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Urban municipal councils spend half their time on matters dealing with physical growth. Nor is there any sign that the growth will cease. The Royal Com- mission on Canada’s Economic Prospects predicted in the 1957-1982 period some 3.7 million more houses would be built at a total cost of about $40 billion. A study recently completed by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada shows that Calgary, Edmonton, London, Toronto. Montreal. Vancouver and Ottawa- Hull will each more than double their housing stock by 1970, and the last three will triple it. But the time has come for into industrial and residential assessment and a sober look at land. the future. Several studies such (2) 0f the new houses we as that of the Royal Architec- build each year, many are so tural Institute of Canada have unimaginative in design and are enabled architects, builders, so crammed into their commu- government officials and com- unities that they may well be the munity leaders to analyze Can- slums of tomorrow, no matter ada's growth; They are often what efforts their owners make appalled at what they find. to avoid it. They see a kind of patchwork The National Council of Wo- quilt with isolated examples of men told the RAIC commit-tee, well-planned subdivisions and “Monotonous. boring, dull, rub- ind-lvidual buildings but, for the her-stamp similarity are some most part. a land scarred with of the terms used to describe haphazard building and plan- developments where the same ning. (or very nearly identical) house (1) Millions of acres of our cities, farms and woodland have been spoiled in the last 10 years by indiscriminate building. Here, in summary. are the highllgggo! thgir findings: Each year in the last 10,0i110u- sands of acres of first-class agri- cultural land has been turned Idealism, Common-sense Must Wed To Kill Slums Of New Vista Opens For Town Through Directed Effort By MICHAEL J ACOT {but . alrm Each month a dozen square miles of rural land sled is being turned into city. . 5:2 For 10 years Canada has been the fastest growing £221 country in the world. In the Fifties a million dwellings “On were built in this country. Our cities grew 10_per cent “3 a year. Sixty per cent of our population crowded into those cities and their suburbs. Automobile registra- tions doubled. Wage earners began to live 15, 25 or 30 miles from work. Sometimes more. Growth has slackened now but has by no means abated. Cities and towns are still spreading out over new ground at a rate of nearly 100 square miles a year. Lowest Prices THORNHILL PAVING CO. DRIVEWAYS PAVED I'll. 4 - 4096 Build your 1 bank balance . . . Build your peace of mind Budget Terms CALL NOW CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE (2) Of the new houses we build each year, many are so unlmaglnatlve in design and are so crammed into their commu- unlties that they may well be the slums of tomorrow, no matter what efforts their owmers make to avoid It. “Monotonous. boring, dull, rub- ber-stamp similarity are some of the terms used to describe developments where the same (or very nearly identical) house is repeated over and over. . . . This absence of interest and good taste could result even- tually in a district degenerating through lack of incentive to the individual owner to improve his property." 0wr12605mncllestaserveyou The University Women's Club of Ottawa added. “These places (4) Alan Armstrong of Cen- tral Mortgage and Housing Cor- poration reports that nearly all our (owns show six main de- fects: congestion of space at the centre; congestion of traffic, including the passage of heavy traffic along unsuitable roads; areas where industry and hous- ing are badly mixed; large areas of obsolete and overcrowded housing; insufl'icient 0 en space and inadequate schoo s. {bum in 1954) looked like slums aUnOst before they were occu- pied. How could they help it. being ugly, unimaginauvely planned, the same plan used for every exposure . . . and garish colors shouting fog-finch. (ion? Godd' design V'vould have cost no more." _ (3) Even in the better plan- ned developments we continue to raze the trees and deface each street with millions of feet of overhead wiring. And in the best planned developments, the planned area is generally too small and there is no effective master plan for a larger are}. WhatlsGoodPlanning? “What we have doneâ€"and are still doing -- to Canada.” sums up Jacques Slmnrd. presi- dent of the Community Plan- ning Assochtion of Canada, “me tlke I hundred yelrs to undo. Perhaps It may never be undone. But there is still time to shape the flee and soul of our country if we will only decide what we want.” The phrase “good planning" crops up repeatedly in these studies. What is it, and who are the "planners"? They are often architects, builders or men trained in planning at some foreign un‘versity.) There is no school for planners in Canada although four universi- tles offer courses). “The professional planner must know something of