A proposed heritage commission might help the island secure federal funding to preserve Davies Orchard cottages and pool the resources of local organizations, advocates say.
“We don’t have staff resources so if we have a commission with stakeholders then we’re harnessing that energy,” said CAO Kathy Lalonde, who used her own time to investigate what other communities are doing for heritage conservation and presented her recommendations to council on Monday.
She liked a slow, incremental approach that would see a local advisory group compile a heritage registry as a starting point. The commission would comprise of seven to 13 members and include representatives of the island’s two heritage groups, Bowen Heritage and Bowen Island Museum and Archives, as well as other interested parties.
Councillor Gary Ander wondered if a commission is a knee-jerk reaction to how the orchard cottages are being — or not being — protected. He said time would be better spent lobbying Metro Vancouver, which owns the cottages, to devote resources to their preservation.
Councillor Alison Morse, who ended up being the only one who voted against it, agreed with Ander. “It’s partly being done to make cottages looking better but the only way for that to happen is to sit down with Metro and discuss it. It’s not going to be done by a commission,” she said. “If we want a heritage inventory then that can be done with a working group. We’ve already got two organizations that can advise on what should be in the registry.”
She worried that a commission could add a layer of red tape.
Lalonde said a working group usually focuses on one project that has a beginning and an end. A commission allows for the registry, which does not impose rules or restrictions on property owners, to become a living document that is constantly updated.
“It would put us in better position to secure federal funding,” argued Councillor Maureen Nicholson, who also liked that it created a formal alliance of the two major organizations. “One group on its own couldn’t pull this off,” she said.
Mayor Murray Skeels didn’t see it as a lot of work for staff. “The cottage situation woke us up to the fact we’re nowhere with this. Let’s let some smart, bright people in the community go to work on this and see where it goes.”
Staff will be asked to draft a bylaw for the commission’s creation.
