STATE HOUSES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26559, 6 September 1947, Page 6

STATE HOUSES

UNDUE PROPORTION IN NORTH AN UNDESIRABLE TREND Special to the Daily Times WELLINGTON, Sept. 5. The opinion that undesirable results will follow if it is not found possible to arrest a trend as a result of which an undue proportion of State houses is built in the North Island is expressed by the Commissioner of Works, Mr E. R. McKillop, in his annual report to tbe Ministry of Works. The commissioner states that the building of State houses has followed the applications made in various centres. He adds: “Applications for State houses create a demand which to some extent snowballs upon itself, and has resulted in an undue proportion of houses being built in the North Island, and of this nurrjber an undue proportion in the proximity of Auckland and Wellington. It is difficult to arrest this trend with the conditions at present prevailing, but if steps in this drection are not taken very soon, in a few years undesirable conditions will arise prejudicial to the interests of the country as a whole. “The Government has recently approved of the policy of decentralisation of industry, and the benefits of this are already becoming apparent in regard to proposed industrial expansion in the South Island. If more active steps in this direction can be taken, further movement can be expected away from the larger metropolitan areas and towards the South Island.