Heritage Canada The National Trust urges Council to defer decisions on the Enerdu project

Dear Editor,

Please be advised that Heritage Canada The National Trust wrote to Mayor Levi and the Mississippi Mills Town Council last Friday recommending that any decisions regarding the Enerdu Project be deferred until the final results of the Heritage Conservation District study—and its recommendations—have been submitted and reviewed by Council.

 Please see attached.

 Regards,

Carolyn Quinn

Director, Communications / Directrice, communications

Heritage Canada The National Trust / Héritage Canada La Fiducie nationale

July 25, 2014

Mayor John Levi

Mississippi Mills Town Hall 3131 Old Perth Rd. P.O. Box 400

Almonte, ON K0A 1A0

Subject: Proposed Enerdu Generating Station Expansion and Redevelopment Project

Your Worship,

I am writing on behalf of Heritage Canada The National Trust regarding the proposed Enerdu Hydro Energy Project within the historic precinct of downtown Almonte. The recently submitted Heritage Impact Assessment for the project identifies a number of built heritage resources and cultural heritage landscapes with recognized cultural heritage values that the proposed development would impact. The town’s Official Plan describes local heritage resources as “a defining feature of the community” that makes Mississippi Mills “unique and distinct.” The results of the Heritage Conservation District study of the area that your Council is undertaking will help shape decisions about the tourism and economic development potential of these important heritage assets.

With so many of Almonte’s cultural heritage resources at stake, we urge you to defer any decisions about the Enerdu Project until the final results of the Heritage Conservation District study—and its recommendations—have been submitted and reviewed by Council.

The National Trust has included power generating projects on Amherst Island, and the

Nor’westers Range in Thunder Bay to the Top Ten List of Endangered Heritage Places in Canada. These projects all have in common the potential to negatively impact the surrounding cultural heritage landscape and the economic, social and cultural life of the community as a whole.

Heritage Canada The National Trust encourages you and members of your council to take strong leadership and place a moratorium on any decision for the Enerdu project while the comprehensive Heritage Conservation District Study is in the process of completion.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Yours sincerely

Natalie Bull

Executive Director

Tel: 613-237-1066 x. 222

pdf copy here HCNT Letter to Mayor, July 25, 2014