Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, JULY 20, 1943. NEEDED BUT NEGLECTED.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 July 1943, Page 2

Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, JULY 20, 1943. NEEDED BUT NEGLECTED.

PLANNING which would point the way to a wise direction and regulation of the improvement and development of the town as time goes on is needed greatly in Masterton, as it is in any urban area which aspires to play an effective and fully worthy part in the developing life of the Dominion. Thus far, however, all attempts to institute planning in Masterton — attempts, that is to say, to substitute method and order for more or less haphazard growth—have been killed not so much by opposition as by almost unrelieved and chilling indifference. Not long ago it seemed likely that in the exceptional circumstances brought about by the extensive damage to business and other buildings in the earthquake of last year it might be possible to arrive at some broad agreement in regard to the lines Io be followed in the reconstruction and development of the inner area of the town. Several proposals, including one advanced by the Mayor (Mr Jordan), who is a well-informed and ardent advocate of regional and town planning 7 ; have been rejected by the Borough Council and nothing tangible seems likely to be put in their place. So far as the bulk of the population and a majority of the members of the Borough Council are concerned, the lines and life of the town, as they have developed from bullock wagon and horse and buggy days are being left to meander on. This state of affairs has its setting in what is if possible an even more profound indifference, in the rural areas surrounding Masterton, to the whole question of regional planning, of which the planning of Masterton and other towns should be a detail. Something keener than the eye of an eagle would be needed to discern any appreciable interest in the subject of regional planning in the Wairarapa—not that this district is in that respect peculiar in comparison with most parts of the Dominion. The essential idea underlying regional and town planning is that of ensuring an orderly and economical development and t use of resources, of ensuring too that public money shall be spent in such a way as to produce, from the broadest standpoint of community welfare, the best and most advantageous results in facilitating and encouraging industrial and commercial enterprise, in establishing satisfactory residential conditions and in other ways. Only by planning, too, is it possible for any area to adjust and adapt itself to the rapidly Changing conditions which are being brought about by the evolution of modern forms of transport, the spread of new ideas in regard to the decentralisation of industry and other progressive tendencies. Commandingly as these facts stand out to all who take the trouble to look at them, it remains true that in Masterton and its surrounding district the great bulk of the population and a large proportion of the members of local bodies show no interest whatever in regional and town planning. In these circumstances not a little courage is being shown by the Masterton Beautifying Society in its decision to call a public meeting shortly—a meeting to which delegates from various public bodies, societies, etc., will be invited and at which the Government Town Planning Adviser, Mr J. W. Mawson, will be invited to give an address —to consider the establishment of a central, civic space, street widening and other details of a comprehensive planning scheme. There can be no doubt about the advisability of action broadly on the lines proposed and that action will be taken as soon as a reasonable proportion of the people of Masterton can be induced to take an active and enterprising interest in their own community affairs.