LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 265, 3 August 1920, Page 5

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PLAN YOUR WORK AND WORK YOUR PLAN

Sir,—Speak to any individual member of the City Council about tho wisdom of working to plan in city development, and ten to one he will agree most heartily that this is tho only 6ensiblo way to regulate) a city's growth.' However, most of our councillors aro very busy men, and do not appear to have suflicient timo to make a real study of civic government, with the result that Wellington continues to grow in this old haphazard method. "Sufficient unto tho day aro tho worries thereof" seems to be tho. attitude taken up by our crty fathers. Tho sooner a careful study is made of Wellington's future development the better it will be for the city as a whole, and particularly for those of us who expect (I won't say hope) to reside hero for the next ten, twenty, .thirty, or forty years or more. Tine Town-Planning Association and other organisations have been trying to get something done in the way of providing playgrounds, but 110ffiiiig has been done so far to givo the children suitable areas, properly equipped. Town-planners urge that the best and most accessible parts of tho Town Belt should be reserved for this purpose, but that first of all a complete plan of. the Belt should 'bo prepared so that playgrounds, tennis courts, bowling greens, croquet lawns, roads, paths, and reserves could all be g?ven their respective locations. Once sucn a plan was ready the work of developing the Belt could go on according to tho general scheme. But what do wo find? Ono week the council refuses (and rightly so) to allow schools to be erected on one part of tho Belt, whilo shortly after permission is given to lay out tennis courts on anothw area. And still no attempt to provide for the kiddies who are so 6adly in need of decent playgrounds. There is an excellent site at tho top of Pirio Street that might mako a good playing area, but even this should not be set aside for any specific purpose nntil the Belt is planned. Another case in point is the proposed power sttrtion in Evans Bay. It liasbc«n said that the Miramai nat is going to be tho future industrial area of Wellington, but there is 110 indication that anything definite has been planned with regard to this nintter. The Town-Planning Association liaa for long endeavoured, to persuade the City Counoil to go into tho vital question of demarcating the city, making provision for the separating of business, industrial, and residential areas. Shag- Point may bo an ideal site for tho new power station (it is certainly infinitely better to place it there than to build more smoko stacks in the city), but the public would like to seel assured that everything has been taken fully into ac count. Tho property owners in tho vicinity of Shag Point have to thank past and gone councils and Governments for what is happening, Had there, been a Town-Planning Act operating in this country, such a thing could not have occurred. If the land on the isthmus had been set apart as a factory area years ago people would never have built residences there, and nobody would nave been a penny the worse to-day. Perhaps this will teach the authorities to havo a little more foresight and plan ahead more than they havei dono in the past. This "hit or miss" style of building ft city is a drain upon the community that becomes heavier year by year. Townplanning, on the other hand, is a sound economic proposition.—! am, ate., fl.