GARDEN SUBURB

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22539, 2 October 1936, Page 12

GARDEN SUBURB

POSITION OF ORAKEI STATE HOUSING SITE OWNERS APPREHENSIVE DEPRECIATION IN VALUE The operations of Government surveyors on tho eastern part of the developed area of the Orakoi garden suburb are ci using some concern to owners of sections in the vicinity, who fear that tho proposed Government housing scheme will alter the character of the' suburb and reduce the value of sites which t lev bought at comparatively high p-ices. Jt is generally believed that tie surveyors are engaged in re-subdivid ng the area into smaller sections on which the Government proposes to build houses for letting to workers. Tho area inv.olved in the scheme is on tho nortl -eastern side of Coates Avenue, the straight thoroughfare which may be termed the main street iof the suburb. The other boundaries arc Rcihana and Paora Streets, with Tautari'and Apihni Streets intersecting the block. There :s a reserve of ljj acres on Coates A vein e. Present 2uarter-acre Sections The present subdivision is into 129 sections, which for tho most part are of a quarter of an acre, with a street frontage of 66ft. Owing to irregularities in thi ground it has not been possible to keep strictly to this standard, and at least two sections on Rcihana Street are three-quarters of an acre in'area. Those on Coates Avenue have 60ft. frontages. Only three or four sections have been sold, and one iiouso has been erected. Twenty-two sections on Timtari, Paora and Reihana Streets and Jive more near tho centre of the block .vere withdrawn from sale by the Lands Department about six "weeks ago. Generally speaking, the block slopes well toward the north, but the aspect of the sectioi s varies a good deal, and as a result the prices placed upon them cover a wide range, from £2OO to £l5O, the average being about £4OO. Land agents of whom inquiries were made yesterday doubted very much whether a subdivision into lots of, say, 50ft frontage coulJ bo satisfactorily carried out, since many of the existing sections are over 200 ft. deep and some 240 ft.. whereas a normal dept for 50ft. sections is about 132 ft.

Class ef House Uncertain

Tho Goveri mont has given 110 indication of the class of dwelling it proposes to erect on the property. It is quite possible that the houses will be fair-sized bungalows for higher-paid skilled workers, or they may be cottages giving i bout the same amount of accommodation as those built by the City Council at Grey Lynn or the standard type of railway cottage. Moreover, the possibility of blocks containing four or more dwellings cannot be ruled out. The area is overlooked by a number of other secti ins to the north-west and by a particularly choice area, not yet subdivided, cn tho opposite side of Coates Avenue. An some of the sections affected brought prices up to £6OO or more apiece unci carry substantial residences, the prospect that the near by block will have something like 200 rather small houses built upon it for rent.?l is disconcerting to the near by owners. Appeal to Court Recalled The situation at Orakei recalls a dispute which occurred about twelve years ago, when the Dilworth Trust Board proposed to subdivide the hockey ground in Market Road, Ilemuera, for lease in building sections. A number of the board' s lessees protested, on thp ground that in taking up their leases they had be<n influenced by the fact that the plan submitted to them showed that' there was in the vicinity a recreation ground vested in the board. The matter was taken to the Supreme Court, which gave judgment in favour of the objectors. Whether purchasers of high-priced sections in what was described as "the Orakei Garden Suburb " can obtain any redress if tho Government deliberately alters-the residential character of the area is a moot point. On town-planning principles, as applied by the City Council in zoning areas for different classes of residential occupation, they certainly appear to hsve a moral claim to some redress.