DEARTH OF BUSINESS PREMISES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 73, 15 January 1947, Page 4

DEARTH OF BUSINESS PREMISES

WHEN the Government signifies its intention of building shopping premises at Kopeopeo (with Borough Council approval) in connection with its new scheme to erect 200 State housing units, it is only natural that there should be some pertinent queries raised with regard to the building of business premises which have been consistently refused permits by the Controller over the past five years. We are in hearty agreement with the Mayor’s observation that Whakatane has been unfairly treated in this respect. While there appears to be no bar to the erection of shops and offices elsewhere, our town which has expanded its population by a third over the past ten years, has been rigorously held back. The most glaring instance is the six-year-old fire, which still presents an ugly gap in the business front to the Strand, and which has been deliberately kept vacant in spite of the most urgent representations by local bodies and business interests. If it is good enough for the Government to consider the building of shops, it is certainly good enough to allow prior claims in this direction to be met as far as private individuals and firms are concerned. We warmly support the letter going forward to the Controller complaining of the unfair position.