Hope – The April 12 stop work order for the demolition of the Hope Train Station was held in limbo as the Province under the Heritage Conservation Act, told the District of Hope, that there was a 120 day moratorium which would end in Mid-August.
Richard Linzey , the Director of the Heritage Branch of Integrated Resource Operations, Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development informed Station House supporters, that the moratorium is extended to November 30.
Supporters sent this email to FVN:
I am not sure if it is common knowledge, but I have been advised by MoTI that the term of the District’s License of Occupation with BCTFA has been extended to 30 November 2021, no other changes have been made. MoTI has confirmed that I can share this information with interested parties.
Thank you for your interest in and dedication to BC’s historic places.
In Mid April, the BC Ombudsperson released their finding over the Hope Train Station. In the meantime, the Heritage arm of the Provincial Government put a stop work order on any potential demolition by the District of Hope on the station.
Then, Hope Council passed first and second reading on removing the heritage status and send the process to third reading AFTER a public hearing. That happened May 10 and the potential third reading on May 25.
In April, the Ombudsperson ruled that their investigation was complete and there is a lot of information to distill from the 10 page report, but the 2 key findings are as follows:
– There was a lack of fairness of the procedure that the District used to make their decision [to demolish the building], and the District did not consider all options available to them.
– The BC Ombudsperson has concerns about the Council’s omission of any consideration of the impact of the Station House’s potential heritage status, [despite there being a heritage bylaw in place for the building].
