Mr Kirk Critical Of Pollution Laws

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32304, 23 May 1970, Page 44

Mr Kirk Critical Of Pollution Laws

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, May 22.

The exemption of the Government from environmental laws was “a large gap” in present policies, the Leader of the .Opposition (Mr Kirk) told the Physical Environment Conference in Wellington today.

He said that of 62 items of legislation or regulations concerned with the control of pollution, 43 did not bind the Crown. In other cases the limitations on actions by the Crown were capable of circumvention.

“Any proper protec-1 tion of the environment ( must call for the Crown! to accept equally with( the community the re-! sponsibility of satisfy- ( ing the requirements ( laid down to protect or enhance our physical environment,” said Mr Kirk. i I Mr Kirk said it was dis :; turbing that some of thel, more serious deterioration in' j the urban environment had(; occurred in a period in which I, planning was in vogue. < "Town planning has been i< mainly a matter of placement( | —a place for industry, a place |1 for houses, a place for roads.!, a place for commercial de- ( ■. velopment. ; i

i “But if the place for houses lis filled with buildings of | similar construction and de- ! sign, all squeezed down in size and quality into the corI set of an artificially low lendj ing limit; if they lack good I access and proper sporting, ■ recreational and cultural outlets for their inhabitants; if | they are all jammed together j one on top of the other, with privacy and open living

space treated as disposable luxuries, instead of creating a well-planned, bright, integrated community with a happy social climate and an: attractive environment there j will be created a high-density | conglomeration of buildings; which are not much more! than a collection of storage I places in which industrial j workers and their families I are put away at night.” said I Mr Kirk. Instead of Government i

action on pollution there had been calls for research, for i reports, for more knowledge. ; he said.

I “And in the meantime the I situation deteriorates and the solution becomes more diffii cult and costly.” j Responsibility for the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical environment should be vested in an autonomous body, Mr Kirk said. The Government and public authorities should Ibe subject to its requirei ments. I “And it is submitted that! (where the Government seeks; to overrule the requirements! laid down by a statutory authority. such as an environmenjtai council, it should come to i Parliament for the authority.” TRESPASS PROBLEM Stricter laws governing! trespassing on rural property! were called for by Mr H. E. , Downes, a Hawke's Bay far-

mer, in a paper delivered to the conference. Mr Downes discussed the differing attitudes of the country person and the city dweller, and the friction sometimes caused between them. An overhaul of the Trespass Act was needed, he said, to give the rural landowner the same protection as that given to owners of property in the city. “While the law governing entry to rural holdings is manifestly less stringent and less effective than that governing entry to urban property, the State is saying clearly that rural property is less to be respected than is urban property, which is dangerous nonsense.” Mr Downes said.