The Dominion. THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1019. THE HOUSING PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 197, 15 May 1919, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1019. THE HOUSING PROBLEM

, :... It will be not altogether an easy matter to select from the extensive programme which the Mayor outlined yesterday to the now City Council the works which are most urgently needed for tho-welfare and advancement of the city.' _ No small part of tho resources available will be absorbed, however, by improvements and extensions of services the need for which is so plainly established that their, prosecution must be regarded as almost_ a matter of routine progress. This will apply to sucli works as much-needed street improvements, tramway and drainage extensions, and others. A strong case has been made out, also, for at once taking measures to materially .augment the existing water supply. Prominently, however, as works in these categories are bound to figure in any definite programme drawn up, there are other avenues of activity in-which an enterprising and. progressive policy is quite as imperatively demanded'. The most con; spicuous example in _ point is the housing problem, which the conditions of the war period have done so much to intensify. It is obvious enough that the existing shortage of houses and tho overcrowding it occasions are evils the city authorities are bound to do their utmost to remedy, and it is equally evident that any remedy to be effectual must be comprehensive and boldly planned. As in the past, the Government may assist to modify the housing problem by constructing workers' dwellings, but under the conditions that exist and are in prospect in Wellington no full remedy is likely to be provided unless a leading part is taken by the municipality ._ The problem calls for- energetic action on the part of the city authorities, not only on account of its immediate urgency, but on wider grounds. With houses ! always in short supply, and overcrowding a chronic evil, there is an ever-present check upon the healthy development and expansion of the city, as well as upon the welfare and comfort of its inhabitants.

On all grounds, a due regard for the public health, of course, included, much attention will have to be concentrated henceforth upon the solution of the housing problem. The problem is many-sided, and at the outset the city authorities must look well afield and well ahead. They must above all things avoid the danger of getting deeply involved financially without bringing a comprehensive remedy for existing conditions into sight. In the references ho made yesterday to the housing difficulty, the Mayor directed attention chiefly to the question of. clearing'and improving the most congested portion of the city—the Te Aro and Mount Cook districts. He observed that the City Engineer's scheme "for the elimination of certain unsatisfactory areas" in these districts involved the expenditure of £500,000, without taking into account the formation of new streets, and, furthermore, that under • the improvements planned something like 350 tenants would be dispossessed_ of their dwellings. Even if it is assumed that portion of the expenditure mentioned would be recoverable, these particulars in themselves demonstrate that' the' clearance. of the congested heart of the city is not the first step to be taken in. a policy of housing reform. Tfie congested areas must be cleared ultimately, and the sooner the clearance is effected the better,' but the' first thine: to be done to remedy overcrowding and an acute shortage of houses obviously is to build houses. To embark on a costly improvement scheme and incidentally eliminate a considerable number of houses would be, obviously, to begin at the. wrong end. .The effect would be to intensify the housing problem seriously, and perhaps for. an indefinite period'. As, Me. Luke remarked yesterday, the.question of housing people who would be displaced under an improvement scheme will have to be considered. The right course, however, is to consider this vital question beforehand l —in other words, to provide houses, or .see that in some way they are provided, before any clearance of congested are'as is attempted. Any doubt on this point will be speedily resolved if account is taken of British experience in dealing with slums. For many years the mistaken policy was pursued of buying up and ' destroying slums, in the larger centres of population and buildins- anew on the clearer! sites. ' At the end of the nineteenth century London and a few English provincial towns had spent between them nearly ten millions in acquiring slums,' and, for want of a building policy, bid intensified -Tistead of lessening the evils they sought,to remedy. .No such mistake is being made in Britain to-day. The central, feature of the great housing policy adopted in that country is the immediate erection of 300,000 houses as a first instalment towards meeting the v existing demand.

How far the Wellington Citv 'Council, is prepared to go in a building policy has yet to appear, but unless it boldly develops ' such a policy it will be hopelessly handicapped in attempting to cfcal with congested areas and-with overcrowding generally. The Mayor proposed yesterday that the Government should be asked what it proposes to do in the matter of providing houses, but there is nothing' to prevent the City Council showing independent enterprise in the matter. Any extension of its existing powers it may need to enter freely upon a housing policy would no doubt be conceded readily .by Parliament. _ One. cogent reason for the taking up tho work is that it is in a position to greatly influence the treatment of tho housing problem by its control over tramway extension and the oxten-

sion of other municipal services. It is thus well placed to .acquire (in anticipation of the extension.. of these services) suitable suburban areas on which considerable groups of houses could be built. By letting contracts for the construction of whole groups of houses, and so permitting systematic construction and a full use of plant and machinery, with some standardisation of parts (though not of houses), the council should -be able to bring down appreciably the cost of individual dwellings. The housing problem is not the only one that demands the practical attention of the city authorities, but it is exceedingly urgent and important, and it-is closely interwoven with other big problems of municipal development. A definite indication of the lines on which it is proposed to dea 1 with it will be awaited, 'therefore, with much interest.