HOUSING ACCOMMODATION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 39, 12 January 1945, Page 4

HOUSING ACCOMMODATION

Sir, —I shall be pleased if you will allow me as a resident of Whakatane of nearly a year's standing to stress through your columns the very serious position into which your town is drifting. I refer tc» the acute shortage of accommoda-:' tion of any sort. I ihysfclf am one of the victims and I feel that b$ voicing my opinion I will be at least giving some service to many others who like myself may desire to settle down after a few years away on active service. I have searched this town thoroughly for a but there appears to be absolutely no prospect whatsoever. The whole thing means that. I have but one alternative and i ' that is to go to one. of the larger where they at least supply emergency accommodation, and find a new job. I am extremely loath to do this, as both my intended and myself are fond of but what are we to do. Now Sir, I am but one of many who will be. hoping to live in your town ami yet wil,l be unable to do so on account of tjae housing shortage. As a result your commercial life must suffer and suf•J fer acutely. There will be no pros-* pect of expanding industry in any direction after the war, if you have not the homes to offer skilled workmen ! I appreciate the fact that this problem is but that surely will not prevent Whakatane taking what measures it can to over-% come its own particular hurdle. What I 5 am about to suggest is something along the lines, which was' put forwaqd by one sof your Borough Councillors some months ago. Only recently the Auckland Herald mentioned in an article that the Wsr Realisation Board something like 13 000 buildings on its hands for disposal. Oil the face of it, no-» thing seems simpler than that these buildings, or at leas', l\m most suitable ones should be transferred lo the centres where the housing shortage is most acute, and equipped as temporary homes. I know that this has been suggested in the past and not favoured by the Borough Council, but I contend that the position for your town's future is so serious that it would become your Council to go flat out in order to secure some of those buildlngs j and set them up, or allow them to be set up on private byamending the. building by-jaws to suit the temporary need. It. will require the Council to act in order to get precedence in the type of buildings which are needed. Why not secure a list of sections which are available at the present timeMany of the owners are keen to build and lack only the permits Military buildings which >vould suit as temporary homes now, could be utilised as outhouses later on when a more modern home goes up. Some-* thing at least would be accomplish-*' ed to help keep the workers; in the town. ' Naturally I feel strongly on this subject, but I think there must be many others who can sympathise with me and are also seized with the seriousness of the position,* Unless something is I warn your town will suffer drastically in. the general expansion of business and commerce in the years following the war. Yours etc. w RIP VAN WINKLE-