eco- nomics, sociology and engineer- ing," says Fred G. Gardiner. chairman of the municipality of Toronto, and better-known as the "supermayor". "He must be enough of an idealist to know what his region should have; enough of a realist to know what its taxpayers will‘ stand for; enough of a philoso- pher to refuse to become frus- trated when his nobly-conceived plans for the future are filed away on a shelf. and to await a more opportune time for their acceptance.” “Good planning reflects the feelings and the needs of the people." adds Norman Pearson, Burlington, Ont.v town planner. "It Is not a rubber-stamp blue- print thought up in aome unl- Norman Pearson ls town plan- ner at Burlington, Ontario. He graduated with the firs-t honours B.A. course in town planning from the University of Durham, England. He has published 35 papers on planning and was awarded the President's prlze oi the Town Planning Institute (U.K.) in 1957 ‘for work on Canadian ahopplng centres. He say: “Wlth bulldozers we have obliterated landscape; wlth the wrecking mlohlne we luve de- stroyed our links with the past. We have [one a long way ln loslng the distinctlveneu of Canada; and our sunoundlngs in our cities. those junk-yards of real estate, do not juslll'y the excellence of our people." A Planner Speaks _ Lue ueuents or ulsanvantages rot paging gaffitllgraggst 331:5; Canadian conditions of a gen- systems of underground outdoor eral change from taxes levied wiring, of the kind used in most on land and improvements to ‘ of the civilized world, were System 0‘ “‘1 property “x on muchbmorg exo‘ensive to install. sue "me only‘ In ur an ana a we were in a - sense doomed by public decrees PUbIIC Needed to go on stringing wires over- ‘ head. New deve10pments in Whether or not any or all of {trenching and cable manufac- these steps are taken, com- : ture now raise doubts as to Inth 9131mm! must. in the how much greater is the cost end. have public support. And per year of service of under- each program will have to tem- ground systems. . . . The pub- per imagination with realism. lie is entitled to be informed “If you have a couple of hun- .what these extra costs would be, dred square miles you can plan ‘if any. Underground systems a model community." says To- ‘certalnly enhance the value of l‘onto's Fred Gardiner. “But the the property they serve. The practical difiiculty with which Isubscribers might well choose we are face is that most cities ito have such a system. have been around for years. Part of a planner's job is to view small communities not as isolated units but as adjoining pieces of land. perhaps needing joint water and sewage works, roads and services. Part of it is to view cities as a smoothly interlocking mesh of houses. {‘actories. highways and facili- ‘ es. verslty to fit any area any- where." However they choose to de- fine their Job, virtually all plan- ners bring to it a desire to blend land, housing. schools and busi- ness areas for the utmost utility and agstheticrappeal. But' the plahhers feel that several obs¢acles stand In their way. Growth is the original villain of the piece. In the immediate post-war yenra we were too hard-pressed for housing space to worry about the finer points of planning. This excuse is no longer valid. "Even if we had an army of5 planners equipped with all the detailed knowledge that re- search can provide, we will not be able to accomplish much as long as the central city and its ever - expanding suburbs con- tinue to look upon one another’s problems with complete Indif. £erence.” says Fred Gardiner. Public attitudes affect the planning program of any na- tion. And, despite the com- plaints of the aforementioned women’s groups, many planning officials feel Canadians gener- ally are too apathetic, too will- ing to accept the mediocre. Major General M. L. Bren- nan, national director of the Community Planning Associa- tion of Canada, adds: “A Cana- dian may be interested in his neighbor’s house. He may even care about his own street. But he usually hasn't the slightest interest in the next street. let alone the whole town." Cost, as ii afféoEsâ€"Ehe indivi- dual or the municipality is inâ€" deed a major restriction to plzyLning. Most Canadians do care about gpaqg. They have grown used to it and expect it. Most of them aspire to bigger lawns, bigger driveways and broader highways. Yet there will come a time when space will be a luxury even in Canada. Pian~ nets are trying to increase the density of dwellings in our com- munities, without sacrificing cogfortflapd beauty. However. Dr. Rose adds. most families, in what might be de~ scribed as the most monotonous residential environments could not_ afford to live elsewhere. "We need more parks. larger green areas. and we need to take down the ugly overhead wlrlnt, but the crux of the prob- lem in financial," an Scarbor- ough. Ont. Reeve A. M. Camp- ‘bell. "It costs an extra $275 I lot to put wiring underground. It costs money also to service all lots, but it Is good planning and we ere lnslsung on it. We feel that we must do as much good planning as finance: allow.” I Planning would cope with such problems of service-vs.