RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 219 



amenity for the community which could not have been obtained by 

 any other method except at prohibitive cost. (Figure 39). 



The work being done by the Conference on Arterial Roads in 

 Greater London, which has been at work for the past three years, 

 is an indication of the importance which is attached to the subject of 

 planning and development in England. The conference comprises 

 representatives of 137 local authorities. It has been holding frequent 

 meetings, with a view to determining the best lines of development, 

 particularly in regard to the means of communication by road, for 

 an area of 1,000 square miles within and surrounding the county of 

 London. (Figure 40.) The greater part of this territory is rural in 

 character. Many separate municipalities are preparing schemes for 

 their area, but they are combining together in conference to secure a 

 general plan for their arterial system of highways. The fact that 

 they have been able to join together and present united decisions to 

 the president of the Local Government Board of England shows the 

 value of the services of the Local Government Board in securing 

 effective co-operation. If it is possible for so many authorities to 

 combine surely it should be practicable for the comparatively few 

 who are usually concerned in the control of suburban areas adjacent 

 to large cities in Canada. 



In Britain less confusion is caused by the use of the term town 

 planning, because of the broader meaning given to the word town, 

 and because a greater proportion of the rural territory is urban in 

 character. The need for some change in the British Town Planning 

 Act, in order that it may be made more adaptable to rural areas, is, 

 however, being recognized by British authorities, e.g., Mr. Henry 

 Aldridge, in his book, The Case for Town Planning, argues that the 

 Act of 1909 should be amended to enable rural councils to prepare a 

 rural planning scheme with the minimum of work and a maximum of 

 practical efficiency. The draft Planning and Development Act of the 

 Commission of Conservation* makes provision for the preparation of 

 simple rural planning (development) schemes in a form which could 

 be made adaptable to British conditions. 



Planning not an End in Itself 



It has to be recognized that a mere plan will not do anything to con- 

 serve life or secure industrial efficiency. The plan is only the basis <>n 

 which a scheme may be made to control development of land. A 

 plan may be prepared on paper, but no better result secured than if 

 it had been omitted, because the thing that really matters is the de- 

 velopment that follows. "Planning is not an end in itself, but only a 



* Draft Planning and Development Act. Revised Edition, 1917. 



