Memorial to Canadian soldiers threatened by development: activists

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A grassy memorial in England to Canada’s Second World War effort could be largely erased by a proposed development, say opponents of the plan.

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The construction of 124 apartment units would mostly supplant a lushly treed park — whose creation was spearheaded by one-time Calgarian and former prime minister R.B. Bennett — surrounding and owned by Guildford Cathedral in the English city of the same name, if local lawmakers approve it.

This would not only deprive locals of a much-beloved green space but would also desecrate an area meant to honour Canadians, says the group Friends of Stag Hill.

“The cathedral have, understandably, kept quiet about the origins of the land and the way that the original gift was intended to stay as an open green space as a memorial to Canadian servicemen and women,” said Chris Cotton, spokesman for the group.

“Fortunately, the original letters showing this intention have been preserved in the cathedral archives.”

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Cotton said those letters chronicle plans to build the cathedral in the late 1930s that would entail ensuring the land around it was kept as a park.

One-time Calgary lawyer and oilman R.B. Bennett, who served as Canada’s prime minister from 1930 to 1935, had moved to England and expressed interest in providing moral and financial support in preserving the land but as a memorial to Canadian combatants in the town 50 km southwest of London.

Because of his contributions to Britain’s air war campaign, Bennett, who lived near Guildford, had been honoured with the title Viscount Bennett of Mickleham, Calgary and Hopewell.

In early 1943, in a passage from the cathedral’s archives, the Bishop of Guildford wrote of his “vision of that part of the hill being acquired by Canadian gifts and remaining as a permanent memorial to Canada’s many associations with us during these war years.”

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The plan was carried out successfully, with a plaque affixed to the adjacent cathedral recognizing the land as a memorial to Canada’s wartime contributions.

Decades later, Guildford Cathedral partnered in an application to develop a 5.5-hectare parcel of land — “a significant part, but not all, of the remaining space around the cathedral,” said Cotton.

A housing proposal rejected by Guildford borough council in 2017 would have raised C$16 million for the cathedral, whose operators are now petitioning for a development of roughly the same footprint, said Cotton.

Along with other concerns related to development like traffic and building height, retaining a tribute to Canada strikes a chord among locals, he said.

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“There is clearly a community sentiment to protect the land and for some people, the Canadian link is an important part of that,” said Cotton, adding the correspondence between church officials and Bennett wasn’t widely known until recently.

“We think, in light of what we now know, that the council should amend the local plan to reflect the enduring legacy that Bennett set up.”

The city’s planning committee will likely hear the proposal in late April and “if approved there is little or no right of appeal; if declined the developer can appeal to central government,” he said.

Developing the land would provide much-needed affordable housing and provide the cathedral with funds for its maintenance, said Matt O’Grady, its chief operating officer.

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“The cathedral is proud of its community links and believes very strongly that it should play a part in contributing to new homes in Guildford,” he said in an email.

The Charity Commission, a regulatory body, has already given its approval after assessing the land’s history, said O’Grady.

“We appreciate how important the cathedral and its surroundings are to the community, both local and further afield through its historical connections,” he said.

“We believe wholeheartedly that we are proposing a development that is sensitive to its special setting and its history.”

Friends of Stag Hill’s Cotton said cathedral officials have noted the land isn’t a registered war memorial.

“But I doubt that Viscount Bennett would have thought it necessary, having been given the Bishop’s word that the land would not be built on,” he said, adding the group might seek that designation.

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Veterans Affairs Canada calls the dispute over the park “a bit of a grey area,” with a spokesman saying its Canadian connection doesn’t appear on Friends of Stag Hill’s official objections.

“Veterans Affairs Canada understands the importance that sites such as Stag Hill can have in relation to local military history,” said Marc Lescoutre.

The department, he said, doesn’t have a role in other countries’ municipal affairs but that it maintains and operates 14 memorial sites in Europe, among them the Vimy Memorial in France.

“These memorials promote the recognition and remembrance of the achievements and sacrifices of those who served Canada in times of war, military conflict and peace,” said Lescoutre.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn