The Chronicle LEVIN. TUESDAY, DEC. 18. 1917.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 18 December 1917, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. TUESDAY, DEC. 18. 1917.

| I lie Levin Borough. Council is about to take tlie initial steps in a ' \s ork (iiat will mean more to the future of the town than may be rea*!!>:•<! at present. This is the Want iticahon of the whole of the railway line where it passes through the Borough. First inipressiciis are always lasting and Levin is singularly unfortunI ate in that an unlovely vista of I backyards offends the eyes of thri ough train passengers and more ! especially of visitors from the North, who get no hint of the busy centre, with its clean, treefringed streets that lies hidden from the gaze. It is possible to alter this to some extent and to make the town notable not only amongst its neighbours, but even in the Dominion itself, and the j Borough Council is inaugurating , a .movement to that end. As will | be noticed from our news columns it is intended to approach the Bailwa.v Department, with every prospect of success, for authority to beautify and improve the fif-teen-foot strips of ground that run along both sides of the railway line through the Borough. It may talce some years to complete the work of planting and what must be guarded against is any piecemeal, haphazard prosecution of the proposal. The whole plan should be laid ,down at the commencement, and it should then be followed carefully, with only such divergences as necessity may compel. Year by year an instalment of the whole could be carried out as funds and circumstances permitted. Tlie Council could not do better than enlist the services at the outset of such an expert as Mr Black, the Curator of Reserves in Palmerston, or any other enthusiast who could design a eomprehesive scheme that, when

completed, would make a ported setting for (lie mi I way line and effectively blot out tlie present unsightly view. The .Departmental proviso that trees that do not shed I heir' leaves shall be planted gives an oportunity for the utilisation of the beautilul native shrubs and trees, so perfect in then- harmony of form and colour, but still s.! comparatively neglected in our public gardens. We trust the iiorough Council will go steadily forward with its plan ami that it will receive the full support'of the public and particularly of property owners whose-lands abut on to the line, for it deserves well of all who desire the advancement of Levin.