The Press FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1966 Nelson Plans For Growth

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31154, 2 September 1966, Page 10

The Press FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1966 Nelson Plans For Growth

Nelson has been informed of an exciting, far-sighted, and flexible plan to accommodate and to spur the city’s growth. The Nelson City Council was bound to consider with some urgency the city’s future needs for housing and industrial space. This year’s census disclosed that the population of the urban area has been growing, within the city and in the Waimea county, slightly faster than had been forecast. By 1971 the population of the urban area is expected to be at least 32,000: by 1981 it will probably be more than 44,000. The council expects —perhaps rather modestly—that the city will have to accommodate 55,000 people by the end of the century. Population forecasts do not take into account the stimulus added by the kind of plan unveiled by the council. A newly-found capacity to expand may generate additional growth of its own. New industries drawn to Nelson would not merely absorb the youthful labour force which is now compelled to look elsewhere for employment; they would almost certainly promote migration to Nelson.

Progressive reclamation of the tidal flats to the east of the city will ensure that the many appealing features of the older centre remain largely undisturbed by the extension of industry and housing. In spite of Nelsonian attachment to the older style and charm of the present city and familiarity with the expansion at Stoke to the west, many Nelson citizens have become intensely aware of the more vigorous progress in other communities of similar size. The whole City Council recently inspected cities of comparable size. Since then the council has shown greater determination to see that Nelson does not lag behind the rest of the country.

Enthusiasm for the reclamation plan—no new idea in Nelson—is reinforced by the use made of the 100 acres reclaimed by the Nelson Harbour Board between the city and the port. Most of this new land is now occupied by cool stores for fruit, a fish processing factory, transport and road construction headquarters, a milk treatment plant, and other industries. The Nelson region has good prospects for mineral and forest development. If a pulp mill were established during the next decade, when forest production should justify a mill of a size suited to the export trade, the effect on the city and port would be considerable. In the city and the Waimea county a mill and subsidiary industries would probably employ, directly and indirectly, at least 2000 persons.

Except for an initial loan the council expects that the sale of reclaimed land will make the scheme self-sustaining. The scheme will do more than provide living and working space. It will do away with the disagreeable tidal flats confronting the present shoreline, provide a splendid marina and lake for water sports, reserve land for gardens, parks, a hotel and motel, and create a new beach. Because all the material needed to cover the flats can be obtained from dredging close at hand, the physical resources required for the work will be modest when compared with the results. The cost of residential and industrial sites may well be much lower than the cost of space in other expanding cities. Moreover, the expansion will not be at the expense of agricultural land. The broad planning of the areas for industry, housing, and recreation suggests that town-planning principles will be followed. The opportunity to decentralise industry and to conserve farm land should appeal to all concerned with national planning. The prospect of growth may solve Nelson’s transport problems. The Nelson City Council, having at last given form to a long-cherished vision, and having won the support of the harbour board and the neighbouring county, will surely approve early action to realise this fine plan.