HOUSE BUILDING IN EAST COAST TOWNSHIPS COSTLY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22952, 21 May 1949, Page 4

HOUSE BUILDING IN EAST COAST TOWNSHIPS COSTLY

INQUIRIES received bv the "Waiapu County Council as to land in county ownership which might be made available to the Housing Division for building sites at Tokomaru Bay indicate the interest which the division is taking in construction in various East Coast townships.

So far as Tokomaru Bay is concerned there has been no State building there to date, but the need for new houses in the township has been recognised for some time.

areas. Apart from the special rates of pay governing country work there are any number of hazards involved that make the life of the contractor miserable. The chance of making a substantial cheque by accepting country or Coast work does not appeal to many tradesmen, and the contractor has to be reasonably sure of his labour before committing himself. A lot of country work is done these days by one-man firms, employing labour as often as possible, but depending in the main upon the skill and energy of the builder himself. Back and Forth From Home Operators who can get all the work they need in Gisborne look dimly upon the conditions governing out-of-town employment for carpenters, plumbers, painters and other related-trades workers. If a contractor has a good group of men who can work congenially in comparatively isolated localities he still has a headache in the demand for transport at week-ends, and even daily. One Gisborne operator who has country jobs on hand drives his tradesmen to the job every day and brings them home in the afternoon. The process binds him to a 60mile run each day and an allowance of two hours’ travelling time per day for each man employed. The time is long gone when skilled men would accept the discomforts of camping on the job for the sake of the big money they could make by working 10 or 11 hours per day. Town life has too many attractions for them, and they count heavily the advantage of being at home for the two-da.v weekend when jobs around the house or for their friends and acquaintances can be carried out.

One of the major difficulties is to find suitable land for the purpose, since most of the building sites in Tokomaru Bay are in Maori ownership. What little land is in European ownership and suitably placed for building purposes has been inspected, and the Housing Division has formed tentative plans for the use of one site which may accommodate a large group of units. Contractors Not Keen on Country

The cost of reading this site will have to be taken into account, but this is not the major obstacle. On the basis of past experience, the division realises tht building in any Coast township is likely to exceed by a good margin the cost of building in Gisborne. Building contractors arc nod keen on taking work which necessitates moving labour from its home

An important factor in the situation is the higher standard of domestic organisation demanded by the average skilled tradesman’s wife. Twenty years ago the operative’s wife accepted as part of the domestic environment prolonged absences on the part of her husband. Today she feeis that skill in employment should entitle a man to a steady job near his home.