STREET ALIGNMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 106, 3 May 1912, Page 8

STREET ALIGNMENTS.

MTTST BE DEFINITELY FIXED. CITY EN~GLVFER"> OPINION. Recently a communication was rereived by the City Council from tiie Auckland" Committee of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors, conveying a resolution to the effect that legislation was necessary in connection -with street alignments in Auckland, and suggestions that a represetative deputation shou'd place the matter before the Minister tor Lands. The City Engineer in reporting on the letter, cordially approved the idea, and in doing so pointed out that the Council bad incurred very heavy expenditure in connection with the standard and. alignment survey undertaken by the Lands and Survey Department at ! ie instance of the Council, which -urvey ■would fail to effect its full purpose unless the alignments, which, after patient investigation and careful -urvey. ha 1 been submitted by Mr. Langmuir. the Government surveyor, as being the vlos-e-t approximation to the original alignmen consistent with the rights an.l responsibilities of property owner.-, are properly authorised. It might be argue I. be went on, that if legislation were framed and placed upon the to legalise the alignments submitted and at the same time protect the interests of private, property owners by allowing them to claim for compensation for setting back to such alignments, that the Council might be involved in heavy habilitv. But that difficulty could sureiy be overcome by giving the Counril power on the. one hand to apply to the Gover-noT-in-Couiicil for power to suspend the operation of an alignment where it could be shown that it was not necessary tor the purposes of the use of traffic in the street that the property should be set back to such alignment, and on the other hand by giving property owners a certain period i say 20 years) in which to effect the setting back. The chief argument in favour of such legislation was. however, tic absolute necessity of definition of alignments, so that both the Council and property owners could know the exact boundaries of the street, and any postponement of action in defining Such alignments could only make the task of doing so i the future increasingly difficult, while the present confusion and doubt -would Ftill continue. It would surely be conceded, he said, that the principle of fixing alignments was right, and tuat it -was absurd for a lar™c city like Auckland no;, to know where the boundaries of it- street began or ended. He submitted that, it war extremely unwise in considering a question of that kinl to allow the existence of an alleged rniTo.ichme.nt such as existed on I ho wc.-t side of Queen-street to influence a decision -which should deal with the question as it applied to the whole .V> miles of streets in the city of Auckland. On the motion of the Mayor the matter was sent on to the Works Committee. He pointed out that while it was necessary that they should hive the street lines defined the matter -was not without difficulties. The survey which had bppn made at considerable expense showed that in some instances buildings encroached on the street while in others the Council had more street than shown on the plan. Of course the former owners had lost their right to this land, but it was a delicate question to handle.