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South Canterbury Times, Issue 2091, 4 December 1879, Page 2

It is to be regretted that among the useful measures so expeditiously passed by the present Parliament, one refering to the.regulation of private townships is not included. The manner in which these settlements have been laid out has proved a source of much trouble and anxiety to local bodies. At the present time owners of property in the suburbswho choose to sub-divide their estates into small building sections can do pretty well as they think proper. They may adopt the Chinese Canton pattern, and make their streets so narrow that the residents can shake hands across them without leaving their verandahs, and as a fact they have generally done so. Almost invariably they have gone to work on the principle of the architect who constructed the premises where so many were lately burned to death in Dunedin—that of utilising every available inch of space to the utmost. In a few instances provision has been made for school grounds and other reserves, and this display of liberality has been assiduously paraded before the eyes of intending purchasers, but in the majority of cases reserves of every kind have been totally ignored. Streets have been laid out apparently for wheel-barrow trallic, while the dimensions of sections arc such that people endeavoring to occupy them must herd together like wild beasts in the caravans of a menagerie. We observe that the Tcmuka Eoad Board at their last meeting resolved to call the attention of the Government to the necessity of dealing with private townships, and enforcing salutary restrictions on the authors of these young settlements as regards width of streets and reserves. During the past year or two, miles ■ upon miles of half-chain streets have been laid out, and we need not say that as the necessity for their enlargemcntbccomcs apparent, they are likely to be found an expensive and intolerable source of annoyance to local bodies. The action of the Temnka Hoad Board in this matter should have the attention of local bodies in every part of the colony, so that united pressure may be brought to bear on the Legislature, with the view of removing an evil in connection with the growth of new townships of a most formidable character.