BUILDING BOOM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 231, 30 September 1935, Page 9

BUILDING BOOM.

IN GREAT BRITAIN.

TRAVELLERS IMPRESSED.

" MARVELLOUS RECOVERY."

Two travellers who returned by the Niagara to-day were both much impressed by the amount of building going on all over Great Britain.

"It was an eye-opener to see the volume of building throughout Great Britain and Ireland," said Mr. 11. L. E. Priestman, Assistant Canadian Trade Commissioner in Auckland, who returned with Mrs. Priestman and their family from a furlough of five months. "This building is not only for the alleviation of slums, but also for providing modern houses for people of moderate means, and it was going on in practically every city we visited.

"One thing which impressed me was that instead of building a few houses and waiting for transport facilities to be provided, matters are usually arranged the other way round. After an area lias been equipped with roads and sewerage transport by bus is provided, and while at the beginning such a venture may run at a loss, it results in the early settlement of the area concerned, and, taking the long view, would really be profitable."

Mr. Priestman also commented on the development of roading in Canada. The good roads everywhere, he said, made touring very pleasant. Even on gravel roads, in the more remote regions, preparations of salt were used to keep down the dust.

Mr. W. Gee Taylor, manager for the Colonial Motor Company in Auckland, who returned with Mrs. Taylor after a trip of fivo months in England, the United States and Canada, when asked to say what was his outstanding impres-1 sion, replied without hesitation, "The marvellous recovery of England, and the tremendous amount of building that is going on. We saw that even in villages in Scotland."

Mr. Taylor said 18,500 American tourists landed in London in one week in July. The tourist trade seemed to have been diverted to England, probably because of the exchanges. At the Radio Olympia, one manufacturer's orders had gone up 100 per cent in the first three days. He would not like to express an opinion as to conditions in America, except to say that thoy were not nearly so good as in Englaud.

Any changes in 1930 British cars, he said, would be modifications rather than real changes. He could not speak about American cars, as he had not seen any of their new productions.