WHERE TO BUILD

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 45, 21 August 1925, Page 9

WHERE TO BUILD

MUNICIPAL HOUSES

WILTON'S BUSH OR NORTHLAND ?

CITY COUNCIL DIVIDED ON QUESTION.

-„. . Important proposals in. connection with the housing question in Wel- : lingtori. were before the City Council ' i ■ last evening iv the. ' report of the i Housing Committee recommending : , That a portion'of tho Wilton Bush Estate be reserved for the' council's ... liouse-bullding sohemfe, Rnd that the "necessary "pUii and survey be pre- , pared forthwith. The committee also .recommended that '»-seven sections in the.Stokes street block,. .owned by. the council, be submitted to 1 public auction at upset prices fixed by .the.City Valuer;.that sixteen sections in ■■ the ■-Northland ' block bo.' also sold by public auction with certain, prices at-. tached to them. The.same procedure was recommended in regard to the Con-' Jon block, five sections, including one i with a ; house on. it, and twenty^one sections in. Standen street. COUNCILLOR TROUP ON REAL FACTORS Councillor. Troup,. chairman of the Housing^Committee, said that the report' was by no meaiis a unanimous report o! thcr-Housing- Committee. _ [ The' difference of opinion lay in regard to the first proposal. Two of the members of the .committee considered it would be "wiser to build at Northland. ' 110 considered that they should keep their house-build- : ing for- !one block,. either' Wilton's. Bush" x>r..at. Homebush,. Khahdallah." Wilton's Bush offered a cheaper development for the /fifty, houses it. was. proposed-, to build. The house's coiiM be built more, cheaply if ..built in a large number* in \ one localityi' .Sections woujd. be.cheap-.' er and better, at Wilton's Bush than ■ at Northland." ;At the Lower Hutt they "had . tacklecf the problem . in. .n. proper ''way.... Scattered effort meant more expensive"'effort.'", „ . ..,-.' Councillor ' Monteitri' seconded the • adoption of the first clause. TWO OPPONENTS • , Councillor W. H. Bennett moved'an amendment to transfer the efforts of the City Council in housing to the Drysdale block at Northland. The committee was in earnest. The block at Northland had water, drainage, and electric light, with a school in the immediate vicinity, and transport expected. There was room for about twenty sections* The land was ready for building. It would 1 .cost the council a very large sum to get. water"'and drainage to Wilton's Bush,, and there was no transport. Councillor H. D. Bennett seconded the amendment. They should not go past I the land where the council had already incurred 'expenses for residential facili- . ties. There, would be ample room for . twenty houses on the Northland site, and after building those the council would be in a bettor position to turn ,'';'tb Wilton's Bush. j ' Councillor Monteith . described the <l I Northland property as awkward to cut 'up. .The, sections would only be grave- { yard .'plots. ' The principle of dotting a :' few houses here and a few there inevitably meant increased cost. The council would only, incur a similar frost to that it had incurred in its earlier housing sohemes. FACE THE 1 FACTS, SAYS COUN- ' -■ CILLOR SEMPLE Councillor Semple said that tho two .majn points stressed by housing authorities were mass production and concentration. , The council was to raise £50,000 to build, say, 60 houses. If Councillor Bennett's idea was right, then that -was the place, but he felt that j some of the sections were not fit to build on,- unless they put some on a ditch and hung others on the edge of a precipice. ! , Surely they had more than 60 houses in j mind. It was a tragedy that there was such a shortage of houses. The council should endeavour to grapple with the problem on a bold, large scale. They should take ia certain portion of the town,area and adopt the policy of mass production. The opportunity seemed good at Wilton's Bush. People could have' gardens. .' All the facts'should'be taken into '. consideration. .They must : face-the-fact that there were thousands of people without proper homes. He had nuade house to house inspection of the slum areas of the city, and he had been positively disgusted. Sydney, London, Manchester —they could not . find worse slum areas and' housing 1 conditions than in the city of Wellington. If. they; went to Wilton's ,bush people would "begin to realise.'that the City Council . was beginning to tackle the problem,seriously. The hour had struck when' they had to. demonstrate to' the ratepayers that they were in earnest in their, efforts.; „ ,Thoy had to face all the problems of a growing city, and the . expansion' of ". drainage, roading, and transport was inevitable. Let the council, lay the foundation of a soliemo that would enable councils of the future to follow in their footsteps. POINTS OF COMPARISON The Wilton Bush area, Councillor Aston agreed, was in many respects an admirable one, but it was not served by roads, transport, and other services, and as a result there would be delay in getting under way with a housing scheme there, whereas in Northland tho council had land which was already provided with the services necessary for a residential area. Further, there were only ten or so more building sites at Wilton . Bush than there were at Northland. The thing ■was to make a start at once, and that could not be done at Wilton's Bush. THE BETTER PLACE—WHICH ? Which was the better place to, live in, asked Councillor Manton; that was the real question. Already there were a good many houses in the vicinity of the Wilton Bush area, and. in any case the council could not long delay opening up the whole area in a proper fashion. The amendment was opposed by Councillor M'Keen, who maintained that the j \majority of the sections at Northland , were not really suitable for building, and that the Wilton Bush area should be decided upon as a block capable of very considerable extension. Bus services would remove all transport difficulties. It was , unfortunate, said tho Mayor, that the members of the Housing Committee had been unable to bring down a unanimous report, and in view.of that ■■ difference, of opinion amonq-those who had particularly interested themselves in the matter it would probably be better if further information were- made available. He felt it would be wise to consider very carefully the'benefits which ■ could _bo obtained from commencing operations in areas where drainage, etc., was already available. Ho euggested that a report should be made by the engineer, giving the estimated cost of providing cervices in both tho areas in question. A CENTRAL WORKSHOP j .The .svJ.lple.pf. the. .land, un,der..diiscus- ■ •wircaatti wlthiira radraßfil a 'milg,eaid'j

