Heritage Master Plan

What is a Heritage Master Plan?

The Town of Cobourg Heritage Master Plan sets out the overall vision and goals for heritage conservation and management. A heritage master plan is a planning tool that helps to manage heritage resources within a municipality. Heritage resources include individually designated properties, properties located in a Heritage Conservation District, archeological resources and other buildings, monuments, landscapes, or places with potential cultural heritage value or interest.

What is a cultural heritage resource?

The Town of Cobourg's Official Plan defines cultural heritage resources as: "buildings, structures, features, or areas of architectural, historical or archeological interest including cemeteries and unmarked burials and urban districts and cultural heritage landscapes."

Vision

To conserve and enhance cultural heritage resources and manage change so that the community can continue to grow in keeping with the heritage character of Cobourg while also preserving the vibrant small-town feel.

Goals

1. Protect and conserve significant cultural heritage resources over the long term
2. The small-town character of Cobourg, typified by the commercial core, low rise development, comfortable streetscapes, and a mix of land uses, is important to maintain and enhance
3. It is important to have the downtown as the economic and cultural hub of the Town to retain the small-town character
4. The waterfront is a significant defining feature of the community that provides a critical link to the downtown and an important recreational area
5. Retaining the broader character of the streetscape and neighbourhoods is equally important to conserving individual buildings
6. Investment and new development that is compatible with the character of the surrounding area should be encouraged and facilitated

Development of the Heritage Master Plan

In the fall of 2014, the Town of Cobourg set out to prepare a Heritage Master Plan. The Town retained a team of heritage professionals from MHBC Planning to undertake this exciting project. As part of this process, the Town also created Heritage Conservation District Plans for each of the existing heritage conservation districts. The Background Report outlines the pre-existing state of heritage conservation in Cobourg, summarizes the input received through public consultation, and outlines the vision for the Heritage Master Plan. The team finalized the project in the spring of 2016, and the plans received Council approval on May 2, 2016.