HTNS Surveys Provincial Candidates on Their Position on Heritage
This month’s provincial elections give those of us who value built heritage the opportunity to elect representatives who understand the importance of built heritage and who are committed to protecting it. Before you cast your ballot, we hope you will take the time to find out what your local candidates’ positions are on built heritage.
We sent all candidates for the provincial general election a series of questions about the protection and promotion of built heritage
Click here to read their responses
(Use [Ctrl] + [F] on PC or [Cmd⌘] + [F] on Mac to search the document for specific words or titles.)
If you are unsure of your electoral district you can find it here
The questions we asked were:
How well do you think Nova Scotia is doing at protecting built heritage?
Nova Scotia is the only province that permits owners of municipally registered heritage properties to demolish their properties three years after applying to do so, even if permission is refused. Would you support amending the Heritage Property Act to close this loophole and better protect municipally registered heritage properties? If not explain why.
To encourage property owners to seek municipal or provincial heritage designation for their properties and to assist owners to maintain those properties, would you support increasing provincial financial incentives for heritage property owners? If not, please explain why.
To encourage property owners to seek municipal heritage designation for their properties and to assist owners to maintain those properties, would you support enabling municipalities to give preferential property tax treatment to registered heritage properties? If not explain why.
As Nova Scotia’s population has grown, we have seen an increase in the demolition of historic buildings which define the character of our communities and provide numerous affordable housing units. To better protect historic (registered and non-registered) buildings and the affordable housing they provide, would you support enabling municipalities to increase tax rates for empty properties where owners have demolished existing residential units? If not explain why.
As Nova Scotia’s population has grown, we have seen an increase in the demolition of historic buildings which define the character of our communities and provide numerous affordable housing units. To better protect historic (registered and non-registered) buildings and the affordable housing they provide, would you support introducing other regulatory incentives that encourage the restoration and adaptive reuse of historic buildings? If not explain why.
Is there anything else you would like us to know about your positions on the protection and promotion of built heritage?
Together we can make sure candidates know that:
1. Our built heritage is important to Nova Scotians
2. We will put our support behind candidates who commit to strengthening built heritage protections.
