RURAL HOUSING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 191, 26 July 1940, Page 5

RURAL HOUSING

COUNCIL TO PROCEED WITH: SCHEME LIVELY AIR ABOUT THE DISCUSSION

More than the usual amount of heat developed in what is always a quiet, cool council cham ber when the Rural Housing Act came up for further consideration at the , Whakatane County Council's meeting on j Tuesday. In the facie of some |

opposition Cv McGready stout-* ly defended what he considered the rights of the ratepayers and! to counter many observations and comments his defence at times had to be spirited. A communication had been re-* ceived from the New Zealand Couidtics Association stating that owing to the recent capture of Denmark and Holland by the enemy, the Brit ish Government had sent out an urgent call for increased production af primary produce. To encourage married men to migrate to rural areas to assist in the production, liouses on farms were necessary and. Llie Rural Housing Act provided a means to that end; Advantages of Adoption.

The Association strongly recommended County Councils to give their support to the scheme and to commence a house-building crusade without delay. The latter pointed out; —■ 1. The provision of rural houses is one of the ramifications of our war effort. 2. Under the scheme, existing houses can be altered or adapted. 3. Money is provided by the Government at a low rate of interest. 4. County Councils that adopt ihe scheme will be helping in the

war effort by doing all the administrative work for a low fee. 5. Repayments will not fall; heavily on the borrower as they are spread over variable periods up to 25 years. (J. As an incentive to immediate action the "Government has promised County Councils a subsidy of 10 per cent on all houses erected before 31/12/40 or in course of erection on that date. 7. The Government is taking steps to ensure that supplies of building materials will be available 8. A County Council - will have first charge on a property, subject to safeguarding the. rights of existing mortgagees or lessees. It stated further thait' tlie 10 per cent subsidy would improve the security of the County Councils. The recommendation of the Finance and General Purposes Committee Avas that the Council should

proceed with the Rural Housing Scheme. The County Chairman said that the last decision of the Council was that the matter should be deferred and Cr Lux ton ,added that the Council had agreed to go on with the scheme when it was first suggested but there' had been an outcry and things looked so bad at the time that participation by the Whakatane County had been held aver. Now things were worse and with the appeal for increased production the present was the time for the Council to interest itself actively in the scheme. "It's Rotten," Says Councillor.

Cr McGougaa said some ratepayers thought there was too much risk but he couhl not see that himself. He asked about the objections iodged when the Council advertised its intention oi' proceeding before,, rogethcr with Cr Spenc'e, he was

)f the opinion that ratepayers favoured the scheme in principle but abjected to its administration. "The whole tiling is rotten from; start to finish," said Cr MeCready, ivho wanted to know why tlu: rate should be struck if the protection afforded by the provision of a first mortgage on the properties concern lul was sufficient. The councillor quoted the case of a County Coun-

.'il which hail been reported to have found-• itself in difficulties with the State Advances Corporation over the matter of valuations. He objected to the striking of the special rate, lie said. "You {showed some concern recently over the matter of the hospital liability," said Cr McOeady, "yet you want;to saddle the ratepayers with more. This greater production is the biggest tommy rot ever put across. Does it mean that there Will be

more produced just because of the erection of one house?" The speaker said that the solution would, be to let the Government deal direct

with the farmers. The Government . was operating the scheme through the County Councils' 'only because it wanted to give the baby to someone else to carry.' "You can move an amendment* you know," the Chairman gently reminded him. "No," said Cr McCready, "It's up to the meeting. You'll get plenty of opposition, I'M promise you that." The Harbour Board and Waterj That farmers requiring houses to accommodate their workers could only get them under some' scheme as that proposed, was the opinion interposed by Gr McGougan and the Chairman slipped in with an observation to the offect that if, as Cr McCready had suggested, houses would be built only for those farmers able to afford it, there would be no necessity to collect the rate. Cr McCready countered with a reference to the rate struck for the Harbour Board but the Chairman came again with a broadside. "You've never been called upon to pay that rate," he said. "I don't think your argument holds water. "If the State Advances is good enough to handle it, why don't they deal direct with the 1 farmer?" again proffered Cr McCready. "You'll have to take (that up with the Government," answered the Chairman, but the answer did not satisfy the councillor on his feet, who asked, "Why not the Council?" "We are not going to anyone to build houses," said Cr Burnett. '"No, but you are going to force the rate on the ratepayer," argued Cr McCready. Continuing the dialogue, the Chairman said that the only complaints would come from disappoint ed applicants for housing loans, and Cr McCready nipped in with, "Yes, those who can't afford it." 1 The Council will now await approval of its application: for a loan of £50,000.