REGIONAL PLANNING

Southland Times, Issue 21099, 3 June 1930, Page 5

REGIONAL PLANNING

PROVISIONAL BOUNDARIES. SOUTHLAND’S PORTION. The Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. P. A. de la Perrelle, has written as follows to the City Council regarding regional boundaries" The Town-planning Board, having carefully considered the evidence tendered at the inquiries recently conducted on . its behalf at Invercargill, Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru, Christchurch, Blenheim, Nelson and Greymouth, is prepared to recommend to the local authorities concerned the adoption of the regional boundaries described in the schedule and illustrated on the map forwarded under separate cover. lln view of the fact that certain local authorities were not represented at any of 1 these inquiries, it has been decided by the board to regard the boundaries now proposed as provisional only, and to refer the matter back to all local authorities concerned for their further consideration before a final recommendation is made. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that although the Act contemplates the inclusion of all utilizable land in one or other of these regional areas, there is no desire or intention on the part of the board to require the inclusion of any given district or part of a district in a particular region against the wishes of the inhabitants, of'that district. “It is desirable, therefore, that the board should have from your council a definite expression of opinion upon the provisional boundaries as they affect or are likely to affect the district under the jurisdiction of your council so that the final recommendations of the board will represent as nearly as possible the unanimous views of all the local authorities in each region whom it is proposed should co-operate through the medium of a joint committee for the coordination of all such public improvements, utilities, services and amenities as are not limited by the boundaries of any one local authority or do not relate exclusively to the development of any one such district, and to secure the conservation and economic development of the natural resources of the combined districts. An explanatory memorandum for the guidance of the Regional Committee when appointed outlining the procedure in regard to the preparation of the regional surveys and schemes is in course of preparation.” The map showed that the regional boundary for Southland was almost exactly as suggested at the inquiry in Invercargill- and the council unanimously approved of it.