HOMES AT LOWER HUTT

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 109, 4 November 1926, Page 5

HOMES AT LOWER HUTT

DEPARTMENTAL HEADS' VISIT

THE GREAT THING—CO-OPER-ATION

HOW THE SCHEME PBOGEESSES.

' By invitation o£ the Lower Hutt Housing Committee, the administrative officers of the several State Departments concerned with the carrying out of the development scheme for Eastern Hutt, paid a visit to the Mandel block yesterday afternoon. The guests were Mr. "W. Waddell, Superintendent of State Advances, Messrs. J. Hanna and G. Halliday, of the Public Works Department, Mr. H. G. Davis, of the Architectural Branch of the Railway Department, Mr. T. Brooks, Valuer-General, Mr. F. ,J. Martin, District Valuer, and Mr. G. L. Sykes, M.P. The members of the committecj most of whom were present, are Mr. D. A. Ewcn (chairman), Sir Alexander Roberts, Dr. W. E. Herbert, Messrs. W. T. Strand, D. J. M'Gowan, H. Vickerman, L. M. Ellis, W. Gray Young, T. J. Aickin, and D. Wilson. An hour or so was spent by the party in going over the Mandel block, where building is going ahead at a pace far ahead of anything in other suburbs of Greater Wellington. The homes, each of five rooms, some in wood, some in concrete blocks, are in various stages: foundations only, frameworks up, almost completed, ready for the papcrers, finished; and in 46 cases are real homes with the household furniture and the young&ters in them. No house is costing more than £.900, land included, and the 50 concrete block houses just now being started are actually, a "Post" reporter was told by a member of the committee, beating the wooden houses in price. VASTLY IMPROVED CONDITIONS. Just what these houses mean to_ the pockets of the tenants was explained bys the chairman of the commitee when the party went on to the pavilion at Eiddiford Park for afternoon tea. The number of cottages finished and allotted was 46, he said; 16 were now nearly finished, and 25 more were under construction, making a total of 87. Contracts had already been let for 58 more, and the committee had. authority to go ahead to a total of 250. The first 28 families to whom cottages were allotted consisted of 164 persons, of whom 108 were children. Under their old conditions they occupied 86 rooms, including kitchens, and either shared conveniences or were without proper services. That worked out at nearly two persons per room, and the rent averaged £1 9s Id per family, and 9s 6d per room. Under the new conditions these people occupied 140 rooms, or one and one-seventh persons per room, the lent per room became -Is sd, and per family 225. That meant a direct saving of 7s per family per week, quite apart from the vastly improved conditions given by ample room,/garden space', and good surroundings. ' Though it entailed considerable work, continued Mr. Ewen, the members of the committee called upon all prospective tenants, and that they found to be not the least interesting part of their work. In selecting the tenants the committee considered, first, those people who were in serious need of better housing, particularly those with families; secondly, those among home-ueek-ors who kept their places and gardens clean and tidy; thirdly, those who could be relied upon to meet their obligations as to rent and other outgoings regularly. The settlement was being given a ■very good start, and how it would look in a few years' time must depend very , largely upon the pride which those who lived there took in their homes and in the settlement. WORK MADE POSSIBLE BY DEPARTMENTS. The scheme could never have been carried out without the assistance and co-operation of the State Departments, continued Mr. Ewen, and to the Departments, and particularly to the administrative officers, the committee wished to express its heartfelt thanks. The scheme had appealed to the Prime Minister, and him the committee had to thank for much of the punch that had been put into the work from first to last. All present knew also that without the energetic work of the Mayor of Lower Hutt, Mr. W. T. Strand, the present development could not have taken its present form. The committee had every hope that the scheme would be a full success and that it might also serve as an example to the rest of New Zealand. If in a little time the members saw built up a happy, ordered settlement then each would feel amply repaid. THE SPIRIT OF HEARTY COOPERATION. It was extremely kind of the chairman to say that the Mayor of Lower Hutt had been so largely responsible for the success of the work, said Mr. Strand, but really the Mayor was of less importance than the committee; they were the people who made the development go along.. Ho and every j member of the Housing Committee appreciated to the full -the admirable work done by departmental officers, not only during office hours but in their own time, towards sending the work ahead. Each Department had worked in with the next; there had been no missing cog, and he believed -that, now that the officers Rad seen what their joint efforts had brought about in comparatively little time, even greater • co-operation would be given in future. As State Departments had joined hands in this project,'so had the business men of-the Hutt and the city worked together and with the Departments in the fullest spirit of co-operation, and the result, he believed, was one of the best movements as far as housing was concerned anywhere in the Dominion. What had been done in the Hutt Valley could also be done in other parts of New Zealand. Mr. Sykes warmly complimented the committee and the Departments upon the success of their work. Government officers were fully alive to the necessity of providing better homes for New Zealand's people who could not without some such assistance ever obtain the good surroundings to which they were cnttiled. Two great factors made for greater human happiness, first, better education, secondly, good homes, and to assist those who, try as they might, could not get over the first difficulty to get away from slums to God's fresh air and sunshine was a noble and useful work. - A peculiar thing about the Hutt people, said Dr. Herbert, was that it was impossible to place a finger on anyone r.nA say: "You're the chap who did this"; no one could be found who would take the credit for doing anything. Therefore he had no idea who should lie thanked for the hospitality accorded the party. However, ho thanked someone unknown. (Laughter and applause.)