- appearance. But first the com- munities must have planners. their efforts must be coâ€"ordin- ated and they must be able to gain councils’ euro. Space To Be luxury “Small lots horrify Canadians but. if professionally laid out,1 they can look better and be‘ ‘more useful than the sprawling dawns of some suburbs.” says ‘Mrs. Jennifer Joynes of the Community Planning Associa- tion. California has experi- mented with small private courtyards, which are artistic- ally interesting. safer for chil- dren to play in. and decidedly a closer unit of the home. Coupled with public likes and dislikes is the matter of what the public is willing or able to pay, Dr. Albert Rose, of the School of Social Work. Univer- sity of Toronto, and vice-chair. man of the Metropolitan Toron-i to Housing Authority. points out that Canadians are spending an increasingly smaller proportion of_t_heir incomes on shelter. "You cannot operate a city without industrial and commer- cial assessment to provide the tax base so that you can build and extend your city." says Fred Gardiner. “Certainly we have to pay attention not only to the planning of our new areas but 1to the redevelopment of the old ones â€" which takes a lot of money which the taxpayer Will ‘bear only in reasonable propor- lions." Just haw much more it costs to incorporate good planning in- to a new community is debat- able. The planners maintain that it probably saves money in the long run. “If the municipal works of today should fail in use by 1970, much public money will be wasted." lays the RAIC ‘report. Underground Wiring There Is A Solution (‘n_nranu-.{nd hlnnr‘lnn -A Co-ordlnated planning could have solved those problems. Dr. Pleva of U.W.O. says: “There is a partial solution to the prob- lem in Ontario. the county sys~ tem, although archaic, still ex- ists. If we could plan for a whole country at a time we ‘could achieve some success. ‘The counties have the neces- ‘ sary powers but they are rarely used." There Is now a qualified plan- ner for every 50,000 urban Ca- nadians. Such a population should have four or five, says the RAIC report, but the situa- tion is much improved over 15 years ago when some cities and even entire provinces had not one planner. However, no planner in Can- Ida-uunlike many in Europeâ€" 15 an arm of local government. He is an advisor only. But havinz a planner in a community is not enough, un- less problems are tackled on a regional basis. in many cases. city. suburbs and country can no longer be regarded as sep- arate. in planning terms. Yet communities continue to jeal. ously guard their right to de- velop in their own way. which is not necessarily the best wny for the whole area. In Ontario a valley was zoned as a park. A neighboring plan- ning board had approved a fac- tory. and wanted roads to run through the valley for delivery trucks. Both projects died. In 8.0. a new residential de- velopment banned all service stations. But. of course, the residents needed service, so a “gnsplingalley” sprang up just “gasoline alley" sprang outside its boundaries The planners and their cam- munities are further handicap- ped by laws dating back to the horse and buggy age. Ontario alone has 350 different zoning laws, many of them a century old. Even recent laws are cum- bersome. One municipality de- mands two thicknesses of brick in its houses: a neighboring municipality, one thickness. Some municipalities permit only brick or concrete construction â€"â€"a well-meaning attempt to avoid eyesores and fire hazards. But today such a bylaw excludes the attractive timber ranch-style house. â€"swbdivlslons should be plan- ned not only for present needs but should be flexible enough to accommodate the changing population as predicted by the planners. --provinclal and federal gov- ernments should identify areas of irreplaceable agricultural value that are threatened by urbanization, and protect those areas for future generations. â€"a Canadian Institute of Urban Studies should be set up at- tached to a metropolitan unl- versity to serve as a clearing house for information and study in this field. â€"a professional school or schools of landscape design should be set up in Canada, en- compassing such subjects as earth-moving. drainage and road technique, as well as horticul- ture, arboriculture and princi- ples at design. â€"every possible measure should be taken to encourage diversity of size and nature among new dwellings. -â€"the provinces of Canada should launch economic analy- ses of those regions undergoing fastest urbanization. with the view of establishing regional planning. in consultation with federal and municipal authori- ties. â€"â€"the provinces might ascertain the benefits or disadvantages for Canadian conditions of a gen- eral change from taxes levied on land and improvements to a system of real property tax on site value only. There is still time "to shape the face and soul of our coun- try.” says