FUTURE PLANNING

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25157, 21 March 1945, Page 9

FUTURE PLANNING

I peacetime projects T he regional basis ADOPTION IN AUCKLAND jhe establishment of a region a! planI . „ organisation for the Auckland jLio'nal area was approved at n conf ence of members of Parliament and ' legates from Government depart ts, j oca i bodies and other organisations in the Town Hall concert chainyesterday. Endorsempnt was also ■ re n to the principle of regional plan"ag the most practical means of niog . , -it roino ting the economic development Jf the region." The decisions were made following an address by the Director of Town Planning. ' aws,)n - There was n , ree attendance over whom the Mayor, i. r j A. C. A Hum, presided. "Mr Allinc said he had called the inference at the request of the Government to discuss the problem of returning to a normal peace-time way of l'ving- "We have proved that by the Ao-operation of all sections of the coinffliinitv we have been able to provide war machine capable of overcoming the challenges- of the tyrant," he dded. "This conference is an acknowledgment that we expect by that same co-operation to meet and effectively deal with the problems of peace." Changes in Population inart from the servicemen, it was estimated that about 58 per cent of the working population in New Zealand ffas either direct h or indirectly occupied in war work. Mr Allum continued. Large shifts of population had taken place, particularly in the Auckland district, and many industries had teen completely transformed. A general review of the economic structure of the I Dominion was therefore necessary. • Taking as an example the projects awaiting the attention of local bodies, Jlr Allum said that if this work was not planned ami the various authorities competed among themselves for labour end materials there would not only be chaos, but the costs to citizens would rise out of all proportion to the benefits to be obtained. If necessary Government and private works were added, gome idea of the immensity of the problem before the Dominion could be obtained. "The proposals that I desire to bring before vou are very simple," he added. "It is proposed that we should make • provision for the surveying of the resources, both personal, economic and physical, of this Auckland area; that having surveyed them we should in a co-operative way plan for their effective utilisation." The Boundaries ol Auckland Mr Mawson said the conference was the 17th of a series being held throughout the country. With one exception the conferences had unanimously endorsed the principle of regional planning as thf? most practical means of securing the economic development of the region. "You have already your belief in the efficiency of research, co-operation and co-ordination by the establishment of the Auckland Metropolitan Planning Committee, a committee that has already done a very fine job." lie added. "All that is now suggested is that you should apply the game principles to the physical and economic development of the whole of the social and economic unit which is serviced bv the port and city of Auckland. I am using the term 'city' in its social rather than its political sense." The boundaries of the Auckland region were tentatively fixed by the Town Planning Board after hearing evidence in 1930, but it was recognised that adjustments would now have to be made. He suggested that the conference constitute itself the policy body corresponding to the regional committee contemplated by the Act, and that it set up an executive committee of experts. There should be no representation of sectional interests on the executive which should be concerned with plans and not with works. Committee to Report All regional committees were beinj asked to co-operate with the Organisa tion of National Development in th< preparation of a thorough physical social and economic survey of their dis tricts. Mr Mawson said. Thev woulc be asked to examine all works projects proposed by the Government, loca authorities and* private enterprise ant to advise the Government and the loca bodies concerned whether they wen economic, whether they would fit ir with a long-range plan of development and. what priority they should receive The committee would also be at liberty to put forward proposals of its own. The conference set up a provisional committtee to make recommendations on (1) the most appropriate type ol planning organisation for the region; (2) the personnel and method of appointment of the organisation; (3) tin name of a suitable chairman; (4) the constitution and terms of reference ol the organisation. It will report to a further conference to be convened by the Mayor within two months. The committee consists of the chairman of the Auckland and Suburban Local Bodies Association, the Auckland Electric Power Board, the Auckland Harbour Board, the Waitemata County Council, the Franklin County Council, the deputy-chairman of the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board, arid the Mayor, or their deputies in each case. A SEPARATE ISSUE effect on local bodies "So far as I know there is no connection between regional planning and local body reform, said the Director of Town Planning, Mr J. W. Mawson, during his address to the conference in Auckland yesterday which considered the establishment of a regional planning organisation. It had been suggested that there was some subtle or sinister connection between the two, he said. "One ot the arguments that was levelled against regional planning when the legislation was first put on the Statute Book was that it was the thin end of the wedge of amalgamation," Mr Mawson added. "[Regional planning ls concerned with the physical and economic development of a region without regard to political subdivisions, hocal body reform, as I understand it, is aimed at an adjustment of local body boundaries and functions. A regional planning scheme would still be necessary if there was only one administrate authority for the whole of the region." It had also been suggested that the regional planning committees were to e a kind of super local body which dictate 1o individual local bodies, legislation laid it down that they were to be consultative and advisory bodies 011 '.7 and that their schemes were to serr e as a guide only. There had been n ° departure-from that principle. It has been said, too. that these Conferences and committees are only am °"flage and that what is actually onteinplated is a high degree of een/'•jtrlon these planning functions," aid Mr Mawson. "if you will reflect on ie knowledge of local circumstances, "nainons a "d needs required in the Peparation of' the schemes and the m ? e timber of people who have-to be at jt p( l at all stages you will appreei- . e the absurdity of even attempting in ' ,so these planning functions Wellington."