TOWN PLANNING SOCIETY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17871, 28 February 1920, Page 6

TOWN PLANNING SOCIETY

ANNUAL MEETING. 'llio annual mooting of the Amenities n.nd Townplanning Society was held in the Council Cliiuuera, Town Hull, on Thursday night. Thorn were present a fair muster of iiuunlwrs and others interested in townplanning and gardening. Mr J. L. Salmond prwi<U'd. The uniunl report, on being read, disclosed that the past year had been a quiet one, although u considerable amount of useful work had boon done. The world is taking timo to settle down to its normal oouroe, and until it does so the activities, of tlio society must necessarily be somewhat curtailed. Much is hoped from tlio Now Zealand Town-planning Bill, and it is to l>e hoped that it will faro better at the hands of the now Parlinmont during the forthcoming session. During tho past year a townplanning conference and exhibition had been held in Wellington, this initial movement having been a great soiyce of fresh inspiration and knowledge for all who saw and heard. Quito large sums, have reentry been collected for the pgirpose of providing children's playgrounds at Cavcrsham and St. Clair, but it is realised that much can yet bo done in this direction. Representatives of tho society had conferred with the Chamber of Commerce and the Otago Harbou" Board, and in tho case of the latter it had been decided that tho Town-planning Socictv would bo consulted when the question _>f the lay-out* of Lake Logan and other reclaimed grounds became ready for operation. A great deal had already been done in tho way of tree planting in the streets, and somo Dunedin streets were encouraging o\amplcs of what could be done. Regret was expressed at the death of Mrs Buttenvorth, who had been a most energetic member of the committee since the inception of tho society. The Chuirman, in moving the adoption of the report, spoke of the desirability of making moro widely known the aims of the society. There were many who thought that they aimed at'destroying Dunedin as it stood and erecting a new citv in its stead, but this was not so. They aimed at improving the existing, and in helning,to keep extensions and additions to the city within proper limitations. The report was seconded b" Mr 1). Tannock and carried unanimously. The election of office-bearers was then •proceeded with, and resulted as follows: — President. Mr J. L. Salmond; vice-presi-dents, Messrs R. Gilkison and J. Wilson; hon. secretary, Mr B. B. Hooper; oommittee— Stathnm and MTndoe, Misses de Beer and Woodhouse. Messrs M'CurdV. J. Farquhnrson G. Gough. J. S. Sinclair. T. K. Sidev, M.P. G. M. Thomson, H. Mandono, C. 0. M'Kellor. D. Tannock. E. E. Nicholson, F. Hollingworth. D. Snodding. C. S. Owen and 11. E. Shaddock, Drs Williams and Riley. * Votes of thanks were pap-ed to the retiring office-bearers, the City Council, and tho press. The report in connection with the garden competitions announced that postponement were necessary in some cases. The results of thoss adjudicated were: —Butterworth Cup. Mrs M'lndoe; Moore Cup—first E. D. Reilly, Opoho; second, Miss Burton, Alva street. Vegetables and fruit competition— first, Miss F. Anderson, Roslyri; second, Mr M'Vickers, Cavcrsham. Mr D. Tannock read a short paper on i "Street Frontages and their Influence on the Surrounding Neighbourhood." Tho speaker remarked that it seemed generally to bo understood that Diuiedin was specially unfortunate as regards weather, and that consequently our city was not perfectly conditioned to show the best results in flowers. He contradicted both these suppositions. Of course, from _a . gardener's point of view, very often, if the garden showed an unlovely appearance the weather was blamed—it is always too wet or too dry for somo gardeners; but this is true of all tho New Zealand centres. He then read statistics which certainly illustrated that the term "rainy Dunedin" is a misnomer. The rainfall for tho four centres covering the year 1918 was as follows:—Auckland, 54.36 inches; Wellington, 49.15 inches; Christchurch, 28.16 inches; Dunedin, 36.90 inches. The days upon which rain fell during the same period were: Auckland, 229 days; Wellington, 159 days; Christchuroh, 155 days; Dunedin,. 159 days. Mr Tannock stated that he believed the climate of Dunedin well suited to the growth of flowers and plants, and held that this was proved by Dunedin's superior house gardens generally. The speaker then wont on to describe tho different classes of gardens, and how they should be worked out to suit the size and situation of the ground and tho style of house. He advocated small hedges and' fences so that the beauty of the garden would be for benefit of all; in fact, he went as far as to say that the best fenco was no fence at all. Mr Tannock gave instances of many of the gardens he had seen, and pointed out where improvements should be effected. A beautiful garden improved (he appearance of the home, the street, and the town. Mr Tannock, after answerin/r several questions, was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks for his instructive address. The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the chair.