Jacqueg Simard. How should we go about it? Here, from the RAIC and other stud- ies, and from the planners them- selves, are a few suggestions: â€" every municipality should have vigorous and steady pro- grams for removal of housing that cannot in all conscience be redeemed, and for creatiqn of public housing for less fortun- ate citizens. Flexibility Needed “It Is commonly laid down that an access road allowance must be 66 feet wide with all buildings set back another 25 or 30 feet from that road line,” says the RAIC report. “These provisions sterilize 1,000 square feet of land that some family should be_hllowedA to“ enjoy." VW‘,-_,. Some planners have suggest- ed that prospective new sub- divisions be landscaped entirely before building begins, and the new homes. factories, shops and churches be fitted into this scheme, instead of vice versa as is presently the custom. I “We must strive for a com- ;promlse between the acme of ‘perfection, which is rarely at- }tainable, the examples of poor planning which we have before us, and the structure of the city {which already exists." practical difficulty with which Hé says we are face is that most cities “If tl have been around for years. lumen Jacques Simard, musician. art magazine editor, lecturer, writer. businessman, is president of the Community Planning Associa- tion of Canada. He is a gradu- ate of Harvard, McGiIl and the Folk-geld? Montgegl. He says: Ivor; 1mm. Chadian.” John Parkin is (co-founder of ‘ Canada’s largest architectural and engineering firm. He has won nine Massey medals in ar- chitecture and Is an honours graduate of the University of Manitoba. He was president of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, and a permanent member "What II needed most is e Turns To Planning philosophy. Should we plan for He turned his knowledge to the motor car? Should we cut the planning field in 1954, join- down trees to widen streets? ing the Community Planning Should we chop up parks for Branch of the Ontario Govern. ‘multiple level crossings? What ment as Special Projects Plan- are the values at stake? Be. net. and becoming particularly tween now and 2,000 A.D.. the responsible for the development equivalent of one city of 80,000 and building of Manitouwadge, must be built etch year in Ontario’s first planned new Canada.” town for a mining community. It has recently become im- possible to do an adequate job, meeting as we do only one night a week, and that for only two to three 11 um. Even the extra meetings at have been sched- uled, have not been adequate to allow sufficient attention to be_given_t_o important details. It has recently become int-l We on the board are pleased possible to do an adequate jobnthat Mr. Deeks has seen fit to meeting as we do only one night give up his important work in a week, and that for only two‘the Department of Planning in to three h urs. Even the extra the province, to take on the pos- meetings that have been sched-Iition in Richmond Hill. When uled. have not been adequate he first met with the board, to allow sufficient attention to'he advised us that it was the be given to important details. challenge of the job that ap~ One of the very important de- pealed to him. and the board tails that has been overlooked believes that a job taken on is the function of consulting in this spirit will be well done. with the citizens, and explaining We have no doubt as to Mr. to them, and working out joint- Deeks’ ability and qualifications ly with them, the necessary leg-{for the position, and look for- isiation to insure an orderly ward to many years of co-op- development of the town. With erative work, meeting the many the time at the disposal of the'and serious problems that will board, it has simply not been:inevitably face Richmond Hill possible to do a proper job in in the comin years. We feel this respect. With a full timelthat with the elp of the coun- pianning director, this can be 611 and the People Of the town - changed. and must be changed. with the exercising of a little As “The Liberal" so tightly patience, and with a determina- pointed out in its editorial pages “on to keel) the needs of the last Week, planning legislation town foremost in our minds - must not be "imposed" or “en-‘that the planning work in Rich- fored"; rather it should come‘mond Hill can be a valuable as an obvious and apparent an-‘and mOHEY-SaVlnE function 01" swer to the various problems to‘10631 government. [4, be met; an ansWer that shouldix be apparent to all. when all the n. ‘ circumstances are know SCARBORO TOWNSHIP 'â€" 1: 15 too much to be hoped Federal and provincial govern- mat full agreement can be ments have agreed to build a reached on an points “ “154,719,000 low-rental housing times; nevertheless this should Pmlect 1n Scarboro- Reeve A. M. be the object. 'Campbell said that he expects ' work to begin this fall. The project is expected t h A Planner Speaks between 1,500 and 2,0000 33:7 Jnhn pnrlrln In amtnu.