STATE HOUSING

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 15

STATE HOUSING

THE TAITA LAND

NEED FOR TOWN PLANNING

(By "Foresight.")

An aspect of the purchase by the Government of 1184 acres of land at Taita for the purpose of carrying out aMiousing scheme is the suitability of the block for town planning. ' The Government has a unique opportunity for laying out oh modern lines what may yet be portion of a large city. With a block of land almost entirely unroaded and practically unbuilt upon, without the'services of water or sewers, this area of flat land through which the Government has power to run a railway gives unlimited scope for town planning. •'

Yet it would appear that in the'purchase the Government has overlooked one of the first principles of town planning—consolidation. A careful study of the areas taken reveals serious gaps in the continuity.'

■ The first town- in the- Dominion' to Jay out its vacant land to' a defined plan was Lower Hutt, which 'commenced to give this important matter seri-ous'consideration-before the Government -subdivided the land it previously purchased :at .Woburn." ' Since then the matter has continued:to have the attention of the Borough Council till .today the whole borough. has been planned and every new subdivision .has to conform'to that plan. It is admitted, by experts that Lower Hutt is planned with foresight, but whether ..well *or ill- planned, any area subdivided north of the borough must coordinate its lay-out with that of the already-built*on area. It would be unwise for. the Taita district to be planned independently of the borough. Streets, •water, gas:, sewer, and other services must fit in with the borough service and shopping centres, parks, reserves, and industrial areas must all conform.

In recent years the Lower Hutt ■Borough Council has been, much concerned because of the more or less haphazard . way in •■ which subdivisions were being made adjoining the borough in : the Hutt country, principally in the area north-east 'of the borough, .where the county projects, like a peninsula, half a mile wide and . about three-quarters of. a mile deep into ; the town. •. • •

If the Valley is to be all planned according to a co-ordinated design, it is vitally necessary that this piece should be included, yet the Government has not seen fit to include this area .in the land purchased, thus making it impossible for the Taita plan to join up with the borough plan. If this piece, which ,probably contains an.afea equal to that taken over by the Government, 'is allowed to ; be developed in. a haphazard manner it will mean that the ■whole plan to the north will be vitally affected,, as through, this area should •run some'of the main arterial roads in .the.Valley.' . . . . :

At present the railway ends just south of this area at Waterloo Road, and to continue the Lower Hutt plan the extension of Cambridge and Oxford Terraces on either side.of the railway is necessary. These main arterial roads should then be ■ fed by rightangled roads connecting up with existing roads to the east and west.

The policy of the Government is to urge local bodies to complete systems of regional planning, but. it would certainly appear that the Government itself has not given this question consideration and there does not appear to have been any co-ordination between the Hon. W. E. Parry's Department, which controls town planning, and that of Mr. J. A..Lee, in charge of housing. Consolidation is one of the first principles of town planning; the leaving of vacant blocks between built-up . areas is not considered wise... One town-plan-ning expert has suggested that if.'the

Government merely requires this land for housing it would have been wise to have first taken over the area in question and extended the railway to the first station further north and left the Taita land for future consideration.

A glanpe at the plan of the area will show how irregular is the outline of the block which the Government has acquired and how many large and small blocks break the continuity. Presumably, the Government has followed a plan in acquiring the various blocks but on the surface it does not appear to be a town-planning plan.

The reproduced plan shows the land taken by the State coloured black, and a careful inspection will show the present terminus of the Waterloo line and the large area of- vacant land immediately to the north, which has not been taken by the Government. The general difficulties in: town planning • the area taken can be seen at a glance.