LOOKING AHEAD

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 107, 2 November 1939, Page 14

LOOKING AHEAD

ZONING OF CITIES

LOCATION OF INDUSTRIES

VALUE OF PLANNING

The biggest and the most difficult problem before municipalities today is the replanning of existing towns to cope with conditions not visualised previously, said Mr. M. G. C. McCaul, president of the Town Planning Institute of New Zealand, in his address to the annual meeting this week.

"The replanning," he said, "may prove to be expensive or comparatively inexpensive according to the methods employed and the judgment exercised. Those who wish to accomplish all in one stroke will raise opposition and find their way difficult and expensive, 'but the more patient planner who is content to work to a plan the fulfilment of which can be accomplished in course of time without serious dislocation of existing conditions will probably, accomplish more, and certainly at a much lower cost, than will his more impatient brother." One of the most important functions of zoning was; the provision of definite areas suitable for the location of varying types of industries. At present, when so many overseas manufacturers were considering the establishment of factories in New Zealand, local authorities should be vying, with each other in finding suitable sites for industrial development. No dirty or noisy industry should be permitted in proxim- j ity to' a residential area, and residen-1 tial areas should also,be so zoned that | a man who erects a gentleman's residence surrounded by well laid-outi grounds need not fear the deprecia-! tion of his property by the action of; a speculator builder in erecting a row: of cheap; cottages opposite. j ECONOMY IN PUBLIC SERVICES, i Public services, water, drainage, and! transport, would cost far less if an orderly system of development was! followed based upon the zoning of thej city and its . environs into areas suit-1 able for development for specific pur-1 poses. I Development of residential areas i should not be permitted ahead of the! creation of park and play areas, but j land first set aside for all necessary j public purposes. After a suburb had j been settled for many years it should1 not be necessary.to search the district; for a site for a public school or other' public utility, as often happened in I New Zealand. MEETING TRANSPORT PROBLEMS. Traffic and transport difficulties could be, greatly simplified if not completely overcome by zoning. The creation of shopping centres on main traffic routes could be discouraged, factory and residential areas so arranged as to. facilitate transport, and suitable areas definitely zoned for future use for workers' flats, luxury flats, suburban workers' homes, and gentlemen's residences. The gardening enthusiast who liked room to develop his hobby could be provided for contiguous to others with like tastes, and those whose only desire was to live near their place of work !could be similarly provided for. "The initial difficulty "'we" Have to face is ignorance on the part of the general public of the great benefits, present and future, to be achieved by. zoning, and long-range town planning and consequently a lack of courage on the part of city authorities to tackle the problem," said Mr. McCaul. "It is easy to postpone, chanjges until the necessity of some particular action becomes obvious to the people at large, but by then the city is at the mercy of circumstances. In a wisely-governed community the past of the present generation is the result of the foresight and wisdom of previous generations. In our day we have a duty to perform for the benefit of the generations that follow us. Admittedly, the' problems to be faced are not simple: important vested interests are affected; and injustice must be avoided, but the need is urgent and the reward is great."