A Borough Council With Head In The Sand

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32053, 30 July 1969, Page 16

A Borough Council With Head In The Sand

The decision of the Lyttelton Borough Council not to join the Regional Planning Authority is further evidence—if any were needed—of the narrow vision of its members. Membership of the authority, assessed on capital valuation, would cost the council $630 per annum. The cost was too high, and the borough was outside the boundaries of the authority, said one councillor; “I’m not against town planning, but there is no point in joining for the sake of joining ”, said another; joining the authority would entail giving up some independence; and so on.

If the costs of joining are “too high” for Lyttelton, they must also be too high for every other member of the authority, which assesses the membership subscription on a uniform basis. If Lyttelton is “outside the boundaries of the authority ” what about Kaiapoi, which is a member? How can a council demonstrate that it is not against town planning unless it supports the regional authority? Why is Lyttelton’s “independence” more valuable than, say, Christchurch’s or Riccarton’s? Was Cr E. A. Camfield not nearer the mark when he asserted that “we are “ clambering on to Canterbury in every other “ respect ”?

Had the Lyttelton Borough Council demonstrated its competence to manage its own affairs its pretensions to independence might be viewed with more sympathy; but it seems to have learnt nothing from its failure to provide adequate carriageways and parking spaces by the time the road tunnel was completed. By refusing to join the Regional Planning Authority the council is closing its eyes to the realitv implicit in the fact of the rail and road tunnels-? that Lyttelton’s welfare is dependent on the hinterland served by the port. If the borough’s councillors will not acknowledge that, an impatient hinterland might well demand full control of the affairs of its port