THE HUTT VALLEY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 34, 10 February 1939, Page 11

THE HUTT VALLEY

REGIONAL PLANNING

CONFERENCE CALLED

For many years the local "bodies of the Hutt Valley have recognised the need for a comprehensive town-plan-ning scheme for the whole of the valley which would co-ordinate the work of each local body. The Lower Hutt Borough has Jseen working to a definite plan for several years, the district having been laid out for purely residential and light and heavy industrial areas, and efforts have been made to provide recreational areas. Streets and drainage have been planned for future years, and many other aspects of the problem considered. These efforts, however, are in danger of being nullified by want of co-ordina-. tion. It would, for instance", be folly for one district to have its noxious trade area next door to a neighbouring borough's residential or shopping area. Further it' may be found in practice that a certain zoned area would well serve two adjoining districts; a recreational area in one borough might well serve the adjoining borough. Amalgamation would, of course, solve these difficulties, but nevertheless regional planning schemes can be made to work satisfactorily under several local bodies. The scheme has been discussed from time to time, and now matters are being brought to a head by the Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. W. E. Parry), who, as chairman of the National Town Planning Board, is calling a conference of local bodies for March 1 to discuss the question. Mr. Parry has addressed a letter to each of the local bodies concerned. ■ MINISTER'S LETTER. The reclamation of the land at the mouth of the Hutt Kiver and its proposed development as an industrial area raised transport and zoning problems which were inseparably bou»d up with the future development of the Hutt Valley, states the letter. The Minister said that as chairman of the Town Planning Board he was concerned to see that whatever developments were undertaken by the Government or whatever policies were being pursued by the local authorities in the matter of transport and zoning in their own district were coordinated. There were three methods by which 'effective co-ordination of such matters could be secured: (1) By setting up a, joint town-planning committee under the Town Planning Act; (2) by the preparation of a joint nonstatutory scheme for the combined districts dealing with, such .matters as railways, main arterial roads, and the allocation on broad lines of areas for industrial, commercial, residential, and recreational purposes for which legal effec,t could be given by the constituent authorities through medium of their separate town-planning or extra urban schemes; (3) 'by the simultaneous preparation and submission to the Town Planning Board of separate schemes, for the various districts affected, this board to act as co-ordinating authority. As there was some urgency in the matter from the Government's viewpoint he had convened a round-table conference of local authorities for next -month at which the matter under I rejview and other matters vitally affecting the future development of the Hutt Valley could be fully discussed. The letter was before the Hutt River Board yesterday, the members of which gave hearty approval to regional planning. Mr. J. W. Andrews said the question was long overdue for solution, but he feared that the method of approach was unwise- It would have been better, he stated, if a small committee of experts had first met and drawn up even a rough outline of a scheme for' submission to a larger meeting. , He was afraid that such a large conference would be abortive unless some i definite proposals were before it. It was decided that all the members should attend. |