'Spend a day in History'. The workshop invited people from various heritage committees, historical societies, genealogical societies and others to leave about heritage conservation, cultural heritage and more.

Passed in April 2005, the new Heritage Act has set out guidelines for the protection of heritage sites. The Act

allows; municipal powers to prevent demolition of heritage sites; new provincial powers to identify and designate heritage sites; clear standards and guidelines for provincially owned heritage property; improvements to the municipal designation process.

Types of properties associated with cultural heritage include buildings, monuments, natural features, structures, spiritual sites, cemeteries, cultural heritage landscapes, ruins, archaeological sites, any built/immovable fixture or chattel attached to real property.

Properties that have a heritage value attached to them celebrates the heritage value of a property, cannot be demolished without approval by council, must have any alterations approved, and owners can become eligible for grants, loan or tax relief programs to assist in the conservation of their property.

The seminar also included a section on tax relief for heritage properties. The rules are optional for each municipality and if a by-law is passed regarding tax relief, the property owner must apply for the relief. A presentation by Carey deGorter of Springwater Township outlined how the tax relief program has been used in their municipality.

Under the Heritage Act, the six keys needed to designate a property include; identifying the property as a candidate for designation, researching the evaluated property, serving the Notice of Intention to Designate, passing and registering the Designation by-law, placing the property on the municipal register, and placing it on the provincial register.