"APATHY AND INERTIA"

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 80, 5 April 1933, Page 5

"APATHY AND INERTIA"

TOWtf PLANNING POLICY MINISTER CRITICISED

MR. J. W. MAWSON'S POSITION

"I cannot conceivß of anything moro demoralising to a conscientious public servant; particularly one who by training and experience is entitled to regard himself as a specialist, than' tho feeling of frustration and impotence he suffers when he- finds his abilities and energies prostituted and his advice consistently ignored by 'those in authority over him," said Mr. J. W. Mawson, late Director, of Town Planning, in a luncheon address to the ,Wanganui Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce on Monday, reports the "Wanganui 'Herald." ' "That has been my experience. For three and a half years I was obliged to work under a Minister, a man of charming personality and great tact, who did not know and did not •w.ant to know anything about town planning. I do not ivant to do him any injustice—in fact, I feel it is'somewhat ungracious in me to criticise where I met with so much real kindness; but the fact remains that his apathy and inertia did more damage to the cau§o of town planning in New Zealand than all other factors combined.

"I camo to New Zealand, as one might say, fully equipped for my job and found a magnifieant field for my activities; the. unfortunate part of it is that I have never been permitted to render the services I am, capable of ; rendering, and which I was paid to render... To make things worse I have been obliged to stand qri one side and ■watch one costly : mistake after another being-made, without the power to lift a finger to stop them. In tendering my resignation,to the Government the attitude I took up, which I think was a' perfectly proper one,, was that I was in the position of a doctor. I was called in, mado my diagnosis, and/prescribed tlio treatment. My patient refused or neglected to .follow; my, advice, and when. I saw that he was steadily getting'worse, and, in fact, becoming a sick man, I exercised my privilege and asked that another doctor should be called in, or, in any ease, that I, should be relieved of the responsibility of looking after him." "INSULTING INTELLIGENCE OF CITIZENS." ' Mr. Mawson said that when the Minister of Internal Affairs said that town planning and regional planning were luxuries which Hew Zealand could not afford at the present time, he. was insulting the intelligence of not only a ma-jority of the citizens of this country, but of England and other parts of the British Empire where town and regional planning were today regarded as essential units in tho economic machinery of production. '■ Now Zealand might bo able to do without a Director of Town Planning, but it certainly could not do without town planning and regional planning arid all that they implied in the realm of efficiency nd economy in local- government, continued Mr./Mawson. To say that1 tho country could not: afford town planning during these times ot economic stress was tantamount to saying that a commercial or industrial concern could not afford to keep books or have its books audited. , "If we do not exercise greater vision in this country and substitute planned economy for unintelligent curtailment or cessation or expenditure, such as that which is implied in the hon. Minister's statement, we are inevitably faced with disaster, said Mr. 'Mawson. "Town and regional ■planning are fundamentally questions of economics. To the. extent that the > principles of town planning and regional planning are ignored, the costs of production must increase ana the health -and well-being of the, , publis be prejudiced. ' ■• ,'■ , ■ '■■'/■ -: ■•■:< EETEOGKAbE AND DISASTROUS.

"Far. from there being any economy in the cessation or postponement of planning .activities, implied in the Minister's statement to which I have referred, I should, say that it was one of the most retrograde and disastrous steps, which has over been taken by any Government in this country. It would pay this country a hundredfold to appoint a man like Dr. Thomas Adams, author of the New York Kegional Scheme,! as Director of Urban and Rural Land Development, and pay him £10,000 a year provided he was given a Avorkabl'e piece of legislation and freed from political control. My own knowledge and experience will not bear comparison with that of a man like Dr. Adams;,butl am porfectly certain that if my' advice had been followed in regard to the amendment of the townplanning legislation, the urban authorities at lea^t wo.uld have been in a much sounder financial-position than they are today.. ' \

"I am going to sec this thing through and fight,>it to the end," said Mr. Mawßon, in conclusion. "I, am going back to England, but I'hope to be back again^ before the end of this year, I may lave an opportunity to serve the country in another, capacity."