SLOW MOVEMENT OF KIWIS INTO GISBORNE STATE HOUSES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22571, 26 February 1948, Page 4

SLOW MOVEMENT OF KIWIS INTO GISBORNE STATE HOUSES

THE slow movement of Kiwi ex-servicemen and their families through the Gisborne transit camp, and the rapid accumulation of arrears in Kiwi housing in general were the subjects of strong protests at a meeting of the transit camp tenants held last evening, when the troubles of the returned men and their dependants were° placed before a delegation of the executive of the Gisborne Returned Services’ Association.

Speakers on behalf of the Kiwi tenants of the camp stressed the fact that:

©ln two years only 26 families had been moved from the camp into State houses. ©Behind the families in the camp was a back-log of applicants running into hundreds, nearly 200 of which were classified as “extremely urgent” cases. ©They felt fully Justified In asking for a marked increase in the number of State-house units allocated to Gisborne. and also In the proportional allocations to ex-servicemen and their families. The meeting was presided over by Mr. L. E. Torrie, and was attended by a majority of the tenants in the camp, whose representations were heard by I Messrs. J. Leggat, president of the Gisborne R.S.A., I. J. Quigley, A. W. Harper, W. Bourke, and A. H. Miller. 26 Families Moved Into State Houses On behalf of the tenants, Mr. Torrie reviewed their experiences and complaints, pointing out that when they entered the camp they realised that they might have some time to wait, but reposing some confidence in their prospects in view of the promise of priority in the allocation of State houses. He stated that just prior to the opening of the camp six houses were filled from waiting applicants. Since that time 26 families had moved out of the camp direct to rental units in Gisborne, and three other units had been filled by men whose circumstances were considered to justify a .pecially urgent priority. There were left in the transit camp four of the original families, and these "oldest inhabitants” had some assurance of getting rental units fairly soon; but the units now almost ready for occupation would not make any appreciable contribution to the solution of the whole problem of the waiting Kiwis. The slow .rate .of completion .of State houses in Gisborne was exemplified, said Mr. Torrie, by official figures for the past two years. In the year ended March 31, 1946, there

were only 14 houses completed; and in the fo’lowing year a further 21 were finished for occupation. From March to November of the current financial year, Mr. Torrie said, the Auckland district has 350 houses completed, Hamilton had 100, Napier had 59. New Plymouth 31, and Wellington 456. The Napier figure of 59 included the 18 completed in Gisborne, during that time. Gisborne's 18 did not compare well with New Plymouth’s 31, in view of the comparable population figures. Allocation Inadequate The allocation of 50 per cent of completed houses to Kiwi applicants was inadequate, In view of the fact that civilian applicants had had the years of the war in which to fill their housing reouirements. Kiwi applicants had a feeling that while the State Advances Corporation’s committee which dealt with civilian applicants had many specially urgent cases to handle, the general urgency of the civilian needs was substantially Jess than that of the Kiwis. The Gisborne transit house tenants urged that the R.S.A. should continue its efforts to secure an improved allocation of available houses for young married Kiwis, and also to secure the construction of a large number of houses in this district by the State Housing Division. In a general discussion which followed the chairman’s remarks, Mr. Leggat, on behalf of the Gisborne R.S.A. executive, outlined the representations already made to impress the Government with the plight of Kiwi applicants for houses, and stressed the executive’s appreciation of the severe handicaps under which ex-servicemen of the late war were facing the serious responsibilities of bringing up families. He undertook to report the representations of the transit camp tenants to his colleagues, and promised that every effort would be made to secure some amelioration of their prospects.