TOWN PLANNING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1198, 5 August 1911, Page 10

TOWN PLANNING.

MR. FOWLDS'S BILL, THE GOVERNMENT AND THE CITIES. Tho Town Planning Bill promoted by tho Hon. G. Fowlds was circulated yesterday. Provision is made to enable municipal bodies to carry out schemes for the improvement of tho towns under their jurisdiction. The legislation is intended to be applicable to the whole Dominion, and it is proposed that all town planning schemes should be examined by an advisory body and sanctioned by the Government before they are carried out. Tho schemes which may be carried out under tho provisions of tho measure aro classified as follow:—Tho laying out and construction of roads and streets, and tho stopping uf any road or slreetj the laymgout and construction and drainage and water-supply schemes; the lighting of roads and streets and public buildings; tho setting apart and laying out of land for recreation grounds and public buildings (including public baths), and the erection of public buildings; the reclamation of land; tho preservation of objects of historical interest or of natural beauty; the acquisition of laud for any of tho purposes of a town-planning scheme. Provision is also made that any of tho measures required 10 carry out U town-planning scheme' may bo regarded as part of it. • The Bill proposes to confer upon L-orougn councils and town district boards power to carry out any town-planning scheme comprising all or'any of the matters mentioned above.

A borough council which proposes to undertake such a schemo must dehne the area which it intends to benefit, but ample powers are proposed to obviate any obstruction of a scheme by artificial boundaries. The town-planning area may include tho whole of a borough or only part of it, and it' may include .land adjacent to tho borough. In a similar manner, a comprehensive schemo for the whole of the town-planning area may bo undertaken, or provision may be mado for tho improvement nf defined arias by the carrying out of beneficial schemes. It is proposed that opportunity should he given for any person interested to raiso an objection to the scheme proposed, and abjections of this character must be considered by the Borough Council and forwarded with tho council's schemo to the Town-l'lanning Board. This body will consist of the Surveyor-General and four other persons appointed by tho Governor-in-Council, and holding office for five years. It. will bo tho duly of the board io investigate tho proposals submitted to it, and having given another opportunity for interested pcrson3 to mako objections, to report to tho Governor-in-C'ouncil. Tho board will be merely an advisory body, and it may make any recommendations it considers advisable. Tho power to modify or to disapprove of a schemo is retained by. the Uuverncr-in-Council, but having obtained his approval, the Borough Council may proceed to carry out its proposals. Even when a schemo has been entered upon, it may ho varied or revoked by the Borough Council, provided the requirements of tho Act aro fulfilled, and, if ho thinks it advisable, tho Govenuu'-iii-Coiinril may revoke u scheme.

in thoso cases where a town-planning area extends beyond the district of the council which prepared the scheme, the local authorities of tho other districts affected must be consulted, a conference being convened for tho discussion ot tho proposal?. Should tiio conference oppose tho scheme submitted to it, the council would bo required to forward any antagonistic resolution, with other written objections, to the board. Tho responsibility of. carrying out a scheme may bo imposed by tho Ordev-iu-Council unon one of tho local authorities interested, or divided among them, or a joint committco of all the bodies may ba constituted.

The responsible authority may take any measures it deems advisable in tho interests of tlie scheme, and, in this connection, provision is niado for the settlement of any disputes by the board as arbitrator. There will be no appeal from any decision of tho board. Compensation may be ob-taincd'-'if iiljitr.y''to-property caliSed'djy; tho carrying out'of a scheme, but there aro provisions to safeguard tiio interests of tho local authority against unreasonable claims. In thoso cases where a townplanning scheme extends beyond the district of the council that prepared it, the responsible authority will be authorised to suspend by-laws and to make new ones applicable to the wholo area. Tho carrying out of a town-planning scheme will bo a public work within the meaning of tho Municipal Corporations Act and of the Public Works Act, but in raising a loan lor the scheme, a poll to obtain the sanction of tho ratepayers will not be necessary.

MR. MYERS'S VIEW, ACT SHOULD BE MANDATORY. Mr.. Myers, M.P., who lias abandoned his Auckland Town Planning Bill in favour of the. general measure introduced by the Eon. Mr. Fowlds, told a reporter yesterday that tho Ministerial proposals, =o far as he.had studied them, seemed satisfactory, but lie thought tho measure should be mandatory, instead of permissive, as it appeared to be. Tho constitution of a Town Planning Board was a wise provision, hut ho thought power should be givou, either to tho board or tho Government, to engage a town-plan-ning expert to assist the local bodies in tho preparation of schemes. Ths planning even of the smallest of our boroughs ought to be taken in hand at once; but tho smaller local councils would not, as a rule, liavo their disposal tho necessary expert advice, and tho lack of this at 'the start might prove a very serious drawback to the town later on. He also thought there should be a betterment clause. Whilo formerly councils had power to abolish slum areas, there was no adequate machinery for providing for the planning onfc of areas in which those who had unfortunately been compelled to occupy houses in the slums could find better accommodation ; but the placing of tho Town Planning Bill on tbo Statute-book would, he hoped, lead the local authorities to go exhaustively into the question, not only of the, demolition of slums, but also of providing decent dwelling-places in their stead.