Councillor J. Burns, and there was no reason why a central workshop should not bo erected and operations conducted from it. 'The average'working'man not want a very large sectionj" a piece of land 40 by about 150 feet would be ample. The thing was to make a start" right away, and that could best "be done at Northland. Councillor Troup: "Give us the money and we will start within a week—at Wilton's Busb:" _ _ -. ( A lot had been said about \mass "production, continued Councillor Burns, but where was the labour to come.from? It would ' not. be possible to have three or four houses in hand at once for that very reason. . . . Councillor Troup: "Oh, nonsense." . It was nonsense to talk of building thirty houses at once,- retorted Councillor Bums. . .. . "You find us the money and we will find the-labour,", said Councillor Semjjle. Councillor Meadowcroft urged' the irn-_ portaiice of a model development on the Wilton's Bush area. WHY NOT BOTH? The Mayor asked if there was any rea-sdn why the-Conlori'Estate'should hot be included. ..'.., Councillor Troup' said that • the mere fact of cheaper "houses aiid cheaper sections at Wilton's.Bush ought'to convince any councillor. It was not. tho slightest' use' pu'ttinV a few houses here and a few there. • Councillor Semple. asked if the Mayor's suggestion would, involve commencing at Northland 'first.;. ... _./... 1 1 ■ The Mayor replied in the negative. The council could decide on the engineer's report where to.etai-t ; .' , . , ........ Councillor Burns said that houses could not be" built" for less "than"£lloo,"house" and section. .Councillor Troup:."Yes"'w ( e "can build them. It is being done" in many' other ■places." Councillor Burns: "Northland has the advantage of the tramway." [ Councillor Manton ::."Where?'•'.. . . . I Councillor Bum: "Well, it will come in time." (Laughter.)- ' Councillor Thompson said .he hoped that .the council would not. be; asked ,to vote'on the.question, as they really had not sufficient facts to go on.' :" The Mayor: "What about a visit by the council?" „, Councillors: ; "A very pood idea." " Councillor Troup, agreed'that it would be desirable, perhaps. In regard to road construction,, not one /penny would be required to. be spent on that; they had the roads. Drainage .'and. water would have to be supplied in any case for houses already being built. ■ Councillor Semple said that, the case of the committee was so sound,, so just, and so logical that "they "would be glad for councillors to see things for themselves. The proposal in the recommendation was deferred, the council agreeing to visit the locality. SALE OF SECTIONS . Councillor M'Keen opposed the adoption of the clauses proposing the eale of forty-seven sections. The council did not know at the moment how far it would go with it« housing scheme, and it was quite possible that in the future it would want the very land which it was proposed ;to sell. Councillor Semple also opposed the eale of the sections. To what purpose would money realised by the sale ,of land be put, asked Councillor .Monteith. The Mayor replied that some of the> money would probably go back to the general fund. With that Councillor Troup disagreed •, it had been decided by the council at its last meetI ing that certain sections should be sold ! that money could'be obtained for build-' ing houses. "I cannot' understand our friends on the other side of :the table," said Councillor W. H. Bennett; "in one breath they say that we should not build on these sections, and in the nevt they say that we should not sell them. What do they want*'to do with them? Eat them?" The clause was adopted, the Labour [ councillors dissenting.