â€"A-_ -e n a “lf the metropolis todey ls fragmented and dispersed. it is because of our misplaced values and our willingness to tolerate â€"even to encourageâ€"patterned disorderllness. The most serious impediment to Canadian plan- ning today}: the lagk o! sup- The Hill's New Planner of the Royai Architectural Ihâ€" stltute of Canada's recent sur- vey of residential environment. Introducing:- By ROSS SCRIMGER Chairman, Richmond Hill Planning Board Those of us who are presently serving on the planning board look forward to working with Mr. Harold Deeks, the newly appointed director of plan- ning for Richmond Hill.‘ We have felt the need of such a person for some years past â€"â€" someone who could guide the board in the region of technicalities, both legal and engineering, that the work has become fraught with in recent years -â€" someone who could consult with the other technical members of the town staffâ€"someone who could meet the public from day to day, and explain the scope and necessity of the work being done, to those who are affected by it â€" and above all, someone who could keep track of the thousand and one details of all sorts that crop up over the years. A Planner Speaks Acknowledement To Imperial Oil It is I coincidence that. just as the thoughts of Richmond Hill's municile leaders are turning to the redirection of town plan- ning activities, to be em- phasized through the up. pointment of a highly quali- fied planning director, one of Canada’s leading busi- nesses should produce a highly informative and ana- lytical article on the subject. in its monthly magazine, Imperial Oil Review. lm- perial Oil Limited has pub- lished one of the best ar- ticles on town planning which we have ever read. We believe the subject to be of such interest that we are republishing parts of it herewith, with the hope that such republication will be of public service and will play a part in making Rich- mond Hill, "The Rose Cen- tre of Canada". n town physically worthy of its name and its beautiful loca- tion on the hilltop. We acknowledge with gratitude the permission given by Imperial Oil to reprint excerpts from its articleâ€"Editor. F. HAROLD DEEKS coâ€"founder of ple Provincial Planner Named Director For Richmond Hill Richmond Hill's new planner admits that the challenge of Richmond Hill, which has grown from a population of 8.677 in 1956 to 16,191 in 1961, intriguesl him. He stresses that while the town’s extraordinary growth ‘calls for something more than usual in the way of planning, yet the opportunity to introduce beauty into the planning is greater than usual. The town's location on its hilltop, he de- clares, gives great scope for ef- ficiency plus imagination in‘ charting its future growth. Wide Experience The new planner brings a‘ wealth of experience to his new job. He holds the degree of Master of Architecture (Com- munity Planning) from the Uni- versity of Manitoba and has completed courses in Public Administration, Traffic Engin- eering, Community Planning Law and Practise and Adminis- tration at the University of Tor- onto. Incidentally, he is one of ‘npproximately five or six in On- ‘tario who holds his particular idegree in Varcliitecture. Richmond Hill, for the first time in its long history,;sign Section of the Community has its own town planner. The position was discussed earlier in the year when the municipal budget was be- ing prepared. An amount sufficient to take care of a qualified man was allowed for by tOWn council after discussion with the planning board, which has since occupied months in the search for a suitable appointee. A short time ago the board recommended to council the engagement of F. Harold Deeks, head of the Plan- ning Design Section of the Community Planning Branch under the Ontario government. The appoint- ment has since been confirmed and Mr. Deeks took over on November 1st. Richmond Hill's new planner There, living in a bunkhouse admits that the challenge of along with the men doing the Richmond Hill. which has erown actual building. he designed the from a population of 6.677 in communit f0 1956 in 1mm in mm, inirioupa r: am and: .E..“.}328“1299_2-2‘ Planning Branch, he has been responsible for the planning and design of new townsltes to meet the need for satisfactory urban accommodation in conjunction with the development of natural resources. Also he has been res- ponsible for design criticism. which includes analysis of resi- dential. commercial. industrial. educational. public services and transportation needs of all draft plans of subdivision (some 80 to 100 a month) and the making )f appropriate recommendations. He has also had to comment on official plans as they affect sub- divisions and has been respon- sible for displays and exhibits. Civic Designer His earlier architectural ex- perience was obtained in Winni- peg, Regina, Sault Ste. Marie and Toronto. In the latter city he was associated with the lead- ing firm of John B. Parkin As- sociates. Much of his earlier architectural work was on class- ical buildings â€" one of them being Winnipeg's largest Rom- anesque building, the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, where