RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 225 



has been hopelessly bad and the streets have proved to be too narrow 

 and are intersected by dangerous railway crossings, it is hardly prac- 

 ticable to remodel them by a development scheme dealing with large 

 areas of land. The Act and the development schemes prepared under 

 it, intended to deal with both urban and rural conditions, will con- 

 tain provisions which are applicable to urban and inapplicable to 

 rural territory and vice versa. But there can be no objection to this 

 since, if any provision is inapplicable, no person or interest can be 

 injured thereby. For instance, if a scheme provided for control of 

 building lines, i.e., the distance of set back from the highway boun- 

 dary in a district where no buildings were likely to be erected, this 

 would not be a burden on the farmer, since it would not force or ac- 

 celerate building development but merely provide for its regulation 

 if and when it took place. If no building took place the provision 

 would remain inoperative. On the other hand — no person or govern- 

 ment can foresee where building is going to take place, or where a 

 townsite is going to be laid out. Restrictions, which are necessary 

 to regulate development where it is occurring, may, without injury to 

 anyone, be made to apply even where development is unlikely to occur. 

 If such regulations are to be effective they must deal with the possi- 

 bility and not with the fact. 



Details of Remedies Reserved for Subsequent Report 



The detailed consideration of the measures necessary to secure 

 the solution of the problems of rural development has to be reserved 

 for a subsequent report because, as this report on rural conditions 

 has to be followed by a report on urban conditions, and as the same 

 measures are proposed in respect of both urban and rural problems, 

 it is necessary to complete the study of both sets of conditions before 

 setting out the details of the remedy applicable to both. This course 

 will prevent a great deal of duplication. 



For the above reason only a brief description is given in this 

 report of some of the essential features of planning and development 

 legislation and schemes. 



The tabulated statement on the opposite page indicates the 

 relative nature and importance, first, of the enabling and regulating 

 Act required to be passed in each province and, second, the develop- 

 ment scheme (or local Act) to be prepared by the municipality. A 

 brief outline of the main features of this legislation is given below 

 under three heads: 



(1) The general objects of development schemes. 



