TOWN PLANNING.

Progress, Volume XIV, Issue 1, 1 September 1918, Page 306

TOWN PLANNING.

Mr. S. Hurst Seager, F.R.1.8.A., gave a talk to the Town Planning Association, Wellington, and also a public lecture on Town Planning, early this month on his return from the Conference of Town Planners held recently in Brisbane, at which he represented this country. . The Conference attracted 542 delegates, and was the means of bringing forward some excellent papers on Town Planning, housing, etc. There was a most valuable exhibition of great educational value, no less than 40,000 superficial feet of wall space being covered with illustrations on all branches of the subject. “The exhibition— all other exhibitions,” says Mr. Seager, “was not ready for the opening day, but a visit shows the very great value of it as an educational medium. It will, I think, make a far stronger appeal than the papers read. Some of the illustrations were prepared with great care and skill, and the whole made a most attractive show. If the whole time at the disposal of the delegates were spent in examining carefully this wealth of material, they would, I think, get a much better .knowledge of what town planning means than they could get..,in any other way. It is for this reason that the , greatest value accrues from having the conference in the , different States. I most sincerely hope that in future years New Zealand will help to contribute to the success of the exhibition more fully than to this one, in order that she may earn the right to ask that she be included in the cycle of conferences. . In South Australia great advances in practical town planning.have followed the holding of the conference. at Adelaide.

. Brisbane— - judging, from the talks I have had with committees, and business menwill, I think, take the lessons to heart with equal readiness. There is a very.great need for improvement. Like Sydney and Auckland, Brisbane has not sold, but actually thrown away, its birthright. It had glorious opportunities. A beautiful broad winding river surrounding gently undulating slopes forming such a site for a city as town planners would rejoice in. Owing to the many curves in the river there must be a frontage of about 17 or 18 miles round the city, yet of all this there is only about 2J to 3 miles of river road. The streets do not follow the contour of the modulations, but run. over hill and valley in blocks of perfectly straight lines at right angles to each other. The central portion of the city has Jits blocks of rectangular streets named George, Albert, and Edward for those which run parallel in '..one direction, and Alice, Margaret, Mary, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Queen, and Ann for those which parallel in the other. This appeared to me a

The Brisbane Conference

convenient arrangement, but to an “innocent abroad” who overheard us discussing town planning it appeared to leave nothing further to be desired. “Brisbane is a beautifully planned city. All its lady streets run one way, and its gentlemen streets the other.” What more was there to be said? A beginning is being made in replanning parts of the city, and some very fine buildings have been erected. The Government buildings ranged round a large open space, are very fine. The Anglican Cathedral reaches the high-water mark 'of ecclesiastical art. It is from designs by Pearson, the eminent Gothic architect, who' designed Truro Cathedral. The nave, towers, and spires have yet to be built, but the eastern portion now completed gives promise of a magnificent, whole. It will undoubtedly be the finest Anglican Cathedral in Australasia, and a worthy rival to the Roman Catholic Cathedral at Sydney. .Brisbane, therefore, has very fine works to form the nucleus of city .beautification. But the most urgent necessity is the better housing of industrial workers, and it is to tITS ;solution of this most important problem that Brisbane., will be 7 led in the conference. \ . , The reception of the delegates to the .. Town Planning Conference.by the Mayor was an, extremely interesting function. .-Brisbane is even' worse off than ourselves J or a hall in which civic functions can be held with proper civic dignity. It was held in a dilapidated old structure approached : along a right-of-way giving access to a billiard saloon and other placesa very poor setting indeed for the Mayor, in all, rich panoply of including a cocked hat. 'The Mayor (Alderman John McMaster) is a most interesting personality. In architectural language we should speak of him as being about 2-i diameters highhis short body carries a large head covered with a mass of gney hair and a Kruger-like beard. He is Brisbane’s “grand old man,” and it added much to the interest of the proceedings that he was receiving us on his 89th birthday. Delegates were made to feel at once at home by being asked to sit round small tables loaded with light refreshments. The State delegates, including New Zealand’s representative, were invited to the platform. There was no formality; fun, banter and humour were the notes struck by the Mayor, and they became the dominant notes of all the subsequent speeches.

At last year's conference, a reference to a "shunless ' Adelaide" threw clown the gauntlet, which was quickly taken up by the other inter-State delegates, who each in turn stoutly "maintained that

the city he represented was without doubt the most beautiful in Australia. This year the Mayor’s reference to his age and vigour being attributable to the excellence of the Queensland climate, very naturally drew forth the retort that if he could live and retain his vigour till that age in a climate usually considered not tit for white people, he could live to 189 years in such a salubrious climate as Adelaide. -

Opening of Exhibition

The exhibition was declared open in the afternoon of the same day. The opening ceremony was performed at the exhibition building, about three miles out from the central part of Brisbane.