he was responsible for the chapel. During the architectural phase of his career he worked on many types of buildings. all the way. he says, from industrial plants to TV stations to hospitals and schools. Turn: To Planning VICTORIAN ORDER OF NURSES RICHMOND HILL BRANCH { Miss E. Woodbyrm: Richmond Hill Municipal | Hall I PHONE TU. 4-4101 V. O. N. THE LIBERAL, Richmond Hill, thgrio, Thursday, November 2, 1961 lg. There, living in a bunkhouse along with the men doing the actual building. he designed the communl_ty {qr a population of 6.300. The designing finished, he was loaned to the distriét by the provincial government. be- coming Project Planner and be- ing, in effect, town manager. district administrator and liais- on oi‘Eicer until the municipal staff took over in 1956. In 1958 he was named to the job which he is leaving to take over Richmond Hill's planning. Made head of the Planning De« He was then associated with other townsite matters at Bur- chell Lake. Moosonee, Elliot Lake, Cardiff, Red Lake and Temagami. In addition, he was a member of a team which con- ducted regional area studies in the St. Lawrence Valley. Acted For Minister In 1957 he was given special assignments on which he re- ported directly to the Minister iof Planning and Development. These included conducting spec- ial investigations into matters such as the Federal-Provincial Housing Projects of Renents Park'South in Toronto, and ne- ing chairman of the Space Com- mittee for office reorganization composed of the Deputy Minis- ter and Branch Directors. He later supervised the redeploy. ment of staff and the construc- tion program. in 1.118 uaucaua. an: uuvcnvys the exhibit associated with the seminar and reported for the group on “Civic Beauty". He is also a member of the Ontario Department of Highways Geom- etric Design Standards Commit- tee. Married to a London. Eng- ‘land. girl, Mr. Deeks says that his hobbies include painting. both in water-colour and oils. His library contains over a thou- sand books, mostly technical. he admits. He has designed and built all the family furniture. In addition, he is a model nai- road enthusiast and is a mem- ber of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Challenge . Repeat Challenge The last question in the inter- view which covered the career of Richmond Hill's new planner was a fairly obvious one. Why did he want to come to Rich- In 1958 he was named to the Civil Defence Administrative Committee, advisory to the Minister. and as chairman he toured the four western prov- inces of Canada and the States of Washington and California, investigating all aspects of civil defence. In addition, he con- ducted in series of detailed en- quiries into all aspects of On- tario’s civil defence. Named Design Head LIBERAL CLASSIFlEDS-GetResuIts-TU. 4-1105 No matter where‘ you live i w you can at all times. 0 Clean-burning Propane keeps drapes and slipâ€"covers fresh and new-looking. 9 Fuel and Equipment Budget Plans available to take the sting out of midwinter heating costs. We are franchised dealers for RCA Victor, Admiral, Electrohome. Sparton. TV and HI-FI. We have Philips and SeaoBreeze tape recorders. We carry a wide selection of transistor radios. batteries Ind portable record players. WE HAVE PORTABLE TV: FOR RENT. AV. 5-3756 _ Plan ahead for cosy warmth all winter long . . . and for auxiliary recreation room heanng. . .with ‘Superior’ Propane, the three-time winner. 0 Perfect heat control ensm'es even room temperatuto Ekfiefiiéi’vme on TV, RADIO and flI-FI. TV TOWERS, 40 it, compl’ete with Ill wnvo antenna erected for $60.00. LOW LOW PRICES ON 1962 23" MODELS FROM $219.95 AND YOUR TRADE L Heat loss calculation and equipment quotation made with no obligation to you. For full details on COMPLETE home heating ------- out. on WRITI ----â€"---- Z'upel'ior' PROPANE TELEVISION l GA's HOME HEATING DIVISION Maple. Ontario. AV 6-1146 RICHMOND HILL T.V. Mr. Deeks ls a member of the Seminars on Civic Design Com- mittee which held its first sem- inar at Stratford recently â€" a seminar attended bv P‘anning Board member Cecil Williams. whose comments were published in “The Liberal." He developed the exhibit associated with the seminar and reported for the ‘group on “Civic Beauty". He in ‘also a member of the Ontario Department of Highways Geom- etric Design Standards Commit- tee. The last question in the inter- view which covered the career of Richmond Hill's new planner was a fairly obvious one. Why did he want to Come to Rich- mond Hill? Because, he said. few towns in Ontario offered the same opportunity and the same challenge. The Hill's rapid growth has left many things to do, The chance to correct errors caused through that growth was great â€"J the chance to build for the future was equally great. And, said Mr. Decks. the op- portunity to work with people â€" the people who actually were the town and whose home; and incomes and happiness were of ‘prime imoprtance, was perhaps ltlie biggest thing of the whole lot 34 YONGE SOUTH