TOWN PLANNING SCHEME

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25878, 10 August 1949, Page 9

TOWN PLANNING SCHEME

final report of COMMITTEE

ACTION BY AUTHORITIES

niS e Cnmm t^ UrC u Me t ro Politan PlanWcaM* 1941) :& atlo oS th b e y ba d^ enj “y the Town Planning Board ™ e s SL“ rma ? <Mr W. S. Mac Gibbon) 172 c^m?H were reached after rnnr. C v, mm e f e meetings involving 3300 5 thA°S S -° f L Voluntary eHort by S some “nS 1 ® bus,es J men ln the community. frS th» S tew , substantial variations a » ro P° sal s of the inh>!t^,nt? po r* J lnade several years ago; -art developmenta have occurgh local bodies following Ul l£ lal recommendations 8 .Produce a useful survey, the committee had the assistance of many groups of experts and the support of organisations. The area coverexlina,V,';, S f Chem «, ls . a b out W. 900 acres “!? . ng l rom Waimairi to Halswell and from Paparua to Lyttelton. Each development is traced from its begin?™S. in Piooeer days to probable ex»m! on u m the next 25 years. J?J of 67 P a g es makes inwHhl readl ” g and is illustrated diagrams tOgraPhs and many ma P s an d

The survey of existing conditions includes analyses of land uses, factors influencing the street and land pattern, residential, commercial, and industrial areas, parks and playgrounds, the distribution of population, and local body by-laws. Basis for Plan The, proposals for future development are based on a desire for orderly arrangement of functions and balanced economy in land uses; coordinated improvement of the transport system by road, rail, sea, and air; reservation of sites for parks, schools, hospitals and other public institutions; stabilisation of building and population densities; determination of building heights and densities in relation to street widths and traffic capacities; uniform town-planning standards; and the creation of “a physical environment conducive to the fullest, healthiest, and happiest liie for the whole community.”

Plans have been based on the assumption that the resident urban population will not exceed 250,000 within the next 25 years, and zoning proposals (already announced) have been made accordingly. The tunnel road to Lyttelton is placed first among major reading proposals. Others mentioned are a bypass across the south-western corner of Hagley Park linking Moorhouse avenue and that industrial area with the suggested Blenheim road entrance from the south; the widening of Burnside road to 80 feet and of Fendalton road (up to Harper avenue) to 66 feet to carry heavy traffic from Harewood; new links with the North road through St. Albans and Papanui; railway overbridges at Sockburn, Colombo street, Harper street, and Fendalton road, and others later at Lincoln road and on the tunnel approach road. New City Bridges Two new bridges over the Avon river are proposed—one “near Gloucester street for through traffic in Durham street running from Oxford terrace to Durham street,” and one “between Fendalton road and Harper avenue.” I

The committee says it is “fully in accord with the policy of gradually replacing trams by buses.” On railways, the committee recommends the provision of more sidings for industrial undertakings to relieve road congestion and notes plans for the new Sockburn-Styx railway loop. Air and sea terminal improvements at Harewood and Lyttelton are also mentioned.

The designation of building heights for certain areas is a new feature of the report. The'main six-storey block recommended is bounded by Oxford terrace, Armagh street, Madras street and Tuam street, with a strip down Colombo street to Moorhouse avenue and along to Waltham road. Up to four storeys are proposed for the approximate area surrounded bv the city belts, with three-storey fringes beyond and •in such isolated places as the Papanui centre. New Brighton, and Lyttelton, and along the railway to Sockburn. The main suburban residential areas are marked for up to two and a half storeys. Buildings and Traffic

Building density and traffic are closely related by the committee, which mentions the substitution df trams by buses, street widening and new exits, off-street car parks, and the setting back of building lines on main arterial roads as likely means of relief.

“Traffic congestion is not an act of God, but the direct result of factors which can be ascertained and controlled,” says the report. “Research has shown that there is a definite relation between building bulk and traffic and that this varies according to the use of the building. A retail store, for instance, will give rise to two to five times more traffic (vehicular and pedestrian) than an office building of the same bulk.” In a country subject to earthquakes there should be sufficient open space to permit occupants of buildings to congregate and move freely. A formula for limiting the gross floor area of buildings according to the size of site and width of street is suggested.