Found Wanting

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 609, 11 March 1929, Page 8

Found Wanting

Town Planning Act to be Overhauled

THE Town Planning Act of 1926 lias failed. Shortly it will be drastically altered, largely upon lines suggested by the Auckland Town Planning Association. Local bodies here are not executing their obligations under the original legislation, because the law is of no practical beuefit to them.

gINCE the clays of early colonisation

desultory regional planning has been pursued in New Zealand, but the efforts of the early city-builders were at the best a measure of temporary benefit, and were based largely upon unsound lines. It was not until 1926 that the Dominion followed other progressire countries and enacted a definite formula for town development. This legislation, after t wo years in operation, has been found wanting as

a practical solution of our diflieulties, and is opposed alike by architects, town-planners and local bodies. The Act at the best was 111-consid-ered, and, as experience has proved, ill-advised. It was one of those hurried pieces of legislation which the late Government rushed through Parliament in a moment of enthusiasm following the attractive lay-out of the Orakei garden suburb. Bitter attacks by the Surveyors’ Institute and other objectors fell upon the deaf ears of determined State officials, and in January of 1927 the Town Planning Act became law. Its provision called upon all boroughs, town districts, and certain defined road districts to prepare a town plan before January of 1930. For reasons which are now made clear this has not been done. Little has been attempted by the majority of local bodies, In fact, because they considered the fabric of the Act to be fundamentally wrong and of small practical use.

The strongest organised protest came from Auckland, where a townplanning association was formed immediately the palpable flaws in the legislation were revealed, and a two-

years’ struggle, which has now borne fruit, began. One of the most prominent weaknesses in the Town Planning Act was that, in setting out the conditions of district plans, the measure made no provision whatever for co-operation between adjoining districts, even though their interests might lie along parallel lines. In Auckland, for example, each local body has been allowed —nay, commanded —to plan its development irrespective of the requirements of its neighbours. It was thought by those who were responsible for the Act that the town-planning board could adjust difficulties where, boundaries met, but as the plans of the respective local bodies did not always coincide, this was found to be impossible in practice. LITTLE PROGRESS MADE Several times the Department of Internal Affairs was approached and asked to alter the law. but the late Minister could not appreciate the necessity for this. Hence local authorities, who were prepared to outline their future development, lost enthusiasm when no suggestion came from the Government, and the effect has been to make the whole Act practically ineffective. Councils and boards have not attempted to model their plans and little progress toward the 1930 objective has been made. A technical committee of the Auckland Town Planning Association, comprising Professor Knight, Messrs. Gummer and Brown (architects), Grierson and Blake (surveyors), Powell (engineer), and Webster (solicitor), has been busy for some time preparing suggested amendments to the Act. After exhaustive study it has submitted to the new Director of Town Planning, Mr. J. W. Mawson, proposals which were agreed to by every member of the association, and most of which have now been adopted in principle by Mr. Mawson himself for submission to Parliament. CART BEFORE THE HORSE

The chairman of the technical committee, Mr. E. V. Blake, believes that the results of its work will be of immense benefit to New' Zealand. “There is no doubt that in the near future town planning in this country will be placed on a very different footing,” he said, “and proposals will be made to local bodies which will enable them to proceed with future plans on sound lines.

“The necessity for regional planning prior to the preparation of town plans, is so apparent that the frame of the 1926 Act was most unwise in that its procedure placed the cart before the horse.”

It was estimated recently by the Auckland Town Planning Association that the development of a proper plan and the preparation of contour maps and traffic and economic surveys for Auckland would cost something like £15,000. It was explained that this sum would amount to about 2s a head of population over the whole area, and the suggestion was made that any attempt to whittle down the preliminary survey would be penny-wise and pound foolish.