TOWN-PLANNING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 202, 21 May 1920, Page 8

TOWN-PLANNING

MR. W.j; MORTON'S OBSERVATIONS WELLINGTON'S "WRETCHED " "SHACKS."

I ; On tho subject of 'town-planning Mr. 1 W. H. Morton has a good deal to say in tho Teport on his trip abroad: ! "A considerable amount of time'was i spent",he says, "in becoming aequaint- ; ed with the principal features of somo | -of tho more-important town-planning . operations. For this purpose visits were I paid .to I/etchworth, Bournville, Port • Sunlight, Hampstead Garden Suburb, . and Kosyth in Scotland, and Burnage, |"a ; co-operative settlement on similar ' lines in .Manchester. Of these Letchi worth appeared to be generally reeogI nised as the best example in Great Bri- ; tail- of a complete town-planning (•scheme, the whole area being 6epar- ! ated, from other settlements and towns, I and arrangements having been made to i provide for factories, shops, and _ resij'flantial quarters on a prc-considered / plan. In each of the- places visited i there -had been adoptod thoroughly ; satisfactory mothods of lay-out. Curved !.' streets.or crescents wero not conspicuous •by their'number, the majority of the [•: Btreeta being straight. Curved . streets I were . occasionally introduced to form J subsidiary thoroughfares or to conform : .'to the configuration of the ground. The ■ lay-out was generally planned in such a i way as to meet tho requirements of each particular district, and was therefore ( good, but there did not appear to be anything'of exceptional or outstanding i. merit in any of the schemes so far as ; tho . lay-out of tho streets was concern- ! ed. One could not but bp charmed, however, with the general appearance • .in practically the whole of the areas t'tlevelopocl' in accordance with these new ' ideas. The streets generally were planted with trees, and along the foot- > walks the outer edges were grassed— i or'had been grassed, but in many jn...stances, through neglect or inattention. 1- the grass. had been warn completely off i; by foot traffic. In this respect they did f pot compare favourably with the better • class streets in America wheto the •' grass edgings wero carefully attended to. I.'" •' ' [■ Architectural Virtue'. ■ - "After, carefully considering tho wholo question of town-planning and the methods ■•adopted' in connection with the ( control of the places referred to, it was I easy, to determine how the very pleasi'ing, results ..had been obtained in every ' .case. It was without doubt due to the t architectural treatment of the houses fwhich had been erected, and the cons'trol 'over building operations exercised :by .tlio. private companies owning the •'estat- s which were formed into settlejments. .Of tlio correctness of this one ! may bo readily assured. In every in- ■ stance the land is leased and not sold, 'and the conditions of the leases require ! that plans of buildings shall be submit- ' ted for approval. In some instances ■■(practically.the whole of the work would ifeeem to have been carried out by a flimited number of architects evidently [well qualified for the t Limits and fiestrictions ns to the design and the •value of the buildings to be erected |,iiav6 been insisted upon, and ;tho result has been a . ratis'factory "and harmonious grouping of tlio •■ various structures. It is i'this .particular fact that has aroused the 'admiration of all who have inspected the .'settlement. No results comparablo with 'what has been obtained could possibly 'have been effected, even with the same [lay-out, if sections had been sold indiscriminately to buyers with liberty to any style of dwelling they chose, land wheie no control over designs cr [building ' operations was , exercised. _ 1 •{eel sure that tho only manner in which ['attractive settlement can be established lis under'conditions similar to thoso that '■have existed in each of the places mentioned. | Provision for Recreation. "The provision, of areas for Tecreation >h of ..course, a very attractive feature ipf thesesettlements, and contributes fcreatly to'the comfort and health of the people by affording suitable'means of recreation arid generally ; enhances the of the settlement.' Particularly at Port, Sunlight, the yard spaces nt the rear of-- "each dwelling appeared '[ridiculously small compared with what ijve are accustomed to in Wellington, but Jarger'areas; .'comprising what are termed 'allotments' for vegetable gardening fcrere to be found immediately 'adjacent land.seemed to be taken full advantage Jof. "'Thii' 'rendered provision of large (paved areas immediately at/the rear of the. dwellings unnecessary. By reason of jthe long leases that were granted tlio lihousßS-wero"occupied by people who practically owned the properties and who fconsequently. took a great prido in their appearance. This is not the case in a jlarge city where many of the people are tenants. The stato of the'gardens in the milage" settlements testified to tho value pf the conditions mentioned. ! ..." ' -yv picked Population. ■ • ."The death rate in these settlements Ss often quoted as testimony to the value jof/this' work:;, from the national health point.of view. While agreeing thaftho salubrious and chcerfnl surroundings cannot to-be beneficial, it may be pointed out that these statistics are not ifairly,;comparable with those of older is.tablished places. In tlio course of my inspection of-the settlements I saw few, if any, old people. Tho settlements are mostly growths of lato years, and tho residents are generally young people or in the prime of life—a picked population,' in fact. For this reason alone ;in (unusually low death-rate might be expected for some years. ■r. Town-Planninq Not Properly i Represented. I "As a result of tho investigations made I came away , firmly convinced that the question of town-planning had not been quite properly represented by those jwhom we have had advocating its advantages in Itfew Zealand. * There can be no doubt ns to the necessity for subdivisions of land for residential purposes _ and the nlanning of roads being thoroughly investigated ' and approved bv ■ the pron°r (authorities prior' to being carried- out. jSuch roads should be considered with a view to opening up districts beyond, lui 'poll'as the mere subdivision of the land .owned, by the parties immediately interjestedl-.- Proper provision should be mado 'in all subdivisions for tho reservation ofsufficient spaces for Tecreation in proportion • to the'area to lie subdivided, and limitations regarding the number of to the aero should be rigidly insisted on; but no clTect more noticeable ;or more attractive than exist? in' Wellington. j "The control of all roading proposals iand subdivisions in my opinion must bn one of the principal duties of the municipal engineer, whilst the- control of building ope/ations appears, likely to bo exercised only when land is subdivided and leased under condition? 'such as obtain in connection with the itown-planning schemes which h(\ve been satisfactorily carried out in Great Britlain. If the powers of the municipal 'authorities were increased to the extent necessary to control building operations jthen it would undoubtedly be necessary Ithat some advisory board composed of architects or others specially qualified 'should be appointed for tho purposo of dealing with matters in connection thereiwith. Awav from these newly-planned areas where buildings have been erected in accordanco with the most recent ideas, there is to be found in every city examples of bad subdivison and' ill-condi-tioned housing. [ ' It is clear that drastic control of such "work is necessary to prevent the continuance of, the methods which wero formerly permitted, and which are now objected to. lam convinced that tho [worst housing conditions-to be found in many cities in the' Old Country, and iwhich aro now very properly condemned by. all people who think on this subject, IbVb non-existent here. Tho meanest Streets in the more congested blocks in thefQJitv ,'«l'j;Wellingtoii" !i would'' not be : louKd.flio objectionable were the houses abutting.-thereon of a more satisfactory character.' The streets in the city which jare so frequently condemned arc generally most objectionable by means of tlio wretchcd : shacks that havo bt-en crccted along them, many of which aro now in a fit state for condemnation as unfit for L' ' -

