£5000 Grant for Hastings

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 161, 26 July 1937, Page 6

£5000 Grant for Hastings

BOROUGH WORKS Most of Unemployed Will be Absorbed SUCCESSFUL MISSION During His snort visit to Wellington last week the Mayor of Hastings, Mf.'G. A. Maddison, was successful in obtaining from the Ejnployment Board a grant of £5000 for the carrying-out of various works in the borough to proVide new avenues of employment to men at present registered as nnempioyed. it is anticipated that this money will provide approximately 50,000 hours of labour, for the council has to contrihute a certain small amount of the weekly wage, which is to be at the