THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1929. PLANNING FOR TO-MORROW

Wairarapa Age, 19 March 1929, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1929. PLANNING FOR TO-MORROW

lit his recent addresses to the Municipal Conference and to various local i authorities, the Director of Town-Plan-1 ning (Mr J. W. Mawson) has shown that he contemplates some very important changes l in the town.-planm.iaig legislation passed, but as yet brought onay tentatively into operation, in this country. The principal change proposed by Mr Mawson is that of giving regional planning priority over town-planning. In his own words, he has recommended to the Town-Planning Board, firstly that all matters ef common economic and social interest should be considered and determined in advance of the preparation of the separate statutory town-planning schemes within each region; secondly that these regional proposals should then be incorporated, in so far as may be practicable or desirable, in the separate town-planning' schemes; thirdly, that the regional schemes should be non-obligatory; and, fourthly, that pending the oompletion of town-planning schemes local authorities should be given wider powers for the control of developments within their areas. The Town-Planning Act as it stands makes permissive provision for the preparation of regional* planning schemes. It is not proposed by Mr. Mawisan that the preparation of these schemes should be enforced by statute, but he aims at making them 1 foundational instead of subsidiary or complementary to the town-planning schemes as they are in the present Act. Some people may be inclined to question whether a policy of (giving nonobligatory regional planning schemes priority over statutory town-planning schemes can be expected to work out otherwise than disappointingly in practice. The Director of Town-Planning avowedly relies upijp the driving power of an. educated public, opinion. A sound scheme prepared by local authorities working in co-operation, properly pre seated and explained, he observes, “would have behind it the full force of public opinion." Probably this is not unduly optimistic. Here and in other districts we are learning in a measure in working practice to pool our common interests. A coherent system of power reticulation ifor a whole region, and a regional system of main and secondary highways are to-day accepted as commonplace and inevitable. Regional planning in its full scope sim ply implies the extension of the same working principles to other affairs of common corcern. Many of the questions involved in regional end town-planning, such as the , control by local authorities of development within their areas and contact with private interests, are complex and - no doubt will have to be worked out step by step, though in uniform' accordance with broad guiding principles. ' The policy outlined by the Director of Town-Planning appears, However, to be practical and of good promise. Large- . !y as it depends on 1 non-obligatory action by local authqrities, it need not of necessity be weak or ineffective. : Much, of course, must depend on the extent to which public opinion'’ is ' awakened to the positive value, econo- • iweally and otherwise, of regional and town-planning. It may be hoped that ’ the Director of Town-Planning will ' find time, not only to expound the ’ technical aspects of town-planning in : addresses td local authorities, but to ! deal with his subject in a popular way * in public lectures. That Mr Mawson * has ■something of this kind in view may

be inferred from the fact that he re cently accepted an invitation by thej Mayor (Mr. T. Jordan) to address public meeting an Mastertan. on a date to bo arranged. The Director of TownPlanning has a noteworthy reputation as a master of his subject and no doubt many people will be anxious to hear him. It might be well worth while, however, to ask organisations like the Beautifying Society, the Association for the Advancement of Education, the W.E.A. and others to endeavour to interest their members in the forthcoming meeting, with a view to securing the largest possible attendance.