RAILWAY HOUSING SCHEME

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 90, 10 January 1920, Page 7

RAILWAY HOUSING SCHEME

t A START MADE AT KAIWARRA. !For some time paet it has been known o that the Railway Department has been - developing nn extensivo housing scheme, - initiated bv the General Manager ■ (Mr t E. W. Jt'Villy). It is now reported ; that the Department has secured an area r of sonw thirteen acres of land at Kai--0 warm, .with the intention of laying out 1 there a.' railway settlement on modern . town-planninz lines. A preliminary surb vevl has already ])een carried out, and t the tenants of some _of the surrounding a Di'ooerties ■ have received notice to quit. A small sang of men is already' engaged on the property. The idea, it is said, is to secure a pleasant grouping of the houses instead of following the old system of crowdiripr on a shict rectangular , plan. ' . . The masnitude of the Department's Fcheme is indicated by an article in the 0 "Railway Review," which states:— ( . The Railway .Department's housing :, eclieme is being put into practice on a 1 nolle which indicates that it is intended . to be thoroughly practical in the way t of remedying the general shortage of r houses for the staff. From details of a the general plan which wo have secur--1 fid. it. is evident that the Department will take advantage of its great resources, and work out a system of economical and quick construction. ■There is a-railway timber mill at Maniaku. on the Rotorua line, with a good eupptyi of milling timber. It is understood that the output from this mill was to be conserved for railway dwelliM3. and in order to secure a, still t larger supply, milling machinery already i on the bdol at ilamalcn is to bo erected 1 at once. This will result in an output , auite adequate for the requirements, 1 thoueh tho quantities will be large once , the. scheme acts under weigh. 3 Another important- feature of Hie , schemo is the erection of a large central ' ioinerv factory, where all the joinery 1 for dwellings will be made up ready to • put. into cositiou. As the timber mills i ' will work, specially for the pnrpose of • producing timber for housing, it will be ! possible to avoid a- good deal of waste, " and also reduce labour on tlio dwelling i cite bv- cutting the lengths, specially to i Mia standard sizes which are to be gen- ' erallv adooted. Even the plates ■ and ' studs for these railway houses will tie i prepared at the- mill or factory, ready ! to fit 'into position, and thus, to all in--1 tents and purposes, the houses will be 1 factoiT-made. and sent to the job to be " simplv nailed together. 1 The central' factory is to be equipped J with the most modern machinery avail- ' able and. as all the items will be to t standard rian.' it. will bo capable of ;i 1 larsre outp.it. The product can be railed to anv part of the North Island, :ind it - is the intention of the Department to go ahead with several building schemes einiultaneouslv. • ... The proposed rental of; the. houses will Iμ at n rato which will provide for pay- ' ment of local rates and taxes, maintenance, and a Teturn of five per- cent, on ' the capital cost Tho result ought to be 1 much more favourable to the tenant than r, under nresent conditions, as the Depart- ' ment is able to provide cheaper 6ites than private individuals, and its system ' of quantity construction on tho factory 1 plan should'result in great economy.