"TOWN PLANNING FOR NEW ZEALAND"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2203, 16 July 1914, Page 10

"TOWN PLANNING FOR NEW ZEALAND"

AN EDUCATIVE LECTURE. • Tho first of a series of lectures on towu-planuing by Messrs. W. E. Davidge and C. C- Reade, from England, attracted a large audience to tho Town Hall last evening. Mr. W. It. Davidge, in conjunction with his duties as one of the chief surveyors to tho London County Council, has made a special study of-town-planning on aesthetic and hygienic lines. .Tho lecture, which was of absorbing interest, was freely illustrated by lantern views. The lecturer and. his colleiguo (Mr.- C. C Reade) were given a hearty welcome to Wellington by the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), who dwelt on tho importance of the movement.. Ho noted that- they already had two. bodies whoso aims were directed towards tho beautifying and betterment of tho city, and the work that they were striving to do would bear ' fruit in the future. He also said that they intended as far as possible not to mako the mistakes in town-planning that had been made in the Old Country. Mr. Davidge said that-the subject of town-planning was interesting the whole world, and both in Europe and America town-planning was going on, and legislation in its favour was being considered. With tho aid of a coloured view, he illustrated what lu? considered the ideal city. One important point was ■■' that the trade" portion of. the town was situated remote from the centre on the lee side of the city. Tho suburbs were not joined ou to the city, but were separated from it hy a.broad belt of open country. There was then flashed on tho screen a plan of the settlement of Britannia (the original of Wellington, situated at Pctone), a square town divided in half by the flutt River, with a fort on each corner, and. a behind each fort. Then - fr llowed a diagram showing tho wonderful, growth' of in a Imudrcd years. Then Hashing back to Wellington (which he said might iucreaso its population seven times in the next hundred years), views of Lambton Quay to-day, and one showing what;it looked like CO years ago, were exhibited, as showing the rapid change that had taken place in tlio memory of living people Another view showii was of a "close" near St. • Paul's Cathedral (London), illustrating the widening work that- hud gone 01;. Even now it was still far too narrow. Mr. Davidge .emphasised the need foi thought in tlioV construction of arterial roads. Suclr foresight might easily savo a city millions'of-pounds. As-far us the mniu outlets,wore-' concerned, one could not- plan them too wide—never stint the space when building 0 road that ,1 was likely to be a'main or arterial road,

In Liverpool tlio authorities had had to pay £56,000 for the acquisition ' of an area, containing 534 houses in order to build what they called model dwellings for workers—which the lecturer himself called barracks. Then ho showed what was being dono in the suburbs of Liverpool, where'cheap land had been secured, and workers could got. cottages for as low as 7s. Gd. pur wcok. End of the Sky-soraper. Mr. Davidge alr-a' stressed an objection to the modern trend to go in for high buildings. He was very glad to hear that ive had in ■Wellington a statutory limit. They had ono now Hi London. It was 80ft., and if that was ' high enough for London ho did not know why Wellington's limit should ho 100 ft. His objection was based on the congestion high buildings caused, hi support of this, ho quoted tho Walworth Building in Now York, with its 56 stories, and which had a business population of 10,000. The result of,such congestion was reflected, in tho fact that New York had now to spend£6o,ooo,ooo to provide transportation: Now York was now trying to reduce tho height of future buildings. What was needed here and everywhere was to limit the number of buildings to the acre. (Hear, hear.) Views were ako shown of the overcrowded blocks in London (Fulhain), and in Wellington (To Aro Hat), which clearly showed housing conditions of an undesirable character. . The garden suburbs of Dresden (Germany) were shown as something approaching the ideal in residential areas. In tho olden days, he continued, people used to decorate the city- gates, and it was proper that the portals of tho- city should bo impressive. Tho railway stations wore nowadays the portals of a city, and these should in a manner reflect tho size and dignity of the city. Ho showed how New York, and Frankfort reflected, tho dignity of their cities. "This is how Wellington ■ reflects the city!" ...With that, a, pic-, ture of tho low one-storied wooden railway station in Lambton Quay, which sally was received with laughter. Wellington would have to have a now station, and when it was built he hoped that the authorities would see that plenty of space was provided round : about tho station. ' ; The lecturer also made reference to the plethora of poles in the streets of Wellington, and _ expressed the opinion' that the advertisements on hoardings should bo restrained. Views of mid-city streets were 'shown to give point to. the' visitor's remarks. Accessibility, beauty, and convenience could be said to be tho A B C of town-planning, and ■ those could be attained by working 1 to ■ a.definite- plan, carefully'thought out. (Applause.)" ; N?w Zealand Cltios. ■ ■ ' Mr. C. O. Beade spoke interestingly on New Zealand cities, and with the aid of views showed some original plans. Ono showed the, City of Wellington as planned by tho-Ncw Zealand Land Com- • pany, and a later one showing how large areas of.tho Town Belt had been encroached upon, notably by the Wellington College and Hospital, and for other purposes at. Kelburn.. Ha was ■ -afraid that the Government had been as much ail offender as aiiyono. The ; lecturer sppko -at' length on "the'.evils' that followed uncontrolled, speculation in laud in Germany and elsewhere, whore the rising values had forced out individual, one-family residences' in favour; of 'tenement buildings seven and eight stories' high. The remedy for that ; sort of thing was illustrated in the City of Ulm, where a very wise old burgher meister had bought, up'a huge quantity . of land from the Government at a reasonable price; on, that land garden sub- • urbs- were planned, and to-day it was the. cheapest .and healthiest city in Germany. Tho price of land was only a fourth of what it was in the adjoiuing City of Stuttgart,, and the rates were appreciably lower than in' any cityjn that part of' Germany: furthermore, the .death-rato was much lower'than in any. of the neighbouring cities.. Mr. R-eade also dealt at'length with the wonders which had been accomplished at tho Harapstead Garden Suburb (London) and at Letchworth, and by showing views of those place 3 alongside of soriio of the closely-built-upbn suburban streois in Auckland and Wellington, ilhstrated how sadly townplanning had been neglected in New Zealand in tho past. At Letchworth tho land had been acquired for £40 per acre, and artisans could get fine cottages containing threoibodrooms, a living room, scullery, and garden spaces for; from '4s. 3d..t0 ss. 6d. per week. He>also dealt interestingly with -road' construction, .showing' how at .stead some of tho- roads were only metalled for a'space of 16ft., whilst the distance between the; houses 'was-70ft.,. and how by building blind 6treets in purely residential districts tho heavy .through ' traffic was forced' to proceed by streets - specially designed for 'that purposo At the conclusion of the lecture both of the visitors were-tendered a hearty vote of '"th-oiks. Mr. Davidge is to speak on the technical aspect of town-planning at the Sydney Street Hall, this evening. •