BLOCK OF 40 FLATS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 224, 21 September 1934, Page 3

BLOCK OF 40 FLATS.

PROPOSAL IN WELLINGTON

CITY COUNCIL IN DOUBT,

An application received by the Wellington City Council for permission to erect a block of 40 flats has introduced the idea of large-scale tenemente (says the '".Post"). The council, however, is not at all sure of the proposal, and has referred the application to the by-laws committee for further consideration. The proposal ie to erect on a site of about an acre, fairly near to the centre of the city, a two-storeyed block comprising 40 flats, each of' two bedrooms, a kitchenette, bathroom and living room. The plan of the building is a deep "D," with a wide space on all sides and a central courtyard developed into a small rest park, with green sward, appropriate bedding, etc. The approach is by way of a handsomely-designed main entrance, with ornamental gates, archway, and so on. Central heating is planned, and the whole will foe under the supervision of a concierge, janitor, caretaker, or director, according to the term preferred. The scheme departs from the English and Continental tenement schemes, >n that the open space is common space, and the block is simply a block of flats, of which there are several in the city, though none arc planned on quite the same lines. Due to the economies which ! may be effected by careful planning and methods of construction, the rental per flat, it is understood, could be maintained at a very reasonable figure. Talk pf Large Scheme. A good deal has been said of the merits of embarking upon a housing scheme on a big scale in Wellington, with a double end in view—of providing employment in work which will produce a concrete result, and to meet the need in Wellington of residential quarters. One of tho keenest advocates of a housing scheme is Councillor W. Appleton, who was much impressed by what he saw during his recent lour of Great Britain, America and Europe. Another active advocate is Councillor L. McKcnzie, who also speaks from firsthand knowledge of the great housing schemes overseas. The Wellington branch of tho Town Planning Institute has interested itself in the- question, and at a recent special meeting discussed housing at considerable length. The City Council has discussed the question in a general way, but has made no decisions. The new building encouragement policy of the Unemployment Board also bears directly upon the provision of housing. Everyone is pretty well agreed that more houses are urgently needed, and that house building would assist the employment position greatly for the time- being, but there is anything but agreement upon the system of finance for a big programme; should it be State, local body, or private enterprise, or a combination of two or the three? The whole idea of providing homes on a big scale has completely changed in recent years, and particularly so in European and American State or municipal schemes undertaken to wipe away the disgrace of dirty and unhealthy slums; in these schemes the detached d , \yelling takes a very small part, and the blocks of new dwellings are immense structures. j