A CIVIC CENTRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 161, 9 July 1926, Page 6

A CIVIC CENTRE.

There has been so much division of opinion in regard both to the site for a civic centre in Auckland, and-also as to the best type of building lo be erected on auy site eventually chosen, that the invitation to be extended by the Auckland City Council to Sir John Sulman, of Sydney, and Mr. S. Hurst Seager, of Christchurch, to join with the city engineer as a commission to obtain information and to submit recommendations, is to be commended as likely to produce a scheme based on expert opinions from outside, together with knowledge of the peculiar requirements of our own city. It is a common experience in municipal affairs that those who live in the municipality are seldom able to rid themselves of small party politics and local prejudices, and take a wide view I of future requirements. The present ; is apt to loom too large, and frequently j personal considerations are given undue ' weight. The great advantage of getting expert opinion from outside is that this opinion is not based on local prejudices or inclinations, but upon experience, gained in other cities. Sir John Sulman has watched the growth of Sydney, and knows exactly how far plans adopted some time back have adequately met the requirements of a quickly growing community. He will be able to give us the benefit of his knowledge, and to tell us in what direction and in what way our city is most likely to develop, so that we can make our civic centre where it will be most likely to be central in the future. Mr. Hurst Seager has an intimate knowledge of townplanning, while our own engineer, Mr. W. E. Bush, has been so long associated with the city and public works, many of which he nas helped to design, that ..here is no danger of local needs and conditions being overlooked. Many commissions in the past have been of less value than they might have been because they have been composed wholly of experts from outside, unacquainted with . local requirements and limitations Their reports have been exceedingly valuable and their suggestions have been in many cases theoretically sound Where they have failed has been in an inadequate knowledge of local feeling. The present commission will not suffer from this limitation, and thus we shall pet the advantage of opinion removed from local party politics, with, at the same time, a guarantee that the local point of view will "it be overlooked.