ENGLAND CHANGING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17408, 5 November 1930, Page 6

ENGLAND CHANGING

SLUM CLEARANCE SCHEME “NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON” MODERN HOUSES EVERYWHERE. “Not before time is the building of London’s slums being carried out,” said Mr. W. J. Fletcher, of the Fletcher Construction Co., who returned to Auckland from a trip aboard by the Rangitane last week. “Building is very brisk in London,” he said, “and there is no unemployment of artisans. The London County Council is putting up 70,060 houses under the slum-clearance scheme. In addition the local authorities all over the country are doing similar work. “The appearance of the country is being altered completely. A few years ago one could motor through England and pass villages with squalid houses, with no front yards or backyards—miserable little hovels, many of them without bathrooms or ordinary conveniences, which were a disgrace to the country. All that is being altered. Where many of these small houses existed there, are now modem dwellings, with nice garden plots and ample yards. It is a transformation that has not been introduced a moment too soon.

“The same applies to Scotland, where the countryside is also undergoing a metamorphosis. The houses being erected by local •authorities are not sold; they are leased ,in all' cases, but tl|| tenants are already crying out that th@j rents arc too dear.” .. ,

ilr. Fletcher said building was slowing up considerably in America and unemployment was rife, and it was quite obvious' that conditions were not going to improve quickly. As far as'’England was concerned, there was much unemployment in the Midlands—much more than in Scotland. The Clyde was undergoing reconstruction and there was considerable unemployment there owing to the closing down of certain yards. Shipbuilding firms had had to treble their yard capacity during the years of the war and reconstruction had now to be faced owing to the altered conditions. Roading was being pushed ahead all over England and Scotland, owing to the increasing use of motor cars, trucks and buses. Bitumen was used in most cases and it stood up well to the traffic.—Star.