MINING TOWNSHIPS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 244, 9 July 1919, Page 8

MINING TOWNSHIPS

THE HOUSING QUESTION. The housing, sanitation, and water supply at tho mining townships has been "reported on by public health inspectors. The reports, covering every mining township, iu New Zealand, have been submitted to the Minister (the Hon. G. W. Bussell), who has directed that a general report be prepared dealing with both gold-mining and coal-mining towns, with a view to the preparation of legislation for the improvement ot conditions. i > The Minister eaid yesterday that the legislation at present, did not provide for these districts being treated in any manner different from ordinary sparselysettled rural areas. Tho difficulty, therefore, was to induce the loc.il bodies to undertake expenditure, for the purpose of supplying conveniences to townships which returned little to the county funds. Ho was satisfied that the only way iu which special provision might be ma'do for these villages would be by creating them special districts and providing special funds for tho works. Possibly it might be necessary to arrange tho finance on a basis by which both the mine-owners and the workers would be required to make special contributions to the funds, seeing that ordinary rating, would be out of the question.