TOWN PLANNING

Southland Times, Issue 20993, 28 January 1930, Page 5

TOWN PLANNING

REGIONAL SCHEMES. COMMUNICATION TO COUNCIL. At the meeting of the Borough Council last evening a letter was received from the Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. P. A. de Id Perrelle) regarding town planning. The letter was as follows:— “I desire to call your attention to Part 11. of the Town-planning Amendment Act, 1929, in which 1 provision is made for the preparation of regional planning schemes. It is contemplated that the whole of the land in the Dominion capable of economic development will be embraced within one or other of these regional schemes, and it is desirable that every local authority should be in a position to advise the board at an early date in regard to the boundaries of the region in which the area under its jurisdiction is situated. For the purpose of the administration of the Act, a region can be defined as an area of land having natural geographic boundaries or united by common social and economic interests, disregarding the boundaries of the separate local authorities. Already throughout the Dominion a number of social services and public utilities, such as education, hospitals, harbours, drainage, water supply, power and recreational facilities are organized on a regional basis, and the boundaries of the different areas under the jurisdiction of the statutory bodies controlling these services and utilities should serve as a useful guide; but more important still are the economic factors, such as marketing, commercial, financial and transport facilities upon which the primary and secondary industries depend. “A broad survey of the South IMand seems to indicate that the following geographic areas will constitute the principal regions:—Nelson and district, Blenheim and district, Westport and district, Greymouth and district, Canterbury, Timaru and district, Oamaru and district, Otago and Southland. “A closer examination will probably indicate the desirability of constituting subsidiary regions, but these cannot be determined until the boundaries of the more important regions have been defined. Section 8 of the Act provides that any two or more local authorities having jurisdiction over adjoining areas may, on their own motion, resolve to unite for the purpose of preparing a regional-planning scheme, but that no such resolution shall have effect until it has been approved by the Townplanning Board by notice published in the Gazette. ‘There may be cases where the determination of the boundaries of a region does not present any great difficulty, and the local, authorities concerned could proceed at once to pass the necessary resolutions; but, generally speaking, the board is of the opinion that it would facilitate matters if the boundaries of the various reg-

ional areas were determined with finality before such resolutions arc passed. “The immediate problem, therefore, is to define the boundaries of these regions, and the board has decided that the most practical and expeditious method of procedure is to hold a series of public inquiries at which evidence can be taken from all interested parties. It is proposed to bold such inquiries during February and March, 1930, in the following centres: —Nelson, Blenheim, Westport, Christchurch, Greymouth, Timarue, Oamaru, Dunedin and Invercargill. Precise details in regard to these inquiries will be notified in the Press in due course, and invitations to be represented will be sent to all the local authorities concerned.”