TOWN-PLANNING

Southland Times, Issue 20147, 6 April 1927, Page 5

TOWN-PLANNING

ADVICE OF EXPERT DIRECTOR OF TOWN-PLAN-NING SPEAKS AN INSTRUCTIVE ADDRESS A very interesting address on town-plan-ning was given by Mr R. B Hammond in the Southland League Rooms last evening. Mr Hammond, who was recently appointed Director of Town Planning in New Zealand, was invited by the Southland League to deliver an address in Invercargill, and proof of the interest taken in this subject was furnished by the large number present when Mr Hinchey, president of the League, rose to introduce the speaker. In doing so, Mr Hinchey said that townplanning was a matter likely to come before public bodies in the near future, and it was therefore desirable that they should know as much about the projected schemes as possible. Mr Hammond was an expert on town-planning and they would be in a better position after the lecture to deal with the position. Mr Hammond stated at the outset that he had hoped to illustrate his address with lantern slides, but he had not been able to secure a suitable lantern. He would, therefore, curtail his lecture and answer any questions asked by members of the audience.

LEGACIES FROM THE PAST. In the past, Mr Hammond said, townplanning had been sadly neglected in the country. Streets had been laid out without any regard to the requirements of the traffic. Some were too narrow and some too wide, though there were not many in the latter class. There had been no comprehensive policy with regard, to town development of the future. There were many people who still thought that townplanning meant town beautification. That was not so. Beautification was only one aspect of the question, and really followed on the preparation of a scheme of development. The Town-planning Act had little to do with any scheme of beautification. Town-planning really meant the provision of traffic streets, building lines, zones, and open spaces. When these matters were defined, then they could safely turn their attention to other aspects of beautification.

If they wished to take the right view of town-planning they should not confine their attention solely to areas within the city boundaries. It would be impossible to prepare a scheme for a certain borough without taking into consideration the areas adjacent to the borough. The ideal scheme was to develop the outlying suburbs independently of the parent city. Mr Hammond here paused to demonstrate the idea on the blackboard. Continuing his address, he said that outside the town areas there should be small townships or satellites, and these should be connected with the city. These suburbs should, to a large extent, be independent, but at the same time dependent on the central cities for their welfare.

THE ZONING SYSTEM. Then came the system of zones. This, to his mind, was the most important of all. By zoning he meant the location of areas for specific purposes. The Townplanning Act gave the board power for fixing the residential areas. There was also width zoning and character zoning. This idea was not new to other countries of the world, but it was to New Zealand. There were about 400 zone cities in the United States of America. Character zoning meant defining areas for different purposes There were industrial areas, business areas, residential areas and so forth. These could be subdivided again. Then came the question of streets. This matter had not been studied scientifically in New Zealand. Street designing was really a science. Widths of streets were designed partly with regard to the amount of traffic the street would carry. There was a system in New Zealand whereby all streets had been laid out at a standard width of 66-ft. This appeared to provide an anomalous position in that a street was laid out with a 66-ft. frontage and carried very little traffic, whilst another street with the same frontage took large volumes of traffic. The position would not stand analysis. He was glad to see that some the Invercargill streets were two chains wide, though he thought that they would find that these thoroughfares would not be too wide in the future. It was a great pity this policy had not, been adopted in other parts of New Zealand. It would have saved hundreds of thousands of pounds in street widening. RESIDENTIAL STREET WIDTHS. Turning to the question of residential streets, he said he had in many cases spoken in favour of reduced widths of this class of thoroughfare He did not wish to convey the impression that these streets should be reduced to a dangerous width, but he did think carriage-ways should be reduced. He had noticed in many towns 66-ft. residential streets with carriage-ways 36-ft. wide, and paved from kerb to kerb. He had watched for heavy traffic but had failed to notice any. The expenditure involved must have been enormous, and the waste of public money had been unwarranted. In his opinion, the width of such roads should be just sufficient to allow two vehicles to pass in safety. Then came the question of building lines. These were used for two purposes, but chieflly for street widening. By these means the effect of a* wide street is given, though such might not be the case.

CITY’S BREATHING SPACES. The importance of making provision for open places was emphasised by Mr Hammond. Invercargill had in the past made very good provision in regard to these reserves. These open belts round the city boundaries were the means of providing the public with a very great asset. Mr Hammond said that there was -a good deal to be said in favour of suitable garden plots right in the city. In certain parts of the country there had been opposition to these plots, but they had been laid down extensively in the Continental cities. Turning to recreation areas, the speaker said he wished to make a plea for plenty of these Invercargill might have sufficient areas for the present, but what about the future? Suppose the population were doubled, would there still be sufficient playgrounds for the children? It was for them he was making his plea. It. was considered that these areas should be placed at about half-mile intervals throughout the

city. In conclusion, Mr Hammond said that the idea of town-planning was to make their towns and cities attractive to the eye and healthful to live in. If they could accomplish this the Act would have served its purpose. Mr Hammond then answered several questions put to him, and explained certain portions of the Town Planning Act, after which he was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address.