CITY’S FUTURE NEEDS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 190, 10 May 1938, Page 17

CITY’S FUTURE NEEDS

In discussing the future policy of the city council last night, Mr, Will Appleton, a citizens’ committee candidate for the city council and harbour board, stated that two items which would need attention on the part of the incoming council would be the provision of more facilities in the way of conveniences for women in certain areas of the city. He particularly referred to Cuba .Street and to Newtown. In his opinion, more rest rooms for women and children were urgently required. Mr. Appleton also referred to motor parking. The problem was one which had given the civic authorities a great deal of worry. His own idea was that the time had arrived when vacant land belonging to the corporation should be utilised for the purpose of car parks, the land either to be conducted as such by the council itself or leased to private people at reasonable rentals. Under existing conditions hundreds of people were unable to bring their cars into the city because they had to go round two or three blocks before they could find a vacant space. Some people said that all cars should be removed from the streets, but that was not practicable. If facilities were provided for those who had their cars in town all day, the congestion would be relieved to a considerable extent, and those who had urgent business could then have the benefit of the streets for parking for limited periods. Speaking at Brooklyn on the question of housing, Mr. Appleton saitl Wellington might well take a lead from what had been done in the United States in assisting people to buy their own homes. The general policy of the United States Government had been to promote housing through corporations of its own creation for the guarantee or insurance of private credit. Under the National Housing Act, the administration had guaranteed private loans up to 80 per cent, of invested capital at reasonable rates of interest. Approximately one thousand million dollars had been loaned on these terms. More recently, the insurable limit of loans had been increased from 80 to 90 per cent. Authority had been given to issue five hundred million dollars to finance 60-year loans to housing agencies established by State and local Governments. The candidate also mentioned that much the same course had been followed in New .South Wales, where the activities of the building societies in co-opera-tion with the Government had resulted in the pro-vision of houses last year to an extent equivalent to that of the years before the depression. He maintained that if_ guarantees were made available in Wellington by the Government, in cooperation with the city council, people could readily acquire their own homes, which would be much more satisfactory than if the corporation were to go in for a building programme and act as laudlords.