TOWN PLANNING.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 98, 1 June 1914, Page 10

TOWN PLANNING.

AN ORGANISER FJtOM ENGLAND

There arrived in Christchurch this morning Mr Charles C. Reade; the organiser of the Australasian Town Planning tour, which is being conducted by the London Town Planning Association. Mr Reade, who is a New Zeajander, was a well-known journalist, but; becoming interested in the townplanning movement, he went to England some two years ago to make himself more familiar with the movement. The result .was-that he was deputed by the < association to bring down a scheme for - -. ah -.Australasian tour and to raise funds . for the purpose of defraying some "of the expenses. Mr Reade gives special praise to Mr Arthur Myers, M.P., of Auckland, who, when" in England recently, visited one of the Garden Suburbs of London in company with .Mr Reade, and was so impressed with what he saw that he at once gave a cheque for £IOO towards the expenses fund and guaranteed a further sum of £SO towards, the expenses of the Auckland lec-. tures.

AN EXPERT. The possibility of getting an expert '" in town-planning out here,occurred when the" British Association.'for the. Advancement of Science (whicih'is to visit Aus- . tralia and New Zealand in August.next) • decided to include town-planning in its -..deliberations. Therefore a well-known 1 expert, Mr W. R. Davidge, F. 5.1., A.R.1.8.A., A.M.1.C.E., of the Londqn O' County Council, was, invited. to address the . members of the British Association- „ on the subject at' tlieir meetings in Mel-, bourne and .Sydney, when Mr Reade will also give a paper on Australasian as- ' . pects of town-planning. n Mt Davidge- is r due to arrive in Auckland early'in .July <"-?V-from Vancouver, and, in "con j unction with Mi* Reade, will commence the campaign in that city. It is proposed to give lectures in all the cities and important towns in the Dominion,;and on the con- \ elusion - of the tour in -Invercargill -the lecturers will "proceed _to Australia. Subsequent'to the-meetings of-the British Association they will then tour all the * Australian States, : ' where over 60 lectures have been arranged for. . CIVIC" INTEREST.

; With regard to New. Zealand, Mr Reside. said that it. was evident that the .subject .of -town-planning was ■ one that - had aroused • the • greatest interestl here, for? wherever he. had approached the locp'l.Jbodies Le had been assured; of their cordial support, and in many ■ \, cas&s' halls and lanterns had. been placed '■> at-his disposal. On tlfe day of his ar : rival in : -Wellington he was received by , the'; Hon. H. D. Bell," Minister of InAffairs/ who intimated that the Government was prepared to' give £350 towards the expenses of the tour, which .• expected to amount to *£7oo. - Committees "are already at ; work in the v. centres, aiid the Wellington cdmmittee/ >• in addition to providing halls;, is.'.raising'),a considerable-sum to meet expenses.. . In. f Christphurch,- too, so Mr Reade has :. been given to understand, all expenses n . are" to be met by the local committee,

. ,svhich' must; be 'regarded as a very 'satis-' factory recognition of the importance of to every civilised .. .Com: S : :muiiity." " • v ' * •" . / : :

vV'• {; ..PROGRESS; IN, EIJRQPE. .. ; '' Sjeaking of towii-planning 'in Engf land-and on the Continent, Mr Reade - said it notabie' that Oer- ! ' Jtrian anid Italian; cities vhad gone, furthest in, prpyiciing good -housing and / fitx&eia, {both. beautiful and. convenient,; and' he instanced sucii cities' as Turin

buildings provided for the-future as well as in. the present. It also provides for garden spaces to each house, and such other things as will assist the development of a "healthy community and a beautiful town. These matters, Mr -Reade pointed, out, are, for. the engineers and architects of each town to solve, according to local conditions, but general laws have been laid, down, and in Engalnd and Europe there exists legislation for the guidance of local bodies in New Zealand. The present mission and the movement behind it is really a crusade against . haphazard methods, with , their accompanying evils of slum areas, ugliness, and unhealthiness. '

SYDNEY'S PROBLEM. The lectures to be given by Mr Re.ade and Mr Davidge will be divided into two classes—the free public lectures and those*given before members of local bodies and Government departments, which will be more technical. In conclusion, Mr Reade said he was very much interested in the housing problem, caiised by the rapid development of Sydney in the past few years, and intended to give special attention to the subject. At present it was almost impossible for people to obtain houses, and working men had to pay from 18/- to 20/- a week for houses, while in English cities the worker receiving wages in proportion could rent a good house for about 7/6 a week.. Th€s problem i 3 not confined .to Sydney, however, and it is probable that legislation on the lines of the town planning schemes will assist in : providing homes for the worker at the cost of a more reasonable proportion of his weekly wage.