TOWN PLANNING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19384, 20 July 1926, Page 10

TOWN PLANNING.

Some helpful suggestions as to how Auckland should go about town planning are given by Mr. Hurst feeager in the statement published to-day. They show how a subject on which there is general agreement as to principles may be handled in practicfe. Town planning is like "that blessed word Mesopotamia," as alluring as it is vague. Even Mr. Hurst Seager's definition is a little elusive. But there is no mistaking what he means by it in terms of actiou. It docs not involve making a clean sweep of everything that has been already done, even though most of that was the work of folk without? any thought of a comprehensive- lay-out for the city and its environs. There are our numerous, parks and little restful places, "each like an oasis in a desert of buildings." These, Mr. Hurst Seager thinks, should be kept at all costs: they should not be sacrificed to provide means to purchase larger areas as part of a more ambitious scheme. They can best be used as bases for extended treatment of the city on approved lines, which include justsuch spots as those that beautify Auckland. They represent interests to be safeguarded rather than merged in any wholesale project,to remake the city. This recognition of the diverse activities involved in town planning provides a startingpoint for what is yet to be done. No single organisation can dictate a programme. It is better to get cooperation among the several bodies concerned, statutory, municipal and voluntary. The Town Planning Bill contemplates making each authoritative b x ody a town planning board, but there will be room and need for an association on which all adjacent interests have representation. In that association all proposals could be discussed, to the encouragement and aid of the various localities entering upon local projects. It could lend very valuable assistance to the boards legally constituted, particularly if care were taken to constitute it of representatives in close touch with the boards of their respective localities. A federation of these associations into a national combination, as Mr. Hurst Seager suggests, would add to their capability and influence.