Rabaul’S Town-Planners Clash

With Administrator

P. Moresby, Nov. 2.

THERE has been a lively inter change of arguments and com pliments between the Acting Admin istrator (Mr. D. M. Cleland) and rep resentatives of Rabaul interests, con cerning the planning of the new town of Rabaul.

Wartime operations obliterated old Rabaul. Postwar Administrations said that the new town should be built much further away from the vol canoes. While Canberra, for six years, dithered with the question of where to build the Islands’ capital, Rabaul private interests did a lot of building, in a jumbled pattern and iccording to no plan.

After six years, Canberra decided hat Rabaul should be rebuilt on the )ld site. The Rabaul District Com nissioner, the Town Advisory Coun cil, the Rabaul Chamber of Com nerce and private interests generally hen were encouraged to assist Port Moresby in making a plan of re milding which would take cognis ance of various important local con iderations.

Port Moresby was friendly to the Jea. There was set up a Town Plan ing committee comprising Messrs. . K. McCarthy (District Commis ioner), J. Murphy (District Officer), j. McClennan (Works Officer), J. dchards (representing Custodian), . L. Chipper and B. Ryan (Chamber f Commerce), J. Koefod (Valuator), nd D. Barrett, MLC.

The Committee worked very hard n the plans, and finally made a series f recommendations to Port Moresby, i party of Departmental heads, con sting of Messrs. D. M. Cleland Acting Administrator), Jones (Dis ict Services), Lonergan (Govern lent Secretary) and Dr. Gunther Public Health), proceeded to Rabaul nd conferred with the Committee nd examined the recommendations n the spot, with the following result: Area to be allotted to Chinatown -Accepted.

Area to be allotted to Botanic wardens and recreational reserves— ccepted.

Native hospital and native labour impound should be located at apindik—Rejected. Decided that itive hospital shall be at Nonga orth Coast area (5 miles from abaul) and Native Labour com )und shall be in the Sulphur Creek oad area (about 6 miles from native ispital).

Recommended that area now :cupied by native education centre

(between Malaguna Road and the harbour side) should be used by Works Department workshops and bulk stores—Rejected.

Recommended that area on northern side of Malaguna Road, ris ing to the hills, should become a European residential area—Rejected.

Port Moresby decided that the area, partly occupied by Works Depart ment and Education Department should remain where it is.

Recommended that, for accommo dation of 200 small ships registered in Rabaul, wharf, slipway, and barge landing facilities be placed in the sheltered portion of the harbour, from a point adjacent to pre-war OTC site, westward to the present small ships’ wharf.—Rejected. It was decided to retain this area as a boulevarde and to place most of the shipping facil ities at the northern end of Malaguna

Road, which is the weather side of the harbour.

Some members of the Town Plan ning Committee were angry and in dignant at the rejections of their plans and, through press and radio, a sub committee of the Chamber of Com merce (Messrs. J. L. Chipper, D Gow, J. Koefod and M. W. Fish wick) made a sharp attack upon Port Moresby officialdom. They said: “Port Moresby representatives had come to Rabaul to put into effect their own preconceived decisions, irrespective of the recommendations of the local planning Committee. . ..

This was very obvious from the atti tude of at least one member of Port) Moresby, when he continually gazed into space during the Conference. . .

Why should Departmental directors from PM make decisions whichi countermand the requirements of the residents of Rabaul, having appar ently no thought to the inconvenience to be caused these residents, butl merely desiring to be the overlords; from a faraway seat of office in Port!

Moresby?”

A copy of the sub-committee’s communication was received by the: Acting Administrator on October 22;; and that evening a condensation of; the letter was broadcast. However,, Mr. Cleland went immediately intoi action. He telegraphed: “I regret; Chamber’s attitude. Statement is ill conceived. Full reply being posted! to you.”

In his reply (posted to Rabaul om October 27) Mr. Cleland surveyed! the sequence of events and said that; he and his Departmental heads were; not idle during their visit to Rabaul! but had gone out and examined each; problem in situ, and had walked over 1 large areas of rough country; and that; finally the decisions were made, not; by the Port Moresby officials but by Mr. Cleland, himself—and he stood! by them. He then set forth his; reasons for each decision. • The Rapindik area was rejected! as a site for hospital and compound! because it was situated right in the; heart of the volcanic danger zone; it; did not provide ready access to the i sea as a means of escape; location of both hospital and compound there would have been wrong in principal.

The Sulphur Creek site was on good, high ground, was nearer the town,, and gave ready access to land and sea escape routes. The erection of’ the hospital in the Rapindik area i would have meant that it would have been totally useless if affected by an eruption. The site at Nonga pro vided greater safety, and was close; to the evacuation centre—a most de sirable aspect.

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• The claim that the Education )epartment’s site had been recom lended for use by the Public Works challenged. The proposal was nly made on the understanding that le Education Department did not ant the site. The Education centre ad to remain where it was—there as no adequate reason why it should ; moved. He gave several reasons r the final decision regarding Educa m and Works site. He also linted out that the eastern and larger )rtion of the areas referred to were tained for residential purposes and at extensive additional land in that ea would be available for residential irposes. • Mr. Cleland emphatically chai ned the sub-committee’s statement ncerning small ships—it was mis iding and the facts were wrongly ited. He traversed the statements ide by both sides regarding the of facilities for small ships d concluded: “Notwithstanding it the proposal was not placed he re me earlier, I am quite prepared consider the practicability of pro ling facilities for small ships in the leral area mentioned ... and I not consider that the existence of vehicular esplanade in the area will went provision of these facilities.”

Mr. Cleland pointed out that he 1 accepted the following recom ndations of the town planning mmittee: European hospital to remain on its sent site. preservation of all reserves for ir original purposes. of additional residential as over and above those already jrred to.

Revision of additional business s.

Restriction of police and prison a to make more land available, ’revision of adequate escape tes.

Provision of essential equipment in the Vulcanological Observatory.

After reminding the sub-Committee that the decisions complained of were his own, Mr. Cleland said: “I desire it to be clearly and un equivocably known that, whilst I have the privilege of administering the Territory, pressure and/or publicity tactics, wherever originating, will not prevail. Those tactics are not the way to progressive and constructive development, and mutual co-opera tion.

“I am always ready to reconsider a decision in the light of new' circum stances and new facts. Whether a decision is altered or not, depends entirely upon the merit and genuine ness of the subsequent facts which are advanced. Subject to those con siderations, I say quite frankly that pressure tactics, whatever their nature, will not swerve any of my officers or myself from decisions which are honestly and impartially taken.”

At Wau, NG on October 15, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs.

Norman McKay.