Plans—And More

Plans!

Port Moresby's Building Convulsions

From A Special Correspondent PORT MORESBY’S town plan seems to be suffering from departmental hiccoughs. No sooner has one spasm produced a neat set of drawings, than another official convulsion throws up a new set.

A few weeks ago, town planning ex perts arrived post-haste from the Works and Housing Department, at Melbourne, with drawings which purported to turn Moresby into an architect’s dream. But when the Town Advisory Council sub jected the proposals to the sobering draught of common sense, it was found that, although the picture was very pretty on paper, it was not at all practicable.

Further, the design dealt only with the business centre of the town. There was not a single scratch of a draughtsman’s pen to suggest a solution for the vital problem of new residential areas. And this at a time when the town was in the same fix as a youth of twenty rigged out in a suit for a kindergarten child.

The town planner’s ingenious effort was produced, apparently, at peremptory Min isterial orders to put up a scheme for an ultimate population of 20,000 people. The resultant drawings envisaged multi storied buildings, a square shopping court, and every separate section of the business area neatly marshalled in labelled blocks.

There was to be one for commerce, another for Administration, a big chunk for community buildings. In short, there was to be structural musical chairs which would somehow leave everything in apple pie order when the band stopped playing.

Now, however, the cat is well and truly out of the bag; for it appears that when Mr. Spender looked into the gypsy’s crystal ball, and saw an ultimate population of 20,000 people, the planners solved the difficulty by hastily popping a few more storeys on to mythical build ings, and straightway flew to Moresby to exhibit this new work of art.

They were extremely vague about the fate of private property in the path of this new plan, and chatted happily about the new American trend towards shopping courts and parking areas.

Although the public was solemnly asked to inspect the plans and give the experts the benefit of community comment, and it was duly exhibited as the “proposed final plan,’ this too has followed its pre decessors into the discard.

AT the October meeting of the Town Advisory Council, Mr. W. L. Mac- Gowan, deputy director of the Works and Housing Department, said that, in effect, it was likely that the next “final plan” would leave the business centre of the town much as it is. Further its development would be left to private enterprise rather than the town plan ners. Also, the plan would be designed for an ultimate population of between 7,000 and 10,000, instead of 20,000.

Another welcome bit of news from Mr.

MacGowan was that a zoning system had been adopted in regard to new residen tial areas. Each zone would have its own small shops, a school, churches, com munity buildings and recreation ground.

In actual fact, the zoning system is already in effect forced into existence by the acute need for more residential areas. The Baroka Extension project is the first new zone, and the pegs have been driven and foundations started for the prefabricated aluminium houses ex

pected from Britain early in the New Year.

Of course, what really happened was that the terrific pressure for more residential sites finally broke the artificial dam of departmental muddling and delay, and spilled out over the nearest available land.

AN ironic example of what happens while town planners play around with pretty drawings is the fact that a private builder has erected a none-too-beautiful block of small shops

opposite the public library' and RSL building.

A few months ago, there was a lot of grave discussion in the Town Ad visory Council as to whether shops would be permitted along this beautiful stretch of road. It was finally agreed after every body had put in their sixpence-worth of argument, that perhaps a few shops could be erected, but these must harmon ise with the surroundings and no butter box buildings should be permitted, Then, out of the blue, a private builder, allegedly backed by the verbal consent

of an Administration officer then on leave in Australia, quietly put tup a strictly utilitarian building right bang on the road frontage. Those who remem bered the Council’s grave recommenda tions on the future of Ela Beach waited for the thunderbolt of Administration stop-work orders. But, day by day, the building progressed undeterred by any official action; and now it is complete, even to a coat of paint, and Ela Beach appears to have started on the down grade to ribbon building and general deterioration of scenic value.

Long-suffering would-be home builders are now wondering if their luck would hold equally well if they wangled a verbal consent and did a bit of much overdue building.

But, out of all the plans produced for Port Moresby, it seems a bitter joke that there was not one effective provision—or at least not one put into effect —for preserving the town’s most attractive area from commercial exploitation.

Yet, who knows? The next plan might do something. But it is doubtful if it will have enough teeth in it to cause the removal of this example of Admin istration buck-passing.

Anyway, here’s to the next town plan.

Like a ticket in “Tatts,” this one might be “it.”