PROGRESS STILL HELD UP

Chronicle (Levin), 25 June 1946, Page 4

PROGRESS STILL HELD UP

/ ^ STATE HOUSING CONSTRUCTION SHOHTAGE OF MATEHIAIiS The progress of housing constructicn in Levin was still being held up for the want of certain essentiai ouilding materials, according.to" Vfie Mayor (Mr. H. B. Burdekin) when cne posiuion of the six State houses in Chamberlain Street was cuecussed with him yesterday, followtng his starement at a recent meeting of the Levin Borough Council rhat it was hoped to complete them with' as little dela-y as possible. The. houses, His Wor.ship saib, .were in the finai stage of construc? tion, but could not be eompletecj pecause of the lack of fibrous plac^ ter for liping purposes. The reasOh for the shortage of this rnaterial was tnat supplies of gypsum rock, which is required in its lnanuf acture, were not coming into the country in anything like sufficient quantiryv The only alternatjve to une use of fibrous plaster was a composite of three-piy and pfiiex, mvestigations were being mahe into the possibility of its use, but it was -doubred whether the .composite is really an effective substitute. The shortage of baths, in fact almost a eomplere ab§ence of baths, would be cemporarily overcome by the provisiori -of shower cabinets. The position regarding . the lihihg rnaterial, however, was even more serious than it was a month or two ago. Referring to ' the cement situation, Mr. Burdekin said that arrangements had been made for a truck load to be sent to Levin, where it would be used specifically for the foundations of the borough .engineer's residence, the foundalions of the new ladies' convenience and foundations of the eight Sfcate houses to be built in Lincoln Place, Also, it will be used to ease the situation at the Kereru 'Settlement, Koputaroa, where it will enable the work which has been held up to proeeed. There were two main reasonc for the , cement shortage, Mr, .Burdekin said. Qne was that the-small coastal ships, which had been used to the qtmost limit during the war, -were undergoing repair, and consequently were not available fpr the transport of cement from Gplden Bay to Wellington.. The" other reason was the shortage of coal. Coal was not ofily required "f or the transport of Qement by rail in the North Xsl.and, but for' the actual manufacture of .cement. Approximately one ton pf .coal is required for every five tons' of cement produced. To-day the Mayor was advised by the Building Controller's office that teh tons of gypsum rock had been allocated to the fibrous plaster subcontractor, on the condiuion that it was to be used only on State houses in Levin. This all'ocation will not be sufiicient to complete t.he houses, but a fiirther enpply will be made available, under the sarne conditiops, when the next shipment 'arrives ifi from six to eight weeks' time. This shipment will enable the houses, which are ip Chamberlain Street, to be completed wfthinr, possibly, the next two months.