AUCKLAND'S DESTINY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 234, 4 October 1927, Page 10

AUCKLAND'S DESTINY.

POPULATION OF A MILLION.

TOWN-PLANNING POSSIBILITY SHOULD ADOPT UNIFIED SCHEME. "The future of Auckland from a townplanning point of view depends upon preparing for a popuV'on of one million. In this • few bottlenecks and f< x ic crossroads. Your parks c.. ljallv marvellous, and no other city in the world of the same size has such wonderful bequests.

"The objectionable features of the Auckland of to-day are just two—the cemetery bridge and Newmarket. If you adopt any scheme for overcoming those two problems you should only do so in relation to a finished plan of Auckland."

Mr. G. S. Keesing, a member of the council of the Sydney Town Planning Association, crowded a lecture at the Auckland University College hall last evening with much practical advice on the question of town planning. The lecture was arranged by the Auckland Town Planning Association.

Green Volcanic Knolls. Mr. Keesing said that a city with the builders, architects and artisans that Auckland had produced had no need to fear for its beauty, so long as the physical structure was not interfered with and natural monuments like the volcanic hills were not levelled to the ground There seemed to be no need for levelling these little mounts for which Auckland was famous among the cities of the world. In regard to the planning of Auckland, the first essential was that.all the local bodies should co-operate to carry out a scheme. Areas that would be required for public purposes in the future should be resumed without delay. Suburban districts might be inclined to view acquisitions of property as extravagance, but there was no reason why Auckland should not profit by the experience of Sydney which, only a while ago l ttle bigger than the Auckland of today, had recently made resumptions at heavy cost and in the face of legal difficulties.

Harbour Bridge or Canal. A bridge across the Waitemata, or a Whau canal, Mr. Keesing considered, should be considered only .with reference to a future scheme. Either proposal would have a large effect upon zoning and the location of industrial areas. The idea of Auckland going ahead by a patchwork of. separate schemes, or independent of the outside local bodies, appeared to be ridiculous. One little alteration in one part of the city might, by its influence upon traffic and other conditions, make a very great difference in other parts— not that a variety of proposals should be put forward for the solution of any particular problem, for that would only be misleading and bewildering to the public, but any scheme, however trivial, or however important, should not be considered for a moment except as a part of a plan of all Auckland.

Mr. W. J. Holdsworth, president, said that the local bodies in Auckland, about 26 in number, had recently failed to agree on a unified town-planning movement, and were now preparing to undertake separate schemes. The Auckland Town Planning Association was for a comprehensive scheme and the association had not been formed before its time, for there was already much work that called for its attention.