TOWN PLANNING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17236, 16 April 1930, Page 5

TOWN PLANNING

BOARD’S INQUIRIES THE GISBORNE SITTING An outline of the proposed scope of the inquiries of the Town Planning Board during its sitting in Gisborne next month was . placed before the Cook County Council to-day, when a letter was read from the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. P. A. de la Perrelle, who wrote: “Arrangements have been made on behalf of the Town Planning Board for a public inquiry to he held in the Borough Council chambers, Gisborne, commencing at 10 a.m. on May 15, for the purpose of hearing evidence from all interested parties to determine the boundaries of the region comprising the Borough of Gisborne and surrounding districts, anil 1 hope that it will be possible for your council to he represented. “tn view of misconceptions which appear to have arisen as the result of the inclusion of the regional planning provisions in the town planning legislation, I think it desirable to state that although regional planning is concerned with certain phases of town-planning, it is in fact much wider in scope, and contemplates (1) the preparation of a survey of the natural resources of the area to which the scheme relates and the existing conditions in regard to transportation facilities and .other public utilities and services of a. regional character; (2) the preparation of a scheme to secure the conservation and economic development of the natural resources of the region and the co-ordination of local body activities. •‘A region for regional planning purposes may be regarded as a self-contain-ed social and economic unit, and the evidence of your representative should be directed to a definition of the boundaries of the unit of which Gisborne can be regarded as the focal point. “I should like to add that the primary object of this inquiry is to enable the local authorities themselves to acquire the necessary information to enable them to arrive at a decision in regard to the action to bo taken for the definition of the regional area and the constitution of a regional committee in accordance with the provisions of the Town Planning Amendment Act, 1929.