The opening speech was made by the Hon. T. J. Ryan, Queensland's Premier, who, in asking his Excellency the Governor of Queensland to declare the exhibition open, expressed his very warm sympathy with the town planning movement. His Excellency, Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams, made an excellent speech, showing that he had for a long time, in different countries where he had held office, taken a very keen interest in town planning movements, and he showed that he bad followed very closely the work of modern town planners.

The Hon. J. D. Fitzgerald, Minister for Local Government and Public Health, New South Wales, and president of the conference, in thanking his Excellency for declaring the exhibition opened, made an excellent speech, dwelling upon the comparisons to be drawn .between the different Australian cities, and showing that although in many parts there had been some pre-planning (as in Adelaide and Melbourne), a certain amount of civic dignity being obtained, there was very much to be done in both places, and they suffered as did Sydney, from the splitting up of the city into various numbers of municipalities. Instances he gave of Sydney were highly instructive. He said:— She has a million people in sight; yet to-day her civic government, instead of being concentrated in an effective central body, is dissipated among 53 necessarily helpless councils her civic forces, instead of being under one command are divided among 53 commands; instead of possessing a civic machinery suited to the needs of one of the great cities of the world, she is divided up into 53 village governments— a position unique among cities. Her plan, though much benefited by the treatment of a progressive City Council, having jurisdiction over the 53 fragments into which she is chopped up, is out of date. Her streets, though many of them have been widened, are too narrow to-day. Her commerce is congested, and millions are wasted thereby. Her suburban roads are a by-word. She has no main arterial roads of exit and access worthy of her prestige or population. Her principal commercial artery, 15 miles long, is cut up among 13 civic bodies. That is a measure of her civic disadvantage. She is spreading outwards by leaps and bounds; yet there is no authority to guide and regulate this growth, to co-ordinate the varied uses of a city, to prepare for the future, to correct the mistakes of the past, on the virgin zones coming

into the vortex of the city; in short, there is no planning in advance over the whole area. In many respects Sydney is a beautiful city; in others she is a warning to us. Good civic government shall be hers in time and good civic government is a device of the; town planner. He put this forward as a very strong argument indeed for local government having charge of the whole of the city as a prelude to the efficient carrying out of any town planning schemes. This lesson is one which we should all take seriously to heart, for they are the words of a gentleman who has travelled very widely, has for a long time taken a great interest in town planning movements, and he is the governing mind of Daceyville, a model suburb which is being formed in Sydney. The conference was fortunate indeed to have Mr. Fitzgerald as its president, and rejoiced very greatly when they heard, during the meeting, that Mr. Fitzgerald had been appointed first Minister for Town Planning in Australia. There arc Ministers in other States who, as did Mr. Fitzgerald, hold other portfolios, and to them was given supervision over local government and town planning measures; but the great importance of the subject is now recognised by the New South Wales Government following the lead of Adelaide, and in appointing Mr. Fitzgerald a Minister, we can look forward with hope in the immediate future, that there will be appointed a town planning expert and an advisory commission of gentlemen of expert knowledge to advise the Minister in reference to the town planning legislation necessary to carry out town planning schemes.

Governor-General's Speech

On the Wednesday morning, the business of the conference began, and the conference was extremely fortunate in having present the Governor-General, the Right Hon. Sir K. C. Munro-Ferguson, to make the opening speech. The Governor-General was at one time a Provost in Scotland, and has therefore had a great deal of experience in civic management. His speech was a telling one, full of deep truths and wisdom, conveyed in a light and humorous way. All the delegates were delighted, and felt it was worth coming a very long distance indeed to hear such a magnificent address. A few quotations will show the trend of the speech and the manner in which the ideas were conveyed :

''They did well to use the period of stagnation in preparing for the great outburst of architectural activity which they hoped might follow on the resumption of normal conditions, by formulating schemes and reorganising administration so as to meet public and private needs with the greatest success, least expense, and a minimum of misdirected effort. To do that they must secure thorough devolution, free play for local initiative, eliminate overlapping, encourage co-operation between adjacent local authorities, and in some cases their consolidation.

