‘Housing waste, in time of want’

Press, 19 October 1976, Page 5

‘Housing waste, in time of want’

A series of resolutions demanding more and better housing for the native peoples of New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific have been by passed at a conference on housing sponsored by Corso, the National Association of Priests, and the Christchurch People’s Union. About 100 participants drafted a series of resolutions to be forwarded to the Government, and another series to be presented to the third Asian-Pacific Real Estate Conference, to be held in Christchurch this week. In its resolutions to the Government, the conference taxed political leaders with having no clear plans for housing needy citizens. The Government was called on to produce rental units which would be in accord with a United Nations recommendation that low-cost housing be provided at a rate of onesixth of a worker’s wages. The Government was also

urged to extend the rentfreeze indefinitely. In spite of the housing shortage, almost SI2OM worth of housing remained empty, it was alleged. Real estate agents’ fees should be fixed by the Government to prevent profiteering. More money should be made available for housing loans, in keeping with the Government’s policy on commercial loans.

The conference challenged the spending of the $lOO,OOO it estimates will be spent on the Asia-Pacific housing conference when so many people in the Asian-Pacific region are homeless. The expenditure worked out to $2OO per delegate, it was said.

Motor-cycling.—ln a remarkable come-back from practice disaster Sydney riders Roger Heyes and Jim Budd won the Castrol six hour motor-cycle production race at Sydney’s Amaroo Park. Riding an Avon Kawasaki Z9OO Budd and Heyes defeated Melbourne rider Ken Blake and partner Tony Hatton on a BMW.