Minister suggests new regional planning body

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33141, 3 February 1973, Page 16

Minister suggests new regional planning body

The establishment of a reconstituted regional planning body for the district between the Ashley and Rakaia Rivers is recommended by the Minister of Works (Mr Watt) in letters received by the councils concerned and the Christchurch Regional Planning Authority.

The Minister’s letter is in response to a request from the regional authority for an enlargement of its district to cover all councils between the two rivers—some are not members of the authority—and to inquiries from the Christchurch City Council about the implications of regional government. In each case, the Minister has asked the councils to reach a decision within three months from January 31, and he has indicated that the Government will then consider what further action should be taken. “The Minister’s letter shows that he shares the concern of the previous Government about the urgent need to expand regional government to plan a more

effective growth of the old district,” the regional authority’s chairman (Mr D. B. Rich) said on Thursday. “The authority welcomes the action proposed, and I think that it will take the initiative in calling a meeting of all the councils. It is gratifying that the Minister has reached his decision so quickly. This is what the authority wants: effective planning without delay over a much wider district.” The authority’s district at present comprises Christchurch City, Waimairi County, the urban part of Paparua County, the Heathcote County, Riccarton Borough, and parts of Eyre County and Kaiapoi Borough.

The Local Government Commission, in its final scheme for the reorganisation of local government in North

Canterbury, recommended wider scope for regional planning, which, it suggested, should also cover the counties north of the Ashley.