OCCUPATION OF HOUSE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 90, 24 June 1946, Page 5

OCCUPATION OF HOUSE

FAMILY INSTALLED , RETURNED SOLDIERS FIRM ACTION , Positive action by members , of the Whakaiane branch of the J 2nd N.Z.E.F. Association, last , Saturday resulted in an ex-Kiwi , ( and his family being safely in- • : stalled in a house in McGarvey's Road, which has been empty for nearly a year, and which had been consistently refused to i numerous applicants who were i in desperate need of accommodation. The Association has accepted full responsibility for its action and will be- happy to counter any legal action which may be brought against it, in the , interests of what the president , of the local branch terms 'humanity.' The action is likely to have repercussions, but the fact remains that the greatest- public sympathy has been extended the family concerned, .Mr and Mrs Charles Young, who with their three young children : have been compelled to live in a tent on the*banks of the river for the past five months owing to the Utter impossibility of finding a home. No amount of advertising or pergonal effort had had any effect and after carefully discussing the matter, we are informed that the 2nd N.Z.E.F. decided that direct action Was the only means whereby they • could save an old comrade from hav:ing to face the winter under such -conditions.

.' Transport Provided On Saturday last transport was provided and Mr Young was informed

by the local branch president (Mr O

Harland) what the organisation was / prepared to do. He agreed, and with

the assistance of Association mem- . bers their few belongings were placed aboard a truck and taken to the "empty house. Although in a state of neglect, the house was a palace by comparison to their camping conditions. It at least gave them a roof and solid walls, a kitchen, a bathroom and fire places. The backdoor

■was not locked but a board nailed • across kept it flimsily in position. w This was removed and a careful ex- ; amination of the house made by the Association representatives before ;any admission was given to the .Youngs. A number of pieces of furniture were discovered. A full inventory of these was taken, and they were stored in one of the front rooms and the room locked. The list was

later placed in the hands of a Justice of the Peace, who may be re-

i'erred to in the event of future

Settling: In

Mr and Mrs Young with their, "three children were then admitted and lost no time in putting the long disused house into some, semblance of order. The kitchen range was soon going and beds were set up for the children. By Sunday, morning they were reasonably comfortable, members of the Association visiting them and assuring them once again of their determination to take full responsibility. Even the grounds had been shaped up by Sunday afternoon, and the overgrown pathways. the gardens had once more" taken shape.

The Youngs declare that they are more than willing to face the consequences of the act to which they were party, declaring that their conditions in the tent could not possibly have been worse. They await calmly the outcome of their move, which we understand is without parellel in this town and probably well beyond it. , Association's Attitude *> , Mr Harland, in an interview with a BEACON representative yesterday declared that his Association has been very, happy ,to assist an ex-Kiwi in distress, . and fears nothing from publicity -r-in fact welcomes it. Too many men who have fought for their country, he said, have been forc- . ed to live in sheds, and garrets, while large substantial houses m have remained empty, held thus by selfish owners for obscure v- personal reasons. Wherever such * conditions obtained he felt sure that similar action would be taken by his Association, who would readily face up to the legal position and take the conm sequences.