TOWN PLANNING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 February 1943, Page 3

TOWN PLANNING

OPEN SPACE After thanking the Minister of Internal Affairs for making Mr Mawson’s services available to the borough, Mr Jordan extended ’ a welcome to Mr Mawson on behalf of the community. Mr Jordan said the first portion of his project concerned the acquisition of an open space opposite the Post Office in Queen Street. Traffic in Queen Street was very considerable. A traffic tally taken on a day in November, 1937, between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. showed that at the north end of Queen Street traffic .goings and comings totalled 2096 and at the south end 1444. It was interesting to compare those figures with a tally taken on a day in December, 1930, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., which totalled 1260 and 1009 respectively. Mr Jordan pointed out that Masterton had the largest registration of motor vehicles for its size of any town in New Zealand. He quoted figures in support of that statement. Traffic congestion in Queen Street was very great. How was it to be relieved? If the borough took this square as an open space it could provide a new access into Dixon Street from the northern and southern approaches and similarly with Chapel Street on the other side of Queen Street. Thus, they could , divert through traffic from the main street. In conjunction with that, they had the beginnings of service ways behind some of the chief business houses in the main street that could be extended to serve the business areas on both sides of Queen Street, so that they could be used by heavy vehicles bringing materials to the shopping areas. RELIEF TO TRAFFIC Mr Jordan said the area of the proposed square, apart from the streets adjoining, was 2j acres. Parking in the streets would be sufficient for a considerable number of cars and there would be two entrances, to every one of the four sides of the square, besides two service ways running north and south running into the square. He considered that that would provide very great relief for traffic in Queen Street. As to the cost, Mr Jordan said the Government valuation as made at March 31, 1941, for the properties in the proposed square was: Unimproved, £38,965; improvements, £42,080. There was scarcely a sound building on the whole block, said Mr Jordan, so the value of improvements, £42,080, would, suffer a considerable reduction. In a number of cases there had been settlements in regard to insurance claims and in some cases the buildings were nearly a liability on the ground. The rates levied last year on the properties in the square totalled £1,632, all of which would disappear if the square were taken. The loss of those rates would cost about |d in the £1 on the rating. If the square were taken they would have available the three sides opposite the square for commercial sites. The rating at present levied on the three sides opposite the square totalled £640 and it was obvious that in a very short time, if the square were taken and commercial buildings erected on the sides mentioned, there would be an appreciable increase in the value of the sections round the square, with a consequent increase in rates. The cost involved in the scheme would have to be paid by loan over the next 25 or 30 years. STREET WIDENING Stating that the time was opportune as never before, Mr Jordan said his scheme also proposed the widening of Park Street to give an improved entrance to the Park, the widening of Bannister Street and the closing of William Street. The latter-street was of > little use and he was convinced that it could be closed without harm to the town. In reply to a question asked by Councillor C. E. Grey, Mr Jordan said ' the ratepayers would have a vote on any proposal to take the land for the square, as it would have to be taken under the Public Works Act. Councillor H. E. Gardner said the square at Palmerston North had attracted all the successful businesses to one side of it and he thought a similar state of affairs would develop here. He wanted to get at the cost of the scheme but at present he did not know how much it would cost. WATER SUPPLY “I do not think it is wise to eat into the heart of the business area to provide an open area,” said Councillor G. D. Wilson. Provision could be made for an open area, he said, by using less valuable land from a business point of view. He said he considered the most essential thing in Masterton was an adequate water supply. A second need was adequate swimming baths and a third proposal that required consideration was the taking over of Memorial Park. Furthermore, Councillor Wilson said he considered the burden the ratepayers had to bear at present were heavy enough. Councillors wanted to have something more definite about the cost of the scheme to the ratepayers. Councillor R. Russell said he agreed with the Mayor up to a point—the widening and development of some of the back streets with a view to relieving traffic in Queen Street. He considered that other streets not up to full width should also be widened and suggested that a very good open space could be established at low cost by acquiring an area in Queen, Renall and Chapel streets, known as Pragnell’s block. Councillor G. W. Morice agreed that

CIVIC SQUARE & STREET WIDENING IN MASTERTON Borough Council Considers Proposals MR J. W. MAWSON ATTENDS FURTHER SPECIAL MEETING TO BE HELD Proposals for the establishment of a civic square in. Masterton and for the provision of service lanes behind Queen Street and the widening of Queen Street and other feeder streets were considered by the Masterton Borough Council at a special meeting held last night. The Mayor, Mr T. Jordan, presided. In attendance was Mr J. AV. Mawsbn, town planning adviser to the Government. No decision was made by the council, which agreed to hold another meeting next Tuesday night to further consider the proposals.

