FIRST FIFTY HOUSES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 305, 24 November 1937, Page 8

FIRST FIFTY HOUSES

NEW STATE BLOCK. ROADING TO START. Tenders for, fifty dwellings on the State housing block at West End have been let to date, and activities have entered upon a busier phase. Numbers of the new dwellings are. nearly complete, and, services are being connected to them, while others are in various stages of construction. Operations to date have been confined wholly to the Cook and College Streetß frontages. . . There is no indication yet wlien the new dwellings are to be occupied. Meanwhile, developmental work is proceeding, and a start is being made on/the first 20 chains of internal roading of the block. There are 67 chains to be constructed, and tenders are now being called for the work °" “' e remainder. The streets will be 50f . wide, and it is intended by the Housing Department that they shall eventually be sealed, after which theywi l be dedicated to the City Council, which will become responsible lor their maintenance. , No steps will probably be taken lor some time —at least not before the development of the whole block is at a very advanced stage—to lay out the recreational area’of 6? acres in the centre. This will be oblong in shape, but with rounded ends. the College Street conduit in front of the block has been completed and, along this and the Cook Street frontage, a start has been made with kerbing, channelling, and the formation of footways. The Park Road frontage will be dealt with subsequently, as circumstances warrant. EMPLOYMENT ADVANCE. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Nov. 23. Evidence of the considerable advance now being made in employment through the operation of the Government’s housing scheme was disclosed by Mr J. A. Lee, Parliamentary Un-der-Secretary, who stated that on August 20 the total number of men engaged in house construction was about 1400 to which could be added another 1400 indirectly employed in preparing the material. By September 17 the number employed was 1600, with probably another 1600 engaged in preparing The return for November 12 was 2500 directly employed, so in all probability the operations were giving employment to no fewer than 5000 people. Mr Lee added that building was actually proceeding in 27 towns and the number of houses advertised on November 12 was 2011.