UTILITY PLAN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 254, 27 October 1942, Page 4

UTILITY PLAN

HOUSES AND OFFICES

ACCOMMODATION PROBLEM

"If we are to have military camps close to the city why not select suitable localities and build shells of good homes which can be completed when the war is over," said the Minister of Housing and Public Works, Mr. on his arrival from Wellington this afternoon. Mr. Armstrong said that houses could be built up to a certain standard and made to accommodate, say, 20 soldiers, although afterwards when properly finished they could be tenanted by families of five. "We must plan for the future," said the Minister. "What is needed is a practical scheme, where defence requirements are concerned to ensure that everything is based on utility as far as possible. There is an increasing demand from the mili-j tary tor accommodation for men and for offices and stores. Naturally, we are anxious to speed up the construction of all that is necessary. Everything that can be taken in the way Of accommodation, especially in Auckland and Wellington, has been secured and we have practically come to the lunit of taking other people's places and now we want to see that the buildings which are still needed are built in such a way that they will nave value after the war is over. I don t mean 'pulling down for removal' value, but value as permanent structures when completed after they are no longer needed by the military authorities."

Spend More Money It was better to spend a little more money now on buildings if they had a future value than merely to run up places that would have to come down immediately the war was over the Minister added. lie referred to uncompleted blocks of houses up to eight units in Auckland and Wellington. His view was that they could be put into shape for soldiers. It would not be necessary to build a kitchen for each unit as a communal kitchen would serve the purpose. Mr. Armstrong referred to the storage accommodation that had had to be provided on account of the war and said that much of it had already been bespoken for the peace period. "We have been building as j far as possible in localities where the buildings will have definite com-

mercial value," he said. Motor car factories In Wellington were now being used for other purposes, but they were not sufficient for present needs and extra accommodation had been provided close by. He expressed the view that everything in such localities would be needed after the war and would be of value. Referring to railway storage plans in Wellington, Mr. Armstrong said that certain accommodation was now being used for purposes other than required by the department. The sheds were being pushed on for present needs, but their value after the war would be incalculable. "We are endeavouring to anticipate future requirements in every way possible," he concluded. While in Auckland Mr. Armstrong will confer with the Auckland City Council and possibly other local bodies in respect to building requirements.