TOWN PLANNING PROBLEMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 289, 6 December 1928, Page 6

TOWN PLANNING PROBLEMS

NEED FOR PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT LITTLE BY LITTLE TO IDEALISM Aii outline of the steps that will be taken by Wanganui City to comply with the Town Planning Act has already .appeared in these columns. But the subject is far from exhausted. All New Zealand surveyors have for many years been up against the problems the Act hopes to deal with. Their Institute took the first step in calling together the conference of some years ago which ultimately resulted in legislation. Some very interesting facts are set forth in the following article:—

Town planning can never be a real success unless the average ratepayer understands what is aimed at, and is ready to support it. The man who pays the piper has the right to call the tunc. Obviously the first logical step in applying such a science to a young country should be the awakening and enlightenment of public opinion, but so far very little has been done in that direction. The creation of a civic centre and a cluster of expensive buildings expresses town planning to many people; to others it means beautified streets; others again have visions ot the destruction of old-building areas, and the erection of modern houses on less space, with extra ground available for public gardens and so on. It is not surprising that very few of us have a broad conception of the whole A leading American expert says:— “City or town planning promotes trade by supplying direct and easy ways for the extension and development of commerce, it fosters city growth by making it easier and cheaper to promote all classes of business, it increases and insures all property values by preventing the many evils of haphazard building and makes every citizen a more efficient worker by saving time and money in the transit of goods and people, and . hove all it assures to the city that adopts it a future citizenship sound in body, mind and morals.” Air Thomas Alawson, the noted London authority (and father of our new Director of Town Planning, who has just arrived in Wellington) puts it this way: — “City planning is not an attempt to pull down your city and rebuild it at ruinous expense. It is merely deciding what you wish to have done when you get the chance. When the. time does come, little by little, you may make the city plan conform to your ideals.” Aiming at assuring an ordered and well-considered development of cities and suburbs, town planning is as much a business proposition as any other form of municipal enterprise. It is not a new-fangled notion suddenly sprung on an unsuspecting public by a theoretical Government. The idea of planning a town lay-out, particularly the rectangular system common in New Zealand, was known to the Romans before Balbus built his wall. According to the needs of their day most New’ Zealand towns were well treated by our pioneer planners. Later develop ment brought the troubles. Fast motor transport, calling for radial and circumferential communication, is a modern factor they naturally did not allow for.

Five main features are accepted as governing the convenience and attractiveness of a modern city. (1) The. transportation system, the general

means provided for movement in or about the city; (2) The street system, which should provide quick and convenient access between one point and another; (3) The open spaces and recreational facilities upon which the health and comfort of the people largely depend; (4) The location of public buildings; (5) Zoning, the allocation of definite areas for definite purposes.

The street system will naturally be I the main point on which town planning |in this country will concentrate. Piecemeal subdivision of extensions outside the original towns, with each reading scheme considered on its own instead of in relation to the whole area, has been the cause of most of the existing disabilities. No one, up to the prerent, has had any power to overcome them; but they can be remedied as time goes on, or their recurrence can be prevented, once they are systematically noted and provision made for dealing with them. And since all improvement works that cannot be paid for out of revenue (which probably means all of them in a city of Wanganui’s easy finances) have to be sanctioned by a ratepayer’s poll, there is no cause tu fear any sudden increase in ates due to excess of enthusiasm in the town planner.

Auckland probably has more problems than any of our New Zealand cities, except Wellington, and it has certainly done most so far to overcome them. They have a Town Planning Association up there, representing all

classes. This has issued instructive bulletins, and done much work to familiarise citizens with the needs of the future city, and to encourage in them the civic spirit necessary before those needs can be supplied. The Act only provides the machinery, the bare bones of any proposition. The finished article will depend largely on the vision and goodwill of the people themselves.

•Some schemes may aim at bare compliance with the law. If they do no more than that, they arc likely to be costly failures. However, no plans -’t all can be prepared without a civic s - vey, placing on record the exact present condition of each town. That alone would be worth doing. Few New Zealand towns have any such record in an up-to-date form. Yet, without it, civic councillors who would not build a shed without studying its location, have to decide questions involving thousands of pounds and perhaps the whole future development of their communities. The points noted make a very bare sketch of an extensive subject. But most people in Wanganui who consider their own neighbourhood will realise that things might have been different, and better. Town planning aims ; t correcting those past mistakes and avoiding future ones. A. H. BOGLE.