OVERCROWDING IN NAPIER.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IV, Issue 428, 6 August 1915, Page 2

OVERCROWDING IN NAPIER.

INEFFICIENT BY-LAAVS

I\>PE( fIDN OF SUSPENDED POKTICOES. .A I 10-night 's Napier Borough ( 'olltieil iiiii'tiiii; tlie engineer (Mr. Warren) forwarded a. report from the Building liisDector. ol which ihe lolloping is MU ext racl :

“I wi.-li respect fully io draw; thi’ at tent ion of the council to liy-law AhA’ 173 re dw clliiig house ntix.’s. I that tins tix'-lnw was nuul'* and hrongl’t info Jorce witli tlie otiieet ol preven’yiug overcrow (ling and shmi-ltotising'■ i-y'i allowing dwellings on r('.'ir allotments ontv mi tlm best ot conditions. In this respect, in my opinion it tails in its purpose: it) Because although it. sjseeities ccrUiiii conditions regarding distances surrounding a dwelling it' erected on a rear allotment, it does not specify that such conditions are to he. applicable—vice versa — or that in the event ot a dwelling being erected in front of an existing rear dwelling; (2) therefore if any Jiersons should desire, to evade this by-law, they would! only require to ere< i the rear dwelling 'first, and could afterwards ereel a trout, dwelling without providing the spaces to boundary lines or even a 10 foot ft’OTitage to the rear dwelling; (3) this liy-law, it it is intended to prevent overcrowding to the acre, w shmi-honsing. it tails in this respect lor although distances arc specified as between the rear house and the rear

boundary line ol the front allotment or allotments. it. however, does not specify that there shall lie any distance between the rear house and the rear boundary of the rear allotment;, the by-law does not prevent- back-to-back dwellings which is considered one of the worst features of faulty town planning. “I wish also to rcspechully draw the attention of the council to tlie new by-law for verandahs and porticoes' within No. 1 district, and about to come into lorce: That these structures on the suspension or cantilever princiciple. lieiug directly overhead of pedeG trian tralti'’ in the busiest streets, should be siibiected to more than the

ordinary provisions under the old bylaw lor niaintaiiiing such structures, will in ihe 'ourse ol time become a.

nienaie to the safety ol tlie public. A. large factor of safety will be imposed by me in allow ing the erection of these structures, but I am sure it will be patent to anyone t hat in this town with the prevailing salt air, such tactor lor safety, if not properly eared for v. ill become reducible with the age and ’neglect ol the vital parts, such as tension rods, pins and bolts in knuckle joints and adjustable threads which will mostly lie exposed. In my opinion such structures .should receive, attention annually in the presence oi the Inspector of Buildings and as he may require. The work probably required to be done would be re-adjust-ment if tension rods, coating and neutering where necessary on ail exposed struetm’al ironwork."