TOWN PLANNING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 174, 25 July 1928, Page 5

TOWN PLANNING.

DIFFICULTY IN AUCKLAND.

FOUR AREA COMMITTEES.

MR. HAMMOND'S PROPOSALS. Advantage was taken of the conference of local body delegates at Mount Eden last night in connection with the Auckland City Water Bill to enable Mr. R. B. Hammond, director of town planning, to submit a scheme which he claimed would overcome certain difficulties which arose in connection with the formation of a combined committee when the matter was previously considered by the local bodies in Auckland. It will be remembered that as an outcome of the difficulty the City Council decided to act independently by forming its own special committee. Mr. Hammond explained that the statutory maximum number of members on any regional committee was 15. He suggested that the Auckland region should be divided into four areas. The city by itself would probably form No. 1 area and in accordance with the Act prepare its own scheme. The remaining three areas might be arranged so that all the local authority districts on the North Shore side would comprise area No. 2, those on the north-west area No. 3, and those on the south-east area No. 4. A "combined committee" would be appointed for each of the areas (except area No. 1) under section 28 of the Act, composed of representatives from each of the local authorities included in an area. By this arrangement e£ch local authority would have direct representation on the "combined committee.'' In order to co-ordinate the planning work over the whole of the regional area, Mr. Hammond suggested that an unofficial committee called the "regional committee" be formed, comprising representatives from each area, including area No. 1. This "regional committee" would consider the particular matters that affected the whole region, such as main lines of communication and zoning, leaving the matters of more local interest to the various areas to deal with. Mr. Hammond remarked that this was one way of getting over the difficulty of providing for one committee of not more than 15 members to represent about 25 local bodies. It meant that i the Town Planning Board would have only four regional schemes to co-ordinate instead of 25 local schemes. The conference approved the scheme, subject to endorsement, and an arrangement of districts was suggested as follows:— Area 1, Auckland City. Area 2, Birkenhead, Northcote, Takapuna and Devonport boroughs, and the Waitemata county. Area 3, Mount Albert, Mount Eden, Newmarket and Onehunga boroughs, Henderson, Glen Eden and New Lynn town districts, and the Mount Roskill Rorad District. Area 4, Otahuhu and Pukekohe boroughs, Ellerslie, Howick, Papatoetoe, Manurewa and Papakura town districts, One Tree Hill and Mount Wellington road districts, and the Manukau countv.