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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-04-09, Page 28A presentation and discussion atHuron County council April 1,looked at the value of municipalcultural planning and sparked interested dialogue. Gord Hume of London, is one of the country’s leading experts on the subject. A fourth-term London City councillor, Hume wrote Cultural Planning for Creative Communities, which was published this year. In 2004, Hume chaired London’s Creative City task force and is now chair of its Creative City committee, has spoken at many national conferences, and helped North American municipalities with their own plans. In his introduction, Huron County councillor John Grace said thatHume was bringing a “wealth ofknowledge here to share with us.”Hume began his presentation withwords that came as no surprise toanyone. “We are in unprecedentedeconomic times,” he said. Referring to southern Ontario as the “best kept secret on Parliament Hill, ignored in cultural planning”, Hume said it was time for fresh and innovative thinking. With manufacturing and industry taking a hit, a “lot of jobs have been lost that are not coming back,” he noted. “The economy is changing. We will recover but the workforce and the communities will look a little different.” One of the opportunities Hume sees for south-western Ontario is to become a gateway to the United States and the mid-west. “We haveto stop being the fly over, drive byregion we’ve been.”Hume spoke on the problem ofbrain drain, the loss of educatedstudents to urban centres. “Bordersdon’t mean anything to them. Theycan go anywhere and their asset is their brain. We need to make our area attractive to them.” Doing so means diversity or, as Hume has dubbed it, a CRINK (CReative, INnovative, Knowledge- based) economy. “We want a sustainable economy, a robust, strong economy that is appealing and attractive to visitors.” Meaning, Hume added, that councils need to integrate culture into all the budget and planning decisions. “If creative cities are the end, cultural planning is the means.” A municipal cultural plan is how to transition a community into the creative economy, said Hume, adding that Huron has a great head start because it has already produced a solid cultural plan. “I congratulate you for that,” said Hume. He noted too that local governments have to be smarter than ever before in order for communities to survive. Wealth creation, and not income redistribution, he said, was the fundamental task for successful communities. “If the tax base is reduced, the quality of life is alsoreduced and vulnerable.”Hume said that like environmentalplans 10 years ago, cultural plans areat a starting point. But also as peopletoday always consider impact on theenvironment, “tomorrow they won’tmake a move without considering the impact on culture.” The tendency for culture to be considered a frill needs to be corrected, said Hume. “Culture is $20 billion of the economic impact in Ontario. It’s a major contributor. We need to invest in cultural infrastructure. It shapes the kind of community in which people want to live.” Creative City thinking is a big idea, said Hume, with councils needing to drive the agenda of change to communities can continue to prosper. They need to welcome diversity in their populations and offer robust downtowns, he added. “We need to do a better job of building neighbourhoods.” And it needn’t be something that only benefits larger urban centres. “It absolutely relates to small communities too,” said Hume citing several examples. He spoke of a small town in Kentucky where they gave away housing in a dead neighbourhood to artists and artisans. “It revived the community.” Eastern Ontario, he said, concluded there was zero chance ofbuilding a traditional economy, so itcreated a thriving food, wine andtourism economy.Hume highlighted Huron’s assets,its heritage, locally-grown food anda commitment to the arts. “Huronhas such great bones. That’s how you can build, but it will take strategy and investment from time to time.” He encouraged council to “shout about” the strength of the opportunities, whether it’s buying local food, or the blessing of a rich heritage. “You have a great foundation, build on it,” he said, suggesting that council begin to put away 1 per cent of major capital funds into a separate budget for culture. Upon questioning, Hume said that London currently budgets approximately $3.5 million for tourism and cultural development. Some councillors noted, however, the reluctance of people to commit funding to culture. Hume stressed that council needs to educate the public and that not everyone will be accepting. “But culture links to economic prosperity. This is about building communities where kids can have jobs and will stay.” “I urge you to push ahead with integrating the cultural plan. It’s a good investment.” Huron County’s historical preservation has impressed the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, which awarded the friends of Ball’s Bridge for their contribution to Ontario’s cultural heritage landscape. In an awards ceremony in late November, Daryl Ball was awarded the Margaret and Nicholas Hill Cultural Heritage Landscape Award, honouring the work he and the friends of Ball’s Bridge have done over the last several decades, and specifically, in the last three years. The award specifically recognized the public awareness campaign, restoration and funding to upgrade the bridge, as well as the group for “working tirelessly over several decades in this province to heighten our level of awareness and appreciation for Ontario’s significant landscapes.” Ball says he is honoured to have received the award and to be recognized for the work he and the project’s supporters have done. He said he couldn’t have done it without the support of Rebecca Garrett, who was a very instrumental member of the friends of Ball’s Bridge. In his application, Ball calls Ball’s Bridge, “the bridge that love built,”also saying that the restoration and preservation of the bridge is “a huge success story on the power of a well-organized citizen group.” Congratulations Recognizing the efforts to preserve Ball’s Bridge and keep it standing in Huron County at an awards dinner in Toronto recently, Daryl Ball was presented with an award from the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. Ball and the friends of Ball’s Bridge were given the Margaret and Nicholas Hill Cultural Heritage Landscape Award. The award honoured the team, which “worked tirelessly over several decades in this province to heighten our level of awareness and appreciation for Ontario’s significant landscapes.” (Shawn Loughlin photo) PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2009. Ball’s Bridge gets ACO heritage award Cultural planning expert urges county to move ahead 404 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114 The Citizen Drop in and see our great selection of books for Spring reading HORSE GAMES & PUZZLES For the young person who loves all things horses, this book has 102 brain teasers, word games, jokes and riddles, picture puzzles, matches and logic tests in 130 pages of fun. $10.95 HORSES AND FRIENDS POSTER BOOK This large-format book has 30 colour photo-graphs that can be pulled out for use as posters, featuring horses and barnyard friends, from cats and dogs to goats and sheep to birds. $13.95 BERKELEY TO THE BARNYARD – A Far Cry from Home Called “a jewel of a book” by one critic, Helen Stewart tells of her humorous story of leaving her life at university to follow her anthropologist husband to a farm in northern B.C. $21.95 THE GARDENER’S A-Z GUIDE TO GROWING ORGANIC FOOD Information on organic growing of vegetables, herbs, fruits and nuts. 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