Big Responsibilities For City Council

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31088, 17 June 1966, Page 21 (Supplement)

Big Responsibilities For City Council

Christchurch city remains the largest of the New Zealand main centres on a population basis; but even the most parochial are ready to admit that this is on city administrative boundaries only. The latest census returns show Christchurch city with a population of 161,076. '

z,. such a great area to administer the Christchurch City Council is among the foremost local bodies of the country. Its achievements are many from the days when a council was first formed in 1862, with a mere 1249 acres surrounded by four tree-lined belts. Today it has 25,698 acres.

A multitude of activities are covered by the council, which has an annual expenditure of nearly £3m, nearly £l.4m of which has to be collected in rates. It looks after roading, traffic control, reserves, power distribution and street lighting, housing development, the airport, the library—but those are just a few of the responsibilities. As the metropolitan area ■nd Christchurch city have progressed, so has the council taken on new responsibilities. For many years it had to contend with a rapidlyexpanding suburban growth and a rapid growth of

industry. Sometimes the two came into conflict, and an important task in recent years has been town planning. The needs of industry, commerce and housing have had to be equated. With this difference in mind, the council has looked to reclamation of the inner area and embarked on a pilot scheme, with generous Government help, to provide high-density housing in the central area. By this, it is hoped that private enterprise will be encouraged to follow suit. For the welfare of its senior citizens the council has given a lead which has been followed by other bodies in the area and been held up by the Government as an example of what can be done to provide housing for those in need. It has a continuing plan for the provision of pensioners’ cottages. In the age of the motorcar the council has to plan

for the day when the present roads would be congested to the point of frustration. It has been assisted by the master transport plan prepared by the Regional Planning Authority and has committed itself to an expenditure of several million pounds. This commitment was made somewhat reluctantly, particularly when it came to deciding that a motorway must cut across part of Hagley Park. Accepted Meanwhile, the council has prepared a lot in advance of ttie master transport plan. 'People readily accept the Colombo street overbridge, the Waltham overbridge, the Moorhouse avenue fly-over as amenities. It is only a few years ago that each project was being argued strenuously by the council. It is not many years either that there was a hue and a cry about parking meters being put in the city streets. Today they are accepted as part of the council’s policy of keeping traffic circulating and of providing a chance for everyone to get parking space. A long-standing policy is

that money from parking meters should not go towards the relief of general rates, but be returned to motorists in the form of traffic control lights and parking buildings. Two buildings have been erected and a big open parking space acquired. The council must look at building plans to check them for safety and to see that they conform with New Zealand standards, it must see that a wide variety of public buildings and eating-houses conform to the regulations for safety and food hygiene, it has to supply fresh, clean water. But it will still get complaints from residents and ratepayers when the rubbish bins are

spilt or not collected on time, when there is a hole in the footpath or a street lamp is out Those are complaints that are welcomed, because the council, along with all other local bodies, often relies on its ratepayers to report what is needed. Looking to the future, the council realises that it must plan for a city that will be a place in which half a million people will live, a place where motor-cars will vie with pedestrians and cyclists for space. It has consulted overseas experts to find how best to reconcile opposing views and needs. It has set up a city development committee which looks to tomorrow as well as today.