TOWN PLANNING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 298, 5 September 1918, Page 6

TOWN PLANNING

CONFERENCE AT BRISBANE SOME LESSONS FOR NEW ZEA« LAND. (Contributed.) Is New Zealand's boast that she leads tli-j world justified? 11l two respects, .it all events, she lags a long way behind Australia—forestry and town planning. The 'Australian! States have their forestry departments under expert foresters, their forests properly demarcated, conserved, and cut according to modern principles, while we liave for years past been keeping our forests so "steadily in view," that soon there will be none left to view. The recent; conference at Brisbane on town planing shows that New Zealand voters want here and now to galvanise ■ the Government into activity in connection with this matter. It is true that the lion. G. W. Russell has taken it up enthusiastically, has prepared a. Town "Planning Bill, and wisely sent Mr. S. Hurst Scager to Brisbane as New Zealand's representative at the conference, but is the Cabinet as a. whole giving this movement the consideration and support that deseives?

The conference was attended by some 52(1 delegates. Some 40,000 superficial feet c>f wall space was covered with illustrations of ail branches of tlm subject. Fourteen papers were read dealing with repatriation, legislation, municipal engineering, parks, and playgrounds, finance, zoning or ,the allotment of districts for special purposes and industrial centres. Tliu exhibition was declared open by the Governor of Quepnsland, and the opening speech of the conference was mades by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir R. C. Munro-Ferguson, who has given the Commonwealth such a lead in forestry. "They did well," he said, "to use the poriod of stagnation in preparing for the great outburst of architectural activity which they hoped might follow on the resumption of normal conditions, _by formulating schemes and reorganising administration so as to meet public and privato needs with the greatest success, Jeast expense, and a minimum of misdirected effort. To do that they must secure thorough devolution, free play for local initiative, eliminate overlapping,, encourage co-operation between adjacent local authorities, and in some cases their consolidation."

Speaking of the selection of soldiers for agricultural pursuits, he declared that "agricultural organisation and cooperation was in theso days absolutely essential to the success of small holdings, and should proceed pari passu with tiio development of such schemes, and town planning was every bit as necessary for the village community as for a capital city. The essence of town planning was imagination, the power to picture the village township, city, and the ability to foresee future needs, possiblo changes, such vital matters as communications, industry, and elbow-room for the community." He humorously referred to what an. American had said of his own country: "That their hinder sight was better than their foresight by a darned

sight." The Hon. J. D. Fitzgerald, wliosa appointment as Minister oi Town Planning in New South Wales was announced at the conference, pointed out to the conference the civic disadvan-* tage of having great cities such as Sydney and Melbourne split up into numbers of municipalities, Sydney's civic government being dissipated among fifty-three necessarily helpless councils. In order that town planning schemes may be carried out efficiently the governing corporation must have chargo of the whole city. Dr. Price, the Mayor of Toowoomba, explained |he scheme that has been prepared for an industrial garaen city at Darra, in Queensland, and tlio conference passed a resolution urging the Government to resume the necessary land and to carry out the scheme. Naturally the question of soldier settlements bulked large in the delibera-* tions of the conference. Some of the papers read advocated spccial garden villages for soldiers, but the conference after discussion proved unanimously opposed to segregation of returned soldiers. The views of the conference wero embodied in two .resolutions. The

first, moved by Dr. Gordon Craig, an eminent Sydney surgeon, advocated the incorporation of the returned soldiers among the ordinary members of the community in rural or industrial garden settlements. The second, moved by Mr. S. Hurst Seager, ran thus: "That the best interests of returned soldiers will be served by founding and completing self-contained garden villages for all classes of the community, including returned soldiers, situated on. good land on a railway line, jvhere there is a good water supply, drainage, and electric power. That such villages shall be formed with all the attractions found in large cities, in order that workers in all branches of industry may be induced to settle therein, and thus enjoy the amenities of city life while engaged in pastoral, agricultural, or other pursuits." Before leaving Australia. Mr. Hurst Seager visited the modern garden suburb of Dacyville, established by the Government near Sydney, with its hatmonious groups of picturesque workmen's cottages, schools, ana picture galleries. The Government bought uUb land for £G5 an acre, and the highest rent charged by it is 18s. 6d. per week, while laud adjoining the suburb has risen to £300 per acre, and privatelyowned, inferior houses fetched 225. Gd.

per week. In connection with garden cities the niaority of the delegates lit the conference expressed themselves in favour of the principle of long leaseholds (adopted by the commission in England) as giving a hold upon the property to the governing authority. To sum up, the lessons to be learned from the conference seem to be: —

1. That there should bo a townplanning department separate from other departments and with a skilled town planner in charge. 2. That such department should ha out of tho controversial region i'f party politics. 3. That all large cities should ho under one municipal corporation, so that a consistent scheme for development for the whole city can be worked out. , 4. That no attempt should be madn to segregate returned soldiers in special settlements, but that garden villages should be formed on good land; near railway lines, with the attractions of cities so as to induce all classes, including returned soldiers to settlo in tho country and not to congrogato in a few large cities. 5. That a policy of town planning requires foresight and finance, and cannot oe improvised hurriedly or piecemeal by non-oxpert politicians.