The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1934. PARKS AND PEOPLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 147, 23 June 1934, Page 8

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1934. PARKS AND PEOPLE.

For the cause that lacks assistance. For the wrong that needs resistance For the future in the distance, And the good that 'tee can do

The controversy about the treatment of the Auckland Domain should lead to some clearer thinking and more definite statement of principles on the whole subject of the design of public parks. For example, in this [superbly forested country there was for a long while insufficient appreciation of native trees, but the public's attitude is changing. At the same time, affection for English trees very properly persists, and those who lay out public gardens and parks and plant trees in streets have to study these two affections. In the meanwhile cities have grown, and municipal authorities are faced with the problem of providing a variety of parks and reserves to suit all tastes. There are some people who like formal gardens; others prefer the more natural beauties of walks through woods; some, indeed, may like formality in one mood and the more Wordswortliian conditions in another. We have in Auckland the contrast between the sophisticated Albert Park and the more woodland-wild Domain and slopes of One Tree Hill.

The City Council is wisely endeavouring to frame a plan by which the Domain can be developed along approved lines, so that both citizens and successive Councils will know what lies ahead. The proposed plan of development has several good points. For one thing, there should be some settled policy about the wooded area, and for another Auckland needs a botanical garden. Objections are directed at three proposals —the construction of another ti'affic road, the levelling of the hill near the Winter Garden, and the "improvement" of the entrances. - The lastnamed work would bo judged, of course, by results, and it is not difficult to imagine treatment of the entrances that would be an ornament to the city. The other two proposals are objectionable in themselves. Even if the hill had no historical interest, it should remain as a picturesque piece of landscape. To remove it would be to introduce into the Domain more of that kind of formal treatment which makes many citizens apprehensive about the future of this park. The most valuable feature of the Domain is its quietness, its rural beauty, its shaded walks and byways of fcecluded loveliness. There, seeking peace of mind, one may "weave the garlands of Repose," Annihilating all that's made To a green thought in a green shade. This desire for quiet should be carefully fostered. There are men and women like the American who enjoyed motoring on the great levels of the "Western plains—"2so miles on a straight line and you can go to the wheel." Movement and change are their form of happiness, but.when they seek it, let them go elsewhere. A park like the Domain, should not be used for through routes. Already there are several motor roads in the Domain, and to add one that would encourage motorists to traverse the Domain so as to get quickly to the southern and eastern suburbs would be _ a grave mistake, based on a misconception as to the real purpose of such a pleasure ground. In other cities, as Auckland citizens who have travelled have testified, care is taken to restrict the movements of motors in public parks; in most centres they -are ' barred altogether from botanical gardens, ancl such a garden it is proposed to develop on the slopes up which the proposed road would run. The Domain must not bo sacrificed to the need for new traffic outlets. It is an area with unique attractions, and requires special treatment. The problem of its development, like that of all parks indeed, goes far beyond mere engineering into the realm of aesthetic and moral values.