TOWN-PLANNING SCHEME FOR GISBORNE INCORPORATES STARTLING FEATURES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22618, 22 April 1948, Page 4

TOWN-PLANNING SCHEME FOR GISBORNE INCORPORATES STARTLING FEATURES

PROPERTY INTERESTS AFFECTED

Property-owners in Gisborne are to be advised by public advertisement of the existence of a provisional town-planning project, on the basis of which the town-planning division of the Ministry of Works is proceeding to produce a final plan. Even in its provisional form the scheme submitted by the Ministry’s experts is startling enough to warrant the fullest attention of propertyowners.

The Gisborne Borough Council at its fortnightly meeting on Tuesday night, recognised submissions that members of the public are insufficiently informed about both the existence of the provisional plan and its implications. It was agreed that circular letters be sent to all solicitors and land agents in the district drawing their attention to the general outline of thescheme. and also to advertise that the provisional plan may be inspected by those interested. Final Plan in Preparation While it is provided that the final j plan now in preparation by Works | Ministry planners will not take effect j until opportunity has been given for I discussion of its features and the lodg- | ing of objections by interested parties, | the council is already operating under : the authority of a section of the townI planning legislation which permits it to control any private projects that might conflict with the eventual scheme. The purpose of the provisional plan is to guide municipal officers in operating this authority. People who have property purchases in mind would be well advised to acquaint themselves with the effect of the provisional plan upon their own projects. Already cases have arisen in which purchasers of property have found themselves unable to secure building permits in conformity with their own intentions. Control by Building Permit The issue of building permits within the borough is the channel through which the council wields this authority. A purchaser of vacant land in an area designated in the provisional plan as reserved for industrial purposes, for instance, may not secure a permit to build a house or a shop. A purchaser of an existing residential property in such an area may continue to use it for residential purposes as long as it stands: but in the event of destruction of the house by fire or senility, ne cannot secure a permit to rebuild. Various allotments of land within the present residential areas are designated as sites for schools or public reserves. Limited Field for Property Sales If the final plan is adopted, and it follows the lines of the provisional plan, the present owners of such land will be limited in their field of sale

to those authorities which operate public reserves or schools. Where land is designated for borough reserve purposes. no new building activity may be undertaken unless special exemption is granted by the council. Certain areas dotted throughout the suburbs are indicated as future shopping centres for local residents. In most cases, these incorporate existing shops. Where an existing ■ shop is not so incorporated in a community shopping block, the occupant may continue to use it for its present purposes but he may not secure a building permit for extension of his premises, even within the confines of his own section. Common-law Principle Abrogated Included in the provisional plan is an area on Haiti which is intended to hold a major part of the town's future industrial development. No means exists of computing how long the area may remain unoccupied by industrial enterprises; but if the plan is adopted it will be impossible for present owners to dispose of their property to buyers for any other purposes. The town-planning legislation appears io cut directly across the common-law principle that a man may use his own land in any way he may wish to. providing that he docs not interfere with his neighbours by creating a nuisance. This principle has already been nibbled at by various laws and bylaws affecting locations of certain forms of industrial enterprise; and such laws and by-laws have the virtue of general public support. They represent, in fact, modifications of the common law necessitated by local conditions. Fair and Reasonable Basis? There is a good case for organised planning for future developments of population centres in New Zealand, and well-founded arguments can be advanced for establishing in the present generation the lines on which future development may proceed. The question which property-owners of this generation have to decide is whether the provisional plan now hanging in the Gisborne Borough Council’s chambers represents a fair and reasonable basis upon which future development may be guided. The purpose of the council in deciding to give greater publicity to the project is to secure the views of property-owners on this point.