"In this land of magnificent distances, it was, less easy for Mayors, experts, and architects to keep in touch. That conference meeting annually in chief centres was one way, '"so that at any rate the funda-

mental principles of town planning and the most up-to-date ideas as to the best type of housing, communications, power, sanitation, embellishment, the best type of? local authority, would gradually reach those responsible for good government, and beauty, convenience and healthiness of our towns."

Australia, he contended, needed to build, more than she had done, buildings suitable for her climate. "The sun which coyly peeped at discreet intervals upon his native home, glared unabashed on those of Australia. And he suggested that in a hot climate like Australia, they should look to the shores of the Mediterranean, to Spain, Italy, Algiers, and France as providing a most suitable type; also to study the architecture in the Southern United States and the Spanish States of America.

When referring to soldiers' settlements, he said that closer settlement was always of absorbing interest, since upon this solution, in all countries, depended ultimately the stability, independence, and thrift of a nation. They had in that matter to apply the maxim that what was counted common prudence in private affairs, could scarce be great folly when applied to those of a great nation, and endeavour in laying out the settlements to ensure ultimate commercial success by balancing outlay with possible profits. At the close of the war, land settlement might well be on a scale proportionate to the number of millions of men who would be disbanded, and nothing could be more conducive to the security of the United Kingdom than successful closer settlement, nor was it less desirable in Australia."

Speaking of the selection of soldiers for agricultural pursuits, he said; “All he did know as a landsman was that it was not always kindness or a success to make a farmer of an untrained townsman. A heavy load of debt was' the farmer’s worst curse. Agricultural organisation and co-operation was in these days absolutely essential to the success of small holdings, and should proceed pari passu with the development of such schemes, and the town planning was every bit as necessary for the village community as for a capital city. The essence of town planning was imagination, the power to picture the village township, city, and the ability to foresee future needs, possible changes, such vital matters as communications, industry, and elbow-room for the community. He humorously referred to what an American had said of his own country: “That their hinder sight was better than their foresight by a darned sight.” “The Town Planning Association stood for foresight, and at the stage of development they; had reached in Australia, its propaganda was opportune.” Other Speeches Mr. P. Mahon Glynn, Federal Minister for Home and Territories, also made a very fine speech, in the course of which he said the politician was not a town planner but a designer, and, as far as contour was concerned; his best way out of difficulties was by strategical rounding of corners. : The Hon. J. Huxham, Home Secretary of Queensland, thanked his Excellency for his address, and

considered we had listened to two of the most able addresses he had had the pleasure of hearing, and acknowledged he was under a deep debt of gratitude to his Excellency, and also to Mr. Glynn for taking the stand they had done, and giving them something that should be an inspiration. He sincerely hoped that the advice which the Governor-General and Mr. Glynn had given them, would be carried out, not in the far future, but that it would be taken immediately in hand as the result of the Conference, and he hoped that many of the suggestions made by the Governor-General would be put into effect before his Excellency took his departure from Australia. The Hon. J. Storey, New South Wales, also spoke, and the humour of his speech was indicated by the fact that he considered that the Governor-General’s address ought to be printed and made the text for aldermen, mayors, politicians, statesmen, and patriots. He agreed with Mr. Glynn that in future the slacker would be a despised man. Garden City for Queensland Dr. T. A. Price, Mayor of Toowoomba, an ardent enthusiast and worker for town planning principles, read the first paper, entitled, “Proposed Industrial Garden City at Darra, Queensland.” Associated with him in the preparation of the scheme, was, among others, Mr. W. M. Nelson, who, it will be remembered, was at one time engineer for the Tramway Board in Christchurch. The scheme shown was extremely fine, embodying all the principles of town planning, and I had the pleasure of being able to support, very fully, all that Dr. Price had suggested, and Dr. Price and his fellow-workers can be heartily complimented upon the vast amount of honorary work which the preparation of the scheme entailed. The Conference recognised very fully indeed the value of Dr. Price’s contribution, and unanimously passed the following resolution;—“That this Conference urges upon the Government of ; Queensland the desirability of resuming the necessary land at Darra, and to create a Commission in order to carry out the town planning scheme at Darra, as outlined by Alderman Dr. Price, of Toowoomba.” We all felt that if this scheme only materialised, it would be a grand object lesson for the rest of Australia and New Zealand. Soldier Settlements Four papers were contributed upon soldiers’ settlements, but this very important question did not, perhaps, have sufficient time allotted to it. Senator Milieu, of New South Wales, described what had been done in the examination of returned soldiers, and the grading of them according to their ! physical disabilities. He contended that those whose industrial efficiency was always likely to be subnormal should be placed apart; that national workshops, should be provided for them, in which they would be engaged in such light employment as, with their disabilities, they could undertake; but this segregation of the soldiers, and especially the segregation of maimed soldiers, did not, as I will show, meet with the approval of the Conference.

