The Hawera Star FRIDAY, AUGUST 6. 1926. THE TOWN-PLANNING BILL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 6 August 1926, Page 4

The Hawera Star

FRIDAY, AUGUST 6. 1926. THE TOWN-PLANNING BILL.

Delivered every evening by 6 o’clock iu Hawera. Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawu, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kapongo, Alton, Hurleyville, Pateo, Waveriey, tlokoia, Whaka mare, Ohangai, Mere mere. Ffiber Road and Ararat*.

♦ It may be said with safety that full} ninety-five per cent, of public men it New Zealand are in accord with tht general idea of town-planning (whicl is understood, according to the Bill nou before Parliament, “to be the develop merit of a city or borough so as mosl effectively to promote its healthfulness amenity, convenience and advance ment.”). The opposition which has beer forthcoming to the Government’s pro posals, therefore, should not be regard ed as directed against the principle ol the Bill, but rather against some of thv means that are proposed for putting the principle into effect. And in this con nection—having in mind the particular case of the Hawera Borough Council we are inclined to the opinion that tin Government could have spared itself some hard words by referring the draff Bill to the executive committee of the Municipal Association for perusal and report. It is rather much to expect that proposed legislation affecting local bodies should be circulated, in advance, to all of them individually; but it would have been easy for the Minister to have consulted the Municipal Association, and possibly the Countie.-.-' Association, as the representatives of those most concerned. However, any alterations which either association might have suggested would scareely change the shape of the Bill, which, on examination, fails to justify many of the harsh things that have been said about it. While by no means free from weaknesses, it is far from being an “iniquitous measure.’’ Every borough of a thousand or more inhabitants is required, within three years of The coming into operation of the Act, to prepare and submit to the Townplanning Board a town-planning scheme in respect of all land within the borough, such scheme —having regard to present and future requirements—-to make provision for:— Roads, streets, private streets, private ways and footways; the fixing of l uilding lines. Buildings, with particular reference to their position on allotment and in relation to any road or street or to other buildings; their density, character, height, harmony in design of facades. The reservation of land for afforestation purposes, or for recreation grounds, ornamental gardens, parks, children’s playgrounds, and other open spaces. The preservation of objects of historical interest or natural beauty. Systems of sewerage, drainage and sewage disposal. Systems of lighting and water supply. The definition of areas to be used exclusively or principally for specified purposes or classes of purposes. Provision of amenities.

There is nothing very terrifying about that schedule of requirements; and the scheme to embody them, being simply the plans and specifications to be followed in developing the along approved town-planning lines, is something of which most borough councils could draw up a rough draft in three hours, let alone three years. As regards the constitution of the Townplanning Board, the Government has been much more explicit than in the case of the Local Body Loans Board, and the Bill sets forth the several professional organisations which are to have representation. Happily, public servants will be in a minority this time. One new office is created —that of Director of Town-planning, to be filled, the Prime Minister has said, by Mr R. B. Hammond—but without a permanent head the work of the board would tend to become haphazard and casual. There is really no need for a board of thirteen members, except that, it was desired, apparently, to include representatives of so many different bodies; but members draw allowances and travelling expenses on'y, so that the burden is unlikely to be heavy. Townplanning schemes must be approved by the board, which is empowered also to appoint two or more of its members a committee to hear and adjudicate upon objections by occupiers of rateable property. Since no scheme will be sent forward for approval without the backing of the borough council for the time being, this opportunity to occupiers to object is a special concession, introduced possibly- to safeguard ratepayers from undue loading under the betterment prbvisions of the Bill. So soon as a scheme has been finally approved by the board —that is, when objections have been disposed of—it becomes the duty of the local body to act upon it. But that does not mean that, the council must immediately rush off and borrow a couple of thousand pounds with which to buy' rustic seats or plant a lovers’ lane.. It means, in the words of the Bill that “it shall bo the duty of the borough council to observe and to enforce the observance of the requirements of the scheme in respect of all new works of any description thereafter undertaken within the borough, whether by the council or by any other person.’’ In brief, the aim of the Bill is to provide every borough with a proper scheme to be followed in its development, so that the cities of the future may grow according to reasoned plan, and not under the misdirection of the notorious Mr Rafferty. Wherein rests the “iniquity” of such a proposal? As for borrowing, town-planning schemes are to rank as public works within the meaning of the Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1913, so that the usual poll of ratepayers must be taken. By the I introduction of the betterment principle, /the Bill departs from New Zealand l usage: but it is a departure which might well have been taken years ago in respect of some of our chief public works. The roading and bridging of the Dominion, to say nothing of the railroading, would not have left the present burden of debt on the country if the betterment principle had been introduced in the days of Sir Julius Vogel. But every legislative innovation calls for careful administration, nnd it is in the proposed application of the. betterment clauses that we see thcprincipal weakness of the present Bill. The special valuation provided for, although it is not to bo made until the local authority wishes, is to include “any increased value which, in the opinion of the Valuer-General, is LIKELY TO RESULT from the operation of a town-planning scheme,” and the valuer is required to determine and show separately the amount of the actual and PROSPECTIVE increase attributable to the scheme. The TOTAL amount so determined is to be regarded as the betterment increase, half of which constitutes a debt payable to the local authority. Now, actual increase in value is one thing; prospective in' crease is quite another thing, when the scheme responsible for the enhanced values is as yet incomplete. The idea behind this clause of the Bill is good, but its wording is altogether too vague. Time enough for the valuer to count ,i ratepayer’s chickens when they are hatched. It will bo the duty of the House, in committee, to insist that the Minister recast this clause in a more definite form, taking from the ValuerGeneral that arbitrary power which hitherto has been sacred to the supreme idol of government—the GovernorGeneral in Council.