CITY COUNCIL EMPOWERING BILLS

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24979, 13 September 1946, Page 5

CITY COUNCIL EMPOWERING BILLS

Sir,—Regarding a paragraph stating that a bill has been passed in the House of Representatives that empowers the City Council to buy “beck” land for development of housing sections, as an owner of such land I would be glad of further information. There has never to my knowledge been any discussion in open council that such a bill was being prepared. My pertinent questions are: What committee of the council has been responsible? What are the rights that are being acquired by the council? And what rights are owners to be deprived of? In short, what new form of socialisation of the land is being sought by a professedly' antisocialist council?—Yours, etc., L.H. September 10, 1946.

[Cr. G. D. Griffiths, chairman of the housing and town planning committee of the Christchurch City Council, replies to this letter as follows: ‘‘The bill is to enable the City Council to acquire, subdivide and develop lands suitable for housing, to provide the necessary amenities such as roads, and to sell building allotments for the purpose of housing construction. The price to be charged by the council (or allotments must no so calculated as to return only the cost ef land and improvements, together with 5 per cent, for administrative charge*. The bill gives the council the same power to take land for this purpose under the Public Works Act as it has to take land for any other public purpose. The object of the bill is to enable the development of back areas which have been left virtually unuseable by the selling off of sections on the street frontages. The great majority of owners of such land will welcome the opportunity of disposing of it to the council, and it is not expected that the council will have to resort to the Public Works Act in order to make much-needed building sections available to returned servicemen and others. The decision of the council was made in open meeting on December 12, 1945, and wa, fully reported in the newspapers, and the bill has been advertised and objections invited as required by law. There is no question of socialisation or even of public ownership of the land because as soon as it has been developed it will be sold .to private owners."!