A good deal has happened in Stratford since you expressed your support last year for protection of Stratford’s wonderful heritage.

One of the city’s five wards (Hamlet) is now organizing itself to request the City of Stratford undertake a Heritage Conservation District Study (HCD). Becoming an HCD means much stronger protection for the overall heritage character of a neighborhood. Ungoverned development becomes much more unlikely once HCD status is achieved.

We’re hoping to encourage and provide assistance to other wards in the city who are facing heritage challenges of their own, like Falstaff. Falstaff is now contending with the prospect of a high-density apartment development along the Ontario Street heritage corridor that significantly compromises not only the heritage corridor, but the adjacent neighbourhood directly behind it on Coburg Street and Trow Avenue.

Importantly, the proposed development is at odds with Stratford’s established official plan, which calls for low to medium density residential dwellings in the area around Ontario Street.

THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION!

Providing your contact information is vitally important in helping demonstrating to Stratford council the number of people who support a Heritage Conservation District.

If you haven’t already done so, please let us have your contact info (phone number, email address, street address) which will help create leverage with City Hall and also enable us to keep you updated with our progress.  If you live in one of the other wards, like Falstaff, your information allows us to help you organize your own HCD – vital to the preservation of Stratford’s heritage.

You can also help by encouraging friends and neighbours to confirm their interest in the Hamlet Ward HCD or you could collect their information on their behalf and pass it along.

Please provide your contact information directly to Hamlet Ward Heritage Conservation Association coordinator, Richard Wood at: rwoodn618@rogers.com

Alternatively, you can fill in the contact form at the HCD website https://www.hamletwardhcd.com/

IMPORTANT VIRTUAL EVENT – MAY 25th

Allan Tye, President of ACO (Architectural Conservancy Ontario) Stratford - Perth County, is inviting persons interested in heritage conservation to join a Zoom presentation by Mark Tovey, Adjunct Research Professor, Department of History, Western University, in which he will outline the process by which a community works towards a Heritage Conservation District designation using the Talbot North neighborhood in London as a case study.

Professor Tovey has already been extremely helpful to the committee working on organizing the Hamlet Ward HCD initiative which the ACO branch has been supporting. Professor Tovey’s presentation will begin the ACO’s Annual General Meeting which will be a Zoom meeting on May 25 beginning at 7 P.M.

The session is free and you are not expected to stay for the meeting itself. Please contact us by May 23rd at rwoodn618@rogers.com to make a reservation.  A link will be emailed to you on May 24th and we'll look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Our website https://www.hamletwardhcd.com/ provides more information about this event.  Please bookmark it and check back periodically for news updates about what we can all do together to preserve Stratford’s valuable heritage.