Heritage Issues for Planners

The overall role of local government in heritage planning will vary from one community to another, but it usually coordinates and facilitates the planning process, encourages community involvement, and builds community consensus.

General information about community planning in British Columbia is available from the Ministry of Community Services.

In order to obtain community expertise and advice relevant to conserving heritage, some local governments establish a Community Heritage Commission.

For local governments, the biggest issue is often the challenge of getting started. Defining heritage resources in the community isn’t a simple process of choosing a cut-off date before which a structure is considered to have heritage value. It is more complex than that.

It is important to get community input to identify and then communicate local heritage values. These values then help identify heritage resources.