Erin beefs up its heritage registry with 12 Hillsburgh properties

HILLSBURGH ‒ Erin council has added 12 new properties to the municipality's meagre heritage registry. 

During a council meeting Thursday afternoon, councillors approved staff recommendations to give 12 properties in Hillsburgh official heritage status due to their contributions to the 19th Century character of Trafalgar Road and/or ties to historic Hillsburgh residents. 

According to a new report, staff plan to designate 58 properties in groups across the municipality starting now until the end of 2024.

"We have not been overly heavy-handed in this process," said Coun. Jamie Cheyne, a member of the heritage committee, during the meeting. "Now that the provincial government has set up this program, and we're sort of under the gun, it's nice we can at least get these 12."

Earlier this year, council voted to remove over 400 properties from the 600+ sitting stagnant in the town’s heritage register since their addition in 2006.

This followed stricter provincial legislation surrounding which properties are granted heritage status and would remove any properties not granted official heritage status within two years of the new changes. 

Removed properties cannot be re-listed for five years. 

According to Cheyne, until yesterday's decision, there were only three designated heritage structures in Erin. 

"Some (residents) are on board 100 per cent. And some of them, let's say are not excited about it, putting it mildly," said Cheyne, about the new designations during the meeting. "I think it's a matter of education because we are not looking at being strict and onerous with our designation."

The full list of properties includes 58 ½ Trafalgar Road, which operated under the Gooderham & Worts company from 1846 until the 1870s, 83 Trafalgar Road, otherwise known as St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, and 92 Trafalgar Road, the site of the former Town Hall. 

"We're learning as we go along," said Jack Krubnik, director of planning and development, during the meeting. "And certainly if there are any objections, my hope is that we will be reaching out to these people and listening to them, really learning from some of their objections and their concerns and being able to address them." 

Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.