WORKMEN REMOVED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 50, 18 February 1944, Page 5

WORKMEN REMOVED

ESSENTIAL WORK IN CITIES -COUNTRY TOWNS SUFFER Some illuminating remarks • -with regfard to the growing housing problem in the smaller country towns, were made by Cr W. Sullivan, at the meeting of the Whakatane Borough Council last Monday evening. Men, who were proficient in the 'building trade, lie said had been drafted away from Hie country centres to work on essential jobs, in the towns. This had. brought, about fin : acute housing shortage in the small towns such as Whakatane because there had been no construction. What the Council should do was to urge that tliese tradesmen lie manpowered back again in order to give the town, a chance. The same tiling applied to timber in the Bay of Plenty, all of which ■was being taken out of the district. It. was a case of bombarding the ••department or getting left. The position was assuming the nature -of all other State-controlled projects, a .system developing, which was being built up until sooner or 'later it would not be found possible to build private houses to let or for sale at all. The builder of to-day ''was so hampered with Fair llents Legislation, Land Sales Boards and •taxation that there Avas no iridueement to build. Cr Shapley added that men from 'Whakatane had. been taken to the larger centres and put to work on -amenities for which their own town was in desperate need. Yet they chad no redress as, they were classed essential workers and could not get ti>ack again. Cr Sullivan: If a man is working on a State house, no •one can touch him. He is an 'essential worker, but if he is engaged on a private - cottage or home for an individual person, the Government can take him— it doesn't matter if the house is half finished or not. In my opinion building a home for a private pei's'on is just as important as building a home for the state—as far as overcoming the housing shortage is concerned. The Mayor (Mr 13. S. Barry) added that even if the Building Controller gave a permit to build a house lie did so with the proviso that the applicant was not liable to get either the manpower or the material.