TOWN PLANNING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 February 1943, Page 2

TOWN PLANNING

WIDENING OF QUEEN STREET BOROUGH ENGINEER OUTLINES PROPOSAL. ROTARY CLUB ADDRESS. Details of a proposal to widen Queen Street and several other streets leading into it were given by the Borough Engineer, Mr C. R. Mabson, in an address 'given at today’s luncheon of the Masterton Rotary Club. Mr Mabson displayed plans of the proposal and also diagrams showing, the increase of Masterton’s population and the trend of building in the borough. Stating that the hundredth birthday of the founding of the Masterton settlement would be celebrated in eleven years time, Mr Mabson drew attention to the great speeding up in the scientific and industrial progress of the world. In view of that and of the development of air transport, and if New Zealand were to regard itself as an equal partner in the Commonwealth of the United Nations, their ideas for the immediate future would have to be remodelled. The immediate need of this country was population, which meant that they must of necessity open their doors wide to their kith and kin from the Homeland and to all their Nordic brothers and sisters of other parts of the world as well. If the charters now being signed meant anything and were eventually given effect to, this country would have a population of 10,000,000 in the near future. If the people of the Wairarapa were alive to the task ahead of them they would take a long view of things and set about to make the wonderful Wairarapa district and.all its towns attractive to the newcomers, so that they would obtain their share of new settlers. That necessarily meant planning, both urban and rural, for both town and country were interdependent factors in any such scheme. MASTERTON’S SCHEME. “I know town planning has been the bogey of the past and has even scared the legislators who passed an Act which made it compulsory for every local body to prepare a plan within five years into removing the compulsory clause,” said Mr Mabson. “However, I feel sure that the time is not far distant when the original Act and all that it implied will be restored, and that the State in its wisdom will finance the whole of the planning schemes in this country. “Masterton’s scheme' involves street widening, provision of additional open spaces, improvement of northern and southern approaches to the business area, diversion of heavy traffic from Queen Street, new parking areas and the classification of the whole borough into special and general, residential, commercial and industrial areas. The particular problem which I am dealing with today is that of Queen Street widening, also Park, Bannister and Perry streets widening. I am not making any special reference to the proposed square, as the Mayor has this proposal in hand and will deal with it at a special council meeting to be held next week; nor do I wish any-, thing I have to say here to react un-' favourably to that .project, or vice versa, for while' they both form part of the major scheme the merits of each must be considered separately meanwhile. ADVANTAGES CLAIMED. “The proposal to widen Queen Street (on both sides) by 10 feet might seem unnecessary to some people but the advantages that will accrue by increasing the width of paths (already badly congested, particularly on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays) to 15 feet, I am sure are obvious to every one of our citizens, while the addition of another 10 feet to the roadway which would enable angle parking on both sides if desired, together with a considerably reduced camber, must' make for better traffic control. The earthquake has provided a golden opportunity for us to seriously consider this proposal and such a chance may never occur again to put it to the test. “I have recommended, the setting back of the whole of the Queen Street properties from Renall Street to the first Waipoua bridge. This total length of frontages involved, in Queen Street alone, is 3884 feet; and of this total brick buildings comprise approximately 58.5 per cent, wooden buildings 18.4 per cent, and concrete buildings a further 23.1 per cent. From the foregoing figures it will be seen that very little difficulty will be experienced in setting back 76 per cent of the buildings, mainly because the whole of the brick structures have in any case to be brought up to earthquake standard after the war, the greater portion of them being structurally unsound at'the present time. ONLY OBSTACLES. “The only real obstacle in the way of completing the scheme within the next decade are the banks and theatres, and all these buildings are of ferroconcrete construction. However, we should not be deterred by this fact when we are planning for the future good of the community as a whole. And, speaking of the banks, I am of opinion that this class of building should be set back and have shops in front with just a wide vestibule leading to their banking chambers, for their exclusive frontages, especially when a number are together, depreciate the shopping area to a very detrimental extent. This equally applies to all other buildings of mercantile character (insurance companies, stock and station agencies, etc.) in this and other progressive towns. “The proposed widening of Bannister Street to one chain—by setting back the southern building alignments 16 feet 6 inches—will affect three business premises (frontages 300 feet), and four residential properties (frontages 252 feet), a total of 552 feet' frontage in all. The Perry Street widening on the south side (16ft 6in) would affect six business premises as follows:— Brick 230 feet, wood 16 feet, and concrete 76 feet; a total frontage (all types) of 322 feet. The object in widening Bannister and Perry streets is to remove these bottle necks which lead right into the heart of the business area. In addition to the above, it is proposed to widen Park Street to 83 feet and provide an island (12ft wide) down the centre which would be laid out in lawns and shrubs. This would make a much more imposing and attractive approach to our beautiful Park. To do this the whole of the old wood and iron building at present occupied by Messrs Graham & Co’s drapery department and the narrow strip of residential property on i the same side between Cricket and

Dixon streets) would have to be dealt with, affecting 296 feet of frontages in all—wooden business premises 148 feet and residential 148 feet. REHABILITATION WORK. “As to what the cost of giving effect to the whole of these proposals would be or as to how the scheme should be financed, it is not possible to say at the present moment, but I know of no more suitable rehabilitation work than this, for 90 per cent at least of the expenditure involved would be for building reconstruction, and the building trade is recognised as the best means of wealth distribution. As a rehabilitation job, we would be quite justified in asking the Government for substantial assistance and feel confident that same would be forthcoming for the object claimed. I trust that you will consider these proposals carefully and with an unbiased mind; for, on your decision, depends the .future of the finest town of its size in (New Zealand.”