BUILDING NOT TO BE DELAYED BY TOWN PLANNING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 56, 14 June 1950, Page 5

BUILDING NOT TO BE DELAYED BY TOWN PLANNING

Although, far from satisfied with the new suggested town planning scheme the • Whakatane Borough Council is to consider it further before any final decision is reached. In the meantime applications for ' building permits to establish businesses in the borough are being ■ considered and will not be delayed any further by the scheme. While it was agreed at the monthly meeting on Monday night that some planning was needed for the town it was felt that the present scheme was too rigid for a firmly established borough and would probably do more harm than good. In theory the idea of putting aside the Commerce Street section as a light industrial'area was sound but in practise it would not work as it was impossible to buy any land there at all. In the meantime there was no alternative the borough could offer to anyone wishing to go into business. w Much Interference , “Too much interference with the rights of the private individual” is what the Mayor. Mr B. S. Barry, thought of the plan. It dictated to the people what they could and

could not build and where they

were going to build. King Street set aside for certain businesses „ \ m a certain section. Mr Barry thought this was wrong and declared that he would be happy to throw the whole area open for , any business. Competition would right :t in the end. “The act is too rigid and not elastic enough.” Cr K. Needham: I think we should drop the whole scheme. He would be quite happy to throw the whole of King Street open to business, Cr R. Buttimore declared. If the plan was adopted it would be putting the brakes on building in the borough, Cr E. R. Dillicar, said. Natural development would be hindered and much harm done. The plan meant setting the council up as a dictator. “We should not knock back people who want to build,” he added.

While he agreed .that the plan was too rigid the deputy mayor, Cr C. S. Armstrong, said he thought some control was necessary. He

would not like to see the plan jettisoned entirely nior did he want /to see shops springing up all over the borough. In - this Cr W. Sullivan differed. He thought it was not a bad idea to have shops scattered around the residential area where “women could buy a loaf of bread and kids a stick of chocolate” without having to walk any distance. Lack of Vision He considered that the trouble at Whakatane was not in planning the business area but the lack of vision in the subdivision of property for residential sites. Should the plan be adopted he foresaw many headaches for the council but at the same time he thought some part of the plan should be retained to control the nuisance or noisy industries springing up in residential areas.

was the general feeling of the council and it was decided not to delay consideration of applications for building any longer. Applications for the erection of three plumbing workshops and three small shops in King. Street were approved. "