LIVING IN TENT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 81, 31 May 1946, Page 5

LIVING IN TENT

LOCAL FAMILY’S PLIGHT

EX-SERVICEMAN’S EXPERIENCE

With the nip of winter already in the air it is not good to reflect upon the unenviable position of a young ex-serviceman who with his wife and three young children is living in a tent on the river bank owing to the appalling housing shortage in this town.

The position as far as they are concerned, is described by the mother as hopeless. They have applied for house after house without success, and though promised a State house ‘when’ one becomes available, they entertain little hope of any real relief for a long time ahead. With winter approaching, the family is now facing a very real hardship, for the question of warmth and adequate shelter for the little ones is a problem which must be faced.

We note the lead given by certain desperate and homeless people in Sydney and in Wellington, where vacant buildings were actually appropriated and turned into temporary homes in spite of trespass warnings. The authorities in all cases have been sympathetic so much so that the temporary appropriation has been" upheld at law under the heading of ‘genuine hardship.’

Can anything be done for our local unfortunates before the winter rains set in? The other alternative is open of course, and by virtue of precedent is practically legal.