SETTLERS SEEK AID.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 82, 8 April 1931, Page 2

SETTLERS SEEK AID.

RESTORATION OF HOMES.

RELIEF BEFORE "WINTER ASKED.

GRANT SHORT OF NEEDS

(By Telegraph.—Special to " Star.")

NAPIER, this day.

Settlers of the Tangoio district arc urging that they be given some measure of relief before the winter sets in. The majority of the homes in the district, they contend, require immediate attention by way of extensive repairs.

Representations have been made by the settlers to the relief committee of the Hawke's Bay County Council, requesting that eteps be taken as soon as possible to have the houses in the three settlements of Tangoio, Kaiwaka, and Arapawanui repaired. They regard the reconstruction of chimneys as a secondary consideration in many cases, as the majority of the houses, they say, will have to bo repaired before the chimneys can be rebuilt. *

The district, which was near the centre of the disturbance, suffered extensive damage, and practically all the houses have been moved from their foundation blocks. The proposal is to spend £25 on each house. This would fall far short of the requirements, according to the .settlers, who state that such a sum would be wholly inadequate to cover the cost of repairing the damage in most cases. None of the settlers in the district have been able to arrange private finance. Consequently, the work of reconstruction has been materially delayed, with the result that fears are entertained for the habitability of the homes during the winter months. The representations of the eettlers will be brought before the Public Works Department and the County Council's relief committee, but it is realised that the Department, which is pushing ahead with its programme of repairing country homesteads with all possible speed, will meet with difficulty owing to the fact that properties in the three settlements are widely scattered. The eettlers, on the other hand, urge that the work be done immediately, and before the roads are made impassable by winter rains.