human habitation. In fact, it is doubtful if some of. them were ever fit for human habitation. "Whilst inspecting the results obtained in connection with pardon cities in Great Britain I became possessed of a great amount of valuable information concerning this branch of municipal work. It is, however, impossible, to refer at greater length in this report to the more detailed information which I have been able to collect. Town Improvement. "k-i regards town improvement (which expression 1 use advisedly, an against "town-planning"), I was enabled to study what is being done and what_ lias been' proposed in Birmingham and Liverpool. In both these cities certain main arterial roads have-been, selected by the uiui)icip;iV authorities as requiring to be gradually widened In ordt.-r to deal effectively with the rapidly ijrowine traflii. In Birmingham several such roads are being increased from about one chain to about 120 feet in width, and -in the case of Liverpool the increase is to 150 feet. The better example of tho two was in Liverpool, where a number of such roads, radiating from tho centre of the -city, have al' rcadv been widened for considerable distances. In the centre of these roads plantations have been mado and the tramways are carried through the centre of the plantations leaving the' sideroa.ls available for ordinary traffic. The idea b to permit the • traincnrs to be driven at a greater speed than can be safely allowed where they are in a road subject''to ordinary traffic. Stops are placed further apart, and.it is estimated that the' increase in mileage and tho shortening of time occupied in travelling will be of great benefit and much appreciated by residents of we more distant suburbs, tho result being, -it may be said, to bring such residents nearer to the centre of the city. These axial roads are connected bv ring roads, running almost parallel and concentric with the central portion of the city, and arranged bo that the traffic from the radial roads may be distributed tn various parts, of the town as easily as possible and without' congestion at any one or more particular points. In Uirminghan: the work proposed will be carried out over a considerable number of years, the new street lines have been adopted and by-laws passed requiring people to erect their buildings to such new alignments. It must necessarily follow that for many years the streets will not present a finished appearand antl, from an aesthetic point of view, will for a long time be objectionable. The ultimate results, however, must boot ■ considerable benefit and afford great assistance in dealing with the trnlhc of these two cities. Local Application. "Fdlowing the practice of Liverpool and applying the idea to Wellington it seems perfectly clear that the proper position for the Newtown tramline should have beon in the centre of the plantation between Kent and ftimbridge Terraces. Considering the question of town improvement, in the light of what' has been seen in other places there can 1» no doubt that it is advisable for the council of AVellington to determine, -s soo-i as possible what are to be tho main lines of traffic from the centre of the city to the various suburbs, and all energy- should be concentrated on biinging about a final determination of these plans, even though the work may years The approaches to a number ol our suburbs are of a most unsatisfactory character, particularly those to Boscneath and Kelburn. It appears jmnecessary to point to the advantages that the district of Brooklyn has obtained by navin" its main ioad located alongside tho tramway track. The further great benefit which will ultimately be obtained by the extension of the mnin road on reasonable gradients to VogPltown will not be properly appreciated by the public until tho construction of tho road is an accomplished fact, when, without doubt, it will be admitted to have Wen a wise proceeding of tho council of Wellington to make provision for such work before the land was too thickly built upon. It is therefore wise to .determine upon tho locations of all necessary main ronds extending to each of the various districts, and improve these, roads as snon as possible. The same applies to the location of all probable future trainwav extensions. "Whilst on- this matter I desire to point out that no legislation is.necessary or required for .dealing with town improvement, sufficient power for eivmg effect to such purposes being already vested in local authorities, and this is a TOii«nn whv terms 'town-nlannini? ana 'town improvement' should not bo confused. Another reason is the great expense incurred in all town improvement schemes, owing to the compulsory disturbance of present owners nnd occupiers that would be necessary to permit the latest ideas in connection wjt.h townplanning being applied to existing citins or towns to any great extent."