What does Riverview Hospital mean to you?
Whether it's the trees or architecture, the sprawling green space in the midst of a busy urban centre or its legacy as a mental health care setting, the public can now talk about why Riverview matters - both online and in workshops starting next week - as part of the Heritage Conservation Plan (HCP) process.
Coquitlam's Riverview Lands Advisory Committee learned about the start of the public input phase at its meeting Tuesday; representatives from the provincial government were at the meeting to discuss the HCP process, which started in February.
But following presentations from Greg Hamilton of Shared Services BC, Berdine Jonker of Heritage BC and Denise Cook, the consultant awarded the HCP contract, committee members expressed frustration with the short notice given before next week's workshops as well as a timeline they say is far too tight. The HCP report is expected to be completed in September.
"It's really important to have a robust public consultation process... and that the public be given information in advance so they can come to those meetings and be well informed," said Elaine Golds, who represents the Burke Mountain Naturalists on the committee (Golds is also the Green Scene columnist for The Tri-City News).
"But I don't see any evidence you're really ready to go out and meet with the public yet," Golds said, noting it would be helpful for the public to see the HCP guiding document, even in draft form.
Hamilton, the real estate manager with Shared Services BC, which manages the Riverview lands and buildings, said the document would be available when the process ends this fall.
Several committee members also criticized the government representatives for launching the public input phase just as the weather improves before summer - a notoriously difficult time to draw people to indoor meetings.
As well, they expressed concern there would not be enough time to meet with all the relevant stakeholders, particularly since none of the people on the committee - which consists of mental health advocates, Riverview lease holders and other interested parties - had been contacted yet for interviews.
Committee member Ray Jennings, an SFU professor, questioned what role the HCP and Heritage BC would play in supporting Riverview as a heritage site but Jonker said their role is not as an advocate.
"We act as facilitators for developing the capacity for heritage conservation at all levels of government," Jonker said.
The HCP report will contain specific strategies for conservation but it's up to the decision makers to implement them or not.
Jonker also noted that public input will be critical in developing the heritage conservation plan, which will be a values-based study aimed at capturing how the community feels about Riverview's tangible and intangible qualities, its history and its significance in the community and region today (as opposed to a fact-based inventory of the site's historical architecture or arboretum).
"In the consultation process if people articulate [mental health care] as an important value, then it will be recognized in the values statement, and that will be translated into how those strategies for conservation are developed," Jonker said.
"The values identified in the plan really come from the community, they don't come necessarily from the experts' perspective... so the more the community speaks about that as being significant, the higher the profile it will get in the report."
The drop-in workshops are on May 22 in the Outlet at Leigh Square (2253 Leigh Sq., PoCo, behind city hall) and on May 23 at the Executive Plaza Hotel (405 North Rd., Coquitlam). Both run from 4 to 8 p.m. To learn more about the HCP and to fill out an online questionnaire, visit www.riverviewvalues.info or email [email protected].
