EXTENDING THE CITY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17098, 22 February 1916, Page 6

EXTENDING THE CITY.

We frankly confess that wo are a little in the dark as to the movement how in .progress for extending the boundaries of the city of Christchurch. No one will accuse us of opposing the orderly expansion of tho municipality or of discouraging the desire of the more closely settled suburbs for more comprehensive public services, but we should like to have a clearer and more definite statement of the ends that Councillor Taylor and his colleagues have in view. Tho scheme that is apparently being presented for the approval of the residents of Heathcote is that tho whole county should be incorporated in the city of Christchurch and that to facilitate the amalgamation legislation should be promoted to obviate the necessity for a change of rating system. It seems to us that a scheme of this magnitude might very well be postponed until a more convenient season, when the public will be more disposed to give municipal questions the serious attention they deserve. The idea is perhaps grandiose, but it is perfectly feasible. Heathcote county could ba administered efficiently by the Christchurch municipal offices and the extinction of the. County Council would conceivably reduce the administrative expenses. But it seems to us that the inclusion of so largo an area calls for careful discussion not merely by the people of the county but also by the citizens of Christchurch. The proposal, for which Councillor Scott is apparently Responsible, would add an additional twenty square miles or more to the modest four or five square miles of the existing city, rind the meaning of the scheme will perhaps be better understood when it is recalled that the twenty odd square miles contain a population of less than live thousand, whereas the city boundaries include approximately sixty thousand people. There are portions of Heathcote county that are undoubtedly ready for municipal government, closely settled residential areas that ought to enjoy all the services that are provided by a large city, and their incorporation in the city would involve no difficult problems. But the .case is different with the extensive rural areas. We know that there is a vague ambition in the minds of many people to extend the boundaries of Christchurch until they include both Sumner and New Brighton, as well aa the spurs of tho hills that are becoming so popular as residential areas, but if Councillor Taylor and his colleagues are working on these large lines they should take the public fully ami frankly into their confidence and invito discussion of the. complete proposals. The plan of including the whole of Heathcote county in the city recalls an earlier proposition for trie establishment of a. metropolitan board of works that would tane over many of tho public services for a wide area, and it is a question to our mind whether the bast results could not be obtained along that line. We have the less hesitation in raising objections to the Heathcote scheme at this stage because the citizens have so far given the matter very little thought and, moreover, they have little information to help them to form a deUnite opinion.