a long view should be taken of the proposal and that something worth while should be done. Mr Jordan’s idea was a very good idea but whether it was a better plan than the widening of Queen Street he was not prepared to say. He did not think the council could undertake both. Traffic in Queen Street was very congested at the present time and they were only at the beginning of things. Observing that inquiries he had made elsewhere had indicated that one side of a square brought higher rents than the other side, Councillor Grey said he was afraid the same would happen here. He agreed that heavy traffic should be diverted from Queen Street and that the borough should look to a better water supply. QUEEN STREET WIDENING Councillor W. Kemp said he strongly favoured the proposal to widen Queen Street. The taking of 10 feet on either side of the street would not mean anything like the loss in rateable value as the proposed square would. The property in that block would be producing in a few years’ time £4,000 in rates. There was no real need for an open space, as they had at present, within one minute of Queen Street, a park of 35 acres that could never be built on. Councillors W. White and W. H. Judd both held that the square proposal was worth considering. Councillor A. D. Low said he preferred the scheme to widen Queen Street. “On the expression of opinion the square is out,” observed Mr Jordan. The Mayor pointed out that his scheme really involved the widening of Queen Street by taking the extra width from the back of the sections instead of the sront of them, for the service lanes and by the diversion of through traffic to Dixon and Chapel streets while the square would provide an essential centre in the town and would relieve the congestion of the commercial area in Queen Street. I ENGINEER’S SCHEME Explaining his proposal for the widening of Queen Street, the borough engineer, Mr C. R. Mabson, said that the scheme would also involve the provision of new approaches at either end of Dixon and Chapel streets, the prevision of service lanes and the widening of connecting roads running into Queen Street. If the council could not see its way to meet the financial requirements of the scheme at present, he suggested that it could agree in principle to setting back the building line in Queen Street and in the meantime, for the next ten or 20 years, pro-perty-owners could be allowed to build temporary fronts on the old line. The cost of the scheme he estimated at £53,400, of which £27,193 was payment for the land to be taken. The Mayor and several councillors expressed the view that the' estimate for compensation for land was far too low. Mr Jordan said the question of the cost involved in widening Queen Street was far greater than the cost of . the other proposal, which would relieve traffic congestion in Queen Street'at a far more reasonable cost, taking the scheme as a whole. MR MAWSON’S VIEWS i Mr Mawson said in his opinion the council should take time to carefully consider the proposals. He pointed out, in giving councillors an idea of some of the problems involved, that a time some times arrived in business when it was absolutely essential to scrap present equipment and lay-out in the business man’s own Interests and to keep pace with modern requirements. The same thing happened with municipal affairs. One of the greatest of evils was congestion. Traffic congestion, he pointed out, was purely, an economic condition, a symptom of disease. They wanted to distinguish between traffic and parking —it was the most serious mistake they could make to consider traffic and parking in the same terms. A street like Queen Street, with 46 feet between the kerbs, had an enormous traffic capacity. A single line of street, 10 feet wide, was capable of passing 1200 vehicles in an hour. The moment the slightest obstacle was interposed the capacity of the street was reduced to a mere fraction of its possible. It was a mistake to think that traffic could be dealt with merely by widening a street. It was now recognised that it was one of the worst things to mix through traffic and shopping. Looking at the map of Masterton, Mr Mawson said the existence of three parallel streets of equal traffic value within one block of one another was almost unique in New Zealand and he thought the council, if it exercised powers it now had, had the means of increasing three-fold the capacity of fast traffic through the borough and that would be possible, without widening any one of those streets. Through traffic, he pointed * out, was no good to retail business. It was an absolute fallacy to believe that it was otherwise. The view he expressed was now axiomatic among all traffic authorities. VALUE OF SERVICE LANES Referring to service, lanes, Mr Mawson said that regardless of other considerations, nothing could be done that would be of more benefit to the town | and to the business people than the I provision of these lanes. They were a

proved benefit and so much so that he believed it should be possible to acquire a great many of them without demands for compensation for the land taken for that purpose. Service lanes not only relieved congestion in the main street but they were also used for the laying of gas, water and sewer mains and electric powerlines, so that it was not necessary to dig up the main street. Mr Mawson went on to state that property values could not be destroyed. If land were taken for a public purpose, whether for street widening or a town square, the effect was to transfer that value to somewhere else. It was entirely fictitious to say that by taking the land for such a purpose that the property values were destroyed. It might cause a temporary derangement in the rateable values but it was not long before the values were rectified and probably increased. After explaining the position in regard to the establishment of building lines and the payment of compensation, Mr Mawson said that it was far better to require all claims for compensation to be lodged within 12 months of the adoption of such a scheme, as in the long run it was infinitely cheaper. He said the council should ascertain what attitude the business people would take towards the proposals generally, as he was a great believer in negotiation. As to the town square, he said this was a question of civic pride and was an idea that should be encouraged. Such a scheme might work out very well as a retail shopping centre, though a good deal would depend on the way in which the project was laid out and the regulations were handled for the control and character of the buildings round the square. If architectural amenities were attached to its development he considered its success would be a foregone conclusion. On the motion of Councillor Gardiner the council agreed to hold another special meeting next Tuesday to further consider various aspects of the scheme and any alternative proposals.