To the editor:

On the City of 91大黄鸭 webpage for Heritage I found this: 鈥淲e value, respect and celebrate built, cultural and natural heritage as a major contributor to our community鈥檚 identity, character and sense of place鈥�.

I noticed that the word 鈥減rotect鈥� isn鈥檛 anywhere to be seen. The sentiment expressed is encouraging but I鈥檝e noticed that it doesn鈥檛 seem to be shared by many of the people undertaking new building projects in the designated Heritage Area in South 91大黄鸭.

Like Vancouver, Heritage homes are disappearing rapidly along with tall, old trees (which seem to have no protection whatsoever). If a building is not a registered Heritage building (a process that only requires the owner to apply for the designation) then there is no way to protect the building from a new owner who bought it but doesn鈥檛 actually want the house or the trees, just the land.

When a house in this Heritage Area is advertised for sale, the older homes are celebrated along with the mature landscaping 鈥� which I assume means old trees. Unfortunately this doesn鈥檛 stop builders and owners from destroying both. The owners of the Mills house on the lake is a recent example. A beautiful, very large, lakefront heritage home went straight into the landfill. The owner said it wasn鈥檛 a heritage home because it wasn鈥檛 on the registry. Until we decide to protect what we value the destruction will continue.

I have a large oak tree on my property but I have never considered it as exclusively mine. It was there before I was born and was one of the reasons I bought the house. It鈥檚 part of the common good. The city鈥檚 desire to densify this area seems destined to destroy it. I thought I understood the reasons for this 鈥� to avoid building high rise apartments and to increase residential opportunities within walking distance from the downtown to encourage other forms of mobility) 鈥� but it now appears clear that the high rises are coming anyway, with their attendant social effects : crime, isolation and increased traffic.

And many of the new homes being built in South 91大黄鸭 are just bigger buildings for the same number of people. Do we care? Is this what we want?

Neil Cadger

91大黄鸭