Defining vision

The newly amalgamated County had barely learned to walk by 2004 when a fresh council embarked on a radical initiative to ask residents what they thought. Some grumbled that it was a waste of time. Some likely saw it as mild form of treason. After all, residents spoke on election day. That was it. No good could come from asking the people for their opinions.

Undaunted, Bev Campbell, Monica Alyea and other councillors posed the question: What do you see when you imagine yourself and your community in 2009? It was question designed to uproot both residents and local government from their daily battles—to pull their heads from the muck and ask them to think beyond the thing they wanted next month or next year. The question challenged participants and elected folk to visualize what they wanted the County to be— their hopes and dreams for this place.

In five meeting halls across the County, more than 300 residents came out to participate in the exercise. The response was enthusiastic, energetic and hopeful. Many left those gatherings with the giddy feeling that they had, in a small way, informed the direction of local government.

Lists of values, ideas and aspirations were compiled into the Vision 2009 document. A manifesto of sorts, the document became, for a few years anyway, a measuring stick by which council assessed its decisions and actions.

Among the “most important visions” distilled through that exercise was that the heritage, character and culture of this community be actively preserved—that it defined the County as a special and unique place. Picture it: 11 years ago residents gathered in meeting halls and told local government to protect the County’s history. It wasn’t vague guidance. Residents articulated a clear direction to council: preserve the County’s architecture, protect its streetscapes, revitalize its main streets, encourage historically respectful development and avoid sprawl.

A decade later, council’s track record in this regard is sad and disappointing.

Just a year after the Vision 2009 exercise came council’s first test.

Next door to Shire Hall stood two walk-up apartment buildings. They were in rough shape, but council’s own advisors on heritage and architecture, led by Gilles Miramontes, pleaded that these were good, historical structures worthy of restoration and preservation.

But County officials had other ideas. They were tired of working in cramped offices in an old building that was always either too hot or too cold. They dreamed of a grand and glorious new government palace. The rundown apartment buildings next door, stood in their way. So late in 2005 County council relented and agreed to buy the buildings. Residents rallied to save the buildings— but council was unmoved. The tenants were evicted and the buildings were smashed and levelled.

Miramontes quietly left the County’s heritage advisory committee.

As it turned out, plans for a new and expanded Shire Hall were later discarded when council learned of its $7 million price tag. Today, a tidy little parkette sits where folks used to live—in a town with too few affordable places to call home. It is a memorial of sorts to the shortsightedness of the view from Shire Hall.

Farther west on Main Street, an empty lot beckons a fast-food chain to come and build a restaurant on Main Street in Picton where, for 135 years, a majestic brick church stood as an icon of faith, fidelity and community. Across the street, another lot sits blank and idle, collecting wind-blown soda cups and hamburger wrappers.

Were it not for the inspiring and thoughtful investment by the Bake family on Picton’s main street, there would be many more empty lots and empty buildings and far fewer reasons to visit downtown. It is crucial to note that other investors have followed, sharing a similar vision, respectful of the traditions of the County.

A decade has passed since residents insisted its elected officials do more to protect the County’s architecture and streetscapes. This ambition still manages to pack town halls whether it is a secondary plan meeting or just two residents worried about the fate of a couple of buildings on Wellington’s main intersection. But will council, at long last, respond in a coherent and comprehensive way?

This term of council has struggled to make a significant mark since it passed its first budget in December. It has become stuck in issues that don’t resonate outside Shire Hall.

Protecting the County’s architectural heritage is something it can do to change its trajectory. Preserving main street character enriches both the quality of life of residents and County’s economic prospects. There are tools and policies that the County can readily borrow from other jurisdictions who long ago understood it is in their interest to make heritage a priority.

It begins by joining with residents of this community to ensure that historic buildings on Wellington’s main intersection are restored or replaced. In design and spirit. Then, council can join the discussion about how, together, we can meet the goals we set for our community, 11 years ago.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca