GOVERNMENT OFFICES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21888, 25 August 1934, Page 14

GOVERNMENT OFFICES

NEW BUILDING NEEDED SCATTERED DEPARTMENTS INADEQUATE ACCOMMODATION The announcement by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Coates, in his Budget speech that a new administrative block to house Government departments is to bo built in Auckland is welcomed by the staffs of many departments of State in Auckland, who for years past have been working under considerable difficulties owing to the inadequacy of office accommodation. Tho offices of Government departments in Auckland are at present scattered indiscriminately round the city. Office buildings in High Street, Anzac Avenue and Emily Place all house Government departments, and the post offices in Shortland Street and Wellesley Streot accommodate branches of the civil which have hardly more than an academic interest in tho affairs of the Post and Telegraph Department. The existing Government Buildings in Customs Street West, now ' undergoing a much-needed spring cleaning, have for years been inadequate fortheir purpose. They house the local offices of the Customs, Lands and Survey, Public Works, Marine, Transport, Treasury and Valuation Departments, but their capacity is still overtaxed. From time to time other departments which once were housed thero have been thrust out from the atmosphere of departmental dignity to nestle cheek by jowl with commerce. A few years ago tho official assignee's office was in the Government Buildings,, but it has changed its abode at least twice since then.

Offices In High Street The housing of the Internal Affairs Department is somewhat unusual. Tho officer in charge at Auckland is in the Government Buildings, but, should he wish to confer with the passport officer, ho must go to the Law Court Building in High Street, which actually houses more departmental offices than the main administrative block. One goes there to attend meetings of creditors in the office of the official assignee in bankruptcy; to " register births, deaths or marriages; to' be placed on the electoral roll; to inquire about State advances; or interview the inspectors of tho Land and Income Tax Department. The departments of Forestry and Mines are also situated there. The Government Life Insurance Building in Queen Street houses, in addition to the local office of that de.partment, the Auckland branch of tho Tourist Department, for which a Queen Street site is more or less essential, and the local office of the Board of Trade, which comes under the Department of Industries and Commerce. The Labour Department and the State Fire and Accident Insurance Office are tucked away in the post office building in Shortland Street. The Wellesley Street post office shelters the Pensions and Education Departments, as well as the psychological clinic of the Mental Hospitals Department. Separate Buildings

Several departments have their own accommodation. The new railway station provides ample space for administrative offices, while the chief post office houses fairly the local staff of the Post and Telegraph Department. Accommodation is limited in both the Supreme Court and the Magistrate's Court, and the Defence Department is also somewhat cramped in the Drill Hall in Rutland Street'. The central police station in O'Rorke Street was added to comparatively recently, but it hardly provides room to spare. The Public Trust has its own offices in Albert Street. Among tho other scattered departments for which privato accommodation has to be rented are the Agriculture Department in Paykel's Building, Anzac Avenue, the Health Department in Pukemiro Chambers, Anzac Avenue, the Native Department in Emily Place, and the Government laboratory in Professional Chambers, High Street. To pay stamp duties, one has to climb a staircase in a building in Courthouse Lane. The Government already owns land in tho city which could be utilised for the erection of a new administrative block, and the City Council advanced tentative proposals some time ago for the exchango of other sites.

SITE NOT YET CONSIDERED HOPES FOR EARLY DECISION [BV TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL BKrOKTEIt] Wellington; Friday "Practical details of the scheme have not yet been worked out and the question of a site or sites has not been considered," said the Hon. J. Bitchener, Minister of Public Works, when questioned to-day regarding the Budget announcement of the proposal to erect a new administrative block of buildings to house Government departments in Auckland. Tho Minister said the decision had only recently been made, but officers of his department would shortly begin a report on the sites available and tentative plans would ( probably bo prepared at a fairly early date to enable the Cabinet to reach a decision. It was not anticipated that the preliminary work would bo completed in time to enable constructive work to begin before next year. One suggestion heard here to-dav was that tho Shortland Street post office site might be used for tho purpose in mind and that tho scheme would probably involve the demolition of tho existing buildings. This site belongs to the Government and has the advantage of being central.