The Hon. J. M. Hunter, of Queensland, described Avhat had been done for the soldiers by his Government. It was a description of the land that had been taken up, and the number of soldiers that had been placed upon the land. There was no attempt to form village settlements, but separate cottages had been erected, and the men were given financial assistance for tools and equipment, and for housing. The system is that practically proposed by our own Govenihicnt. It is one with Avhich lam not, nor Avas the Conference,.in sympathy. The details of the scheme,Avhich do not provide for the housing of the soldier iii a garden city, need not, I think, be considered in detail. The paper on Soldier Settlements, by the Hon. Frank Clarke, Victoria, also showed that the Victorian Government had as their prime scheme, the lending of money to soldiers up to £SOO, and he said that as the cheapest houses of to-day cost at least £3OO, very little of the £SOO is left for other improvements and for the purchase of stock. In order to mitigate this situation, the Board has struck upon a plan of loading on to the cost of land some of the cost of the house, so that a man may build a £3OO house upon his block, and yet have deducted from his £SOO only the sum of £IOO, the rest being added to the land value for Avhich he has 36 years to pay, but it can be seen that whatever detailed arrangements are made the. fact remains that the soldier is burdened Avith a debt on Avhich he must pay the interest and sinking fund. Mr. Clarke acknowledged that in California as many as 50 per cent, of the original holders of blocks had been failures, and he, therefore, claimed that as the Victorian failures had only so far been 20 per cent., the settlement may be regarded as successful. His Ministry also proposed to found model villages, but although he sought the advice of tOAvn planning experts he did not feel justified in taking up the scheme, because the land had already been surveyed, and “it Avould be extremely expensive to throAv aside the present Avork and commence all over again.” This, of course, Avas felt by the Conference to be a very mistaken policy, that for the sake of a feAV hundred pounds in surveyors fees, the success of the scheme should be jeopardised for all time.

Another paper Avas read by the Hon. H. N. Barwell, Attorney-General, Minister of Industry, and Minister Controlling Town Planning,- South Australia, showing that they. were working in South Australia on true town planning lines for the settlement of returned soldiers. They were not providing separate settlements, but were forming garden cities, in which the returned soldiers could be absorbed. This paper was of especial interest to me, as it bore out my contentions, and supported the scheme which I prepared, and which was published some time ago. Mr. Charles C. Reade, the Government Town

Planner of Adelaide, showed an illustration of Mr. Barwell's paper, the very fine garden city which he had designed, [ and which-is to be carried out at Mitcham, a;. few miles from Adelaide. It was a splendid plan, and South Australia is very fortunate indeed in possessing a man of Mr. Reade 's attain-

merits as its professional Town Planner, in charge of the Government Town Planning Department/: :

To test the feeling of the Conference in respect to these papers expressing such different views, I —"That this Conference is of opinion that the best interests of returned soldiers will be served by founding and completing self-contained garden villages for all classes of the community, including returned soldiers, situated on good land on a railway line, where there is a good water, supply, drainage, and electric power. That such villages shall be formed with all the attractions found in large cities in order that workers in all branches of industry may be induced to settle therein, and thus enjoy the amenities of city life while engaged in pastoral, agricultural, or other pursuits."

I am glad to be able to record that this resolution was carried unanimously. 1 can, therefore, return to New Zealand supported in my views by the members of this very representative Conference, and it is sincerely to he hoped that our Government will be influenced by the opinions of the experts gathered here, and will at once carry out a garden city scheme. Eminent Doctor’s Views The principles of this resolution were very warmly supported by an eminent surgeon, Dr. Gordon Craig, of Sydney. Dr. Craig Avas in charge of Sydney’s hospital ship, and had been led to give very careful consideration to the returned soldier problem, and in his speech on the question, he said that if they segregated all soldiers in one settlement, they would start talking over their grievances, and the Avhole thing would be magnified to a degree that would break the AA f }iole spirit of the settlement. These garden cities and rural settlements Averc commercial successes, quite apart from the repatriation question. He moved this motion: “That this Conference is strongly of the opinion that the segregation of returned soldiers is not as desirable as their incorporation among the ordinary members of the community in rural or. industrial settlements.”

Dr. Craig was very warmly supported by Dr. Price, and the motion was carried unanimously.