Selwyn M.P. supports tenants at Rolleston

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 2

Selwyn M.P. supports tenants at Rolleston

State tenants in Rolleston wanting first option to buy their houses have found a champion for their argument in the member of Parliament for Selwyn, Miss Ruth Richardson. The 23 tenants feel cheated by the Lands and Survey Department’s proposal to put the land up for public tender. They feel that they will be unable to compete'on those terms. A spokesman, Mr C. Guthrey, said that the tenants wanted first option on the properties and that the blocks, between one and five acres, should be balloted rather than tendered. They took their grievance to Miss. Richardson, who

questioned the Minister of Lands, Mr Elworthy, about the issue. Miss Richardson wrote to him, saying that she supported the sale pf Crown land and was delighted that the process was . about to begin in Rolleston but that the tenants should be given first option to buy. The desire of tenants to own their properties should not be frustrated by “excessive bureaucracy,” she said. Many of them had lived in the district for some years and should not have to "queue up with all-comers” to buy the homes which anchored them to it, Miss Richardson said.