Urban use urged

Press, 19 October 1976, Page 3

Urban use urged

The development of new towns was not the solution to the problems of old towns the Minister of Housing (Mr Gair) said in Christchurch yesterday' while explaining the Government’s decision to scrap the Rolleston project. The solution was to develop existing towns in an orderly manner, he told the delegates to the Asia Pacific Real Estate Federation's conference. Mr Gair said that this did not mean that the Government rejected the concept of new towns built around a major industry, such as Kawerau, but, while some future new towns might be suitable, the need at present was for the better use of existing urban areas. Population growth within metropolitan areas was inevitable, and planning for the future must begin now to provide attractive communities, he said. Land was one of our most valuable resources, and with the increase in population, agricultural production represented future wealth, said Mr Gair. For every farm smothered under urban buildings, thousands of dollars of export income was lost each year. For every mile housing was extended into the country, the bill for extending services — power, sewerage, water, and roads — was millions of dollars, he said.

One method of increasing the available accommodation was to encourage older people to move into smaller units and free larger units for those with greater need. It was estimated that 50,000 elderly persons lived alone in large aouses. In the first six months of this year such exchanges yielded 794 additional bedrooms, and saved millions of dollars. New Zealanders did not want high-rise development, said Mr Gair, but if urban sprawl was to be curbed, alternatives to today’s quarteracre kingdom had to be found.