CITY EXTENSION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15900, 11 April 1912, Page 6

CITY EXTENSION.

The proposal to. include Now Brighton in Greater Christchurch makes a strong appeal to civic pride, but the fact that a large area of sparsely Settled land lies between the city and the borough presents certain practical difficulties. Probably the district vern&d by the Christchurch City Council will extend from Hornby to the sea and from Cashmere to Belfast before many decades have passed. Heathcote will come into the city by a natural process of development, and there are many good reasons, as the Mayor has suggested, why Lyttelton should someday be brought under the central administration. In the meantime, we should hesitate to recommend hastily the absorption of New Brighton while Papanui and Fendalton, closely settled areas lying against the present city boundaries, remain under the control of independent authorities. If the New Brighton people should decide at a poll that they wanted to join the city, their wish, no doubt, would bo gratified. But it would be well that as a preliminary step a comprehensive survey of the position should be made by some competent authority, perhaps by a conference of delegates representing the various local bodies of the Christchurch district. The result of its deliberations might he a scheme that would extend the boundaries of the city in an orderly and logical manner, without creating any of the friction that might arise from a hurried movement in one particular direction. Certainly the suggestion that has been made in New' Brighton should not he allowed to pass un hoard as f ar as Christchurch is concerned.