In Almost Perpetual Circles: Urban Preservation and the Municipal Advisory Committee in London, Ontario

Abstract

The problems involved in the preservation of our urban historical and architectural heritage have aroused increasing attention in the last few years, partially because of the growing general concern over the quality of our environment. The idea of having some type of committee, or board, to advise municipal governments on such preservation questions is certainly not new; in the last few years, a vast number of such committees have sprung up across the country. In Ontario, for instance, since the 1974 legislation, over 40 new bodies of this type have been created. All such committees inevitably run into many difficulties, although they are greatly helped when their municipality is located in a province in which there is some overall legislation and a central ministry to give advice. They inject a new element into the planning and development process, an element that threatens to complicate traditional procedures and therefore, naturally, disturbs planners, developers and municipal officials who have their accustomed processes. Hence the experience of what is now one of the "older" committees, that of London, Ontario, may be of some interest to readers of this journal, for its evolution points up many issues that face such bodies. Possibly, therefore, some suggestions based on its experiences will help smooth the path of parallel organizations elsewhere.