HOUSING SCHEME

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23016, 20 October 1936, Page 10

HOUSING SCHEME

OUTLINE OF PROGRESS EARLY START IN CONSTRUCTION AUCKLAND AND WELLINGTON FIRST (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Oct. 19. The progress of the Government’s housing scheme was outlined in a statement issued to-day by Mr J. A. Lee, Under-secretary in charge of the Ministry of Housing. Mr Lee indicated that early starts would be made with the construction of houses on blocks of land which the Government already owned at Auckland and Wellington. He also stated that areas had been acquired in Christchurch for housing purposes and that the position in Dunedin was being investigated. Reviewing the formation of the Ministry of Housing and outlining the various aspects of the future policy, Mr Lee paid a tribute to the executive staff of the Housing Construction Department. The director (Mr A. Tyndall), the director of town planning (Mr R. B. Hammond), the principal* architect (Mr G. F. Wilson), and the office supervisor (Mr J. W. Scott) were all highly trained and competent officers. “ The first step to be taken Is the procuring of land in districts where schemes are proposed,” Mr Lee said. All the areas of lands submitted to the Ministry of Housing will be the subject of reports by the Lands Department and the Valuation Department as a preliminary to investigation or recommendation for purchase by the Housing Department. Land, once it is acquired for housing purposes, will be transferred to the Ministry of Housing, which will have to furnish the land with the necessary public utilities, such as roads, water supply, drainage and lighting. Some of these activities are already under way in the cities, where land has already been acquired, and a great benefit will result to the local authorities by the sharing of the rating charges when the land is built oh. “The Wellington areas are at Miramar and Lower Hutt, where nearly 400 sections are available for immediate use. It is proposed to call tenders shortly for the erection of houses on these sections. In Auckland the Government possesses a large number of sections at Orakei. many of which are already roaded and drained. In other cases it is proposed to engage in the preparatory work at the earliest possible moment. As soon as Orakei or other Government areas are subdivided and roaded tenders will be called for the erection of a large number of houses there.

“ The work in connection with the Wellington and Auckland schemes will facilitate the preparation of the schemes for Christchurch and Dunedin and the secondary towns. Joinery factories at Kaiwarra and Penrose are now in course of erection and detailed plans of the houses to be erected are now being prepared. ' “While securing the benefits of mass production the Ministry of Housing will contrive to give each house an individual appearance, but this must go hand in hand with planning designed to keep the costs to a minimum. For instance, while the exterior of each house will be distinctive the actual ground plan involving the arrangement of rooms will not be varied to the same extent. In a group of 500 houses there may be 10 houses with the same ground plan, although these houses will not be situated near one another. It would be unwise at the moment to build up a gigantic Government organisation capable of carrying out all the preparatory work as a preliminary to the commencement of the real house building activity. The department would create a temporary staff at the cost of dislocating many private businesses. The department has therefore approached the New Zealand Institute of Architects with a view to obtaining the co-operation and assistance. Representatives of the Institute have been most helpful and arrangements are already in hand for the preparation of a large number of plans by Wellington members of the Institute. The co-operation of architects in other centres will probably be solicited later. “A system has been established under which the work will be carried out under the supervision of the department’s architect who, with a selected panel of members of the institute, will co-ordinate all the activity. As the plans and specifications for a number of designs are completed an accurate quantity of schedules are being prepared. They will be of assistance to the tenderers and they will ; Iso be required by the department, so that negotiations can be opened up in advance of constructions with firms which manufacture building materials in New Zealand, allowing these firms time to prepare for the additional output and enabling the Ministry of Housing to secure equitable price adjustments.” Mr Lee said that in calling for tenders for large contracts in the main centres builders and contractors would be given an opportunity of tendering for groups of houses numbering 20, multiples of 20 or the whole contract. In other centres small grouped contracts might be adopted. Referring to the Housing Survey Act, which was passed practically on the eve of the general election campaign last year, Mr Lee said the regulations under the Act, had not : > far been issued. At present the Act was to expire at the end of this year, but provision would be made for extending its p. iod of operation, while the administration would be transferred from the Internal Affairs Department to the Housing Department. As soon as the necessary amendments were passed regulations would be issued and the Ministry of Housing hoped to have the co-operation of local authorities in the carrying out of housing surveys. An effort would then be made to undertake the schemes in the order in which the survey determined their urgency.