REGIONAL PLANNER RESIGNS TO TAKE UP PRACTICE

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29783, 28 March 1962, Page 12

REGIONAL PLANNER RESIGNS TO TAKE UP PRACTICE

Miss Nancy • Northcroft, regional planner of the Christchurch Regional Planning Authority since its inception seven years ago, has resigned to take up a partnership in a surveying firm where she will undertake town planning work as a consultant. The executive of the authority met yesterday to consider Miss Northcroft's notice of resignation and accepted with gratitude her offer to remain in the position for up to six months. Miss Northcroft has been a planning officer in Christchurch for the last 13 years, first with the City Council and then with the authority, which she helped to establish She advised the authority that she had always regarded it as a privilege to serve the Christchurch community, and it has been a hard decision to leave her close association with Christchurch planning. At the same time, she believed that a town planner in private practice

had possibly a greater variety of fields in which to work and opportunities equally to serve the community and to further the work of town and country planning. The authority had now passed through its formative years, and the sort of work it was doing and was competent to do was now understood and established, she said. This, however, would not have been possible in a new organisation without mutual confidence and co-operation between members of the authority and the staff. “Great Blow” “This is a great blow to me, as I am sure it is to you all,” said the chairman (Mr E. J. Bradshaw) when the executive met yesterday. “Miss Northcroft's reputation in this community and elsewhere has been built very high indeed by her own good works and outstanding ability.” Town planning was not an easy or popular task, and in the 13 years Miss Northcroft had been a planning officer in Christchurch she had un-

doubtedly had more than her share of worries and difficulties, Mr Bradshaw said. That she had been able to carry out her duties so efficiently and ably and at the same time command the respect of all she came in contact with spoke for itself. Members of the authority in particular and the public of Christchurch in general owed her a great debt of gratitude for her untiring devotion to her work, he continued.

It was some consolation to know that Miss Northcroft was to remain in Christchurch and would be available to the authority and to constituent councils as a town planning consultant, Mr Brawshaw added.

Miss Northcroft is joining Davie. Lovell-Smith and Company. As the next quarterly meeting of the authority will not be held until May, the execut've yesterday decided that to take full advantage of Miss Northcroft's six months’ notice it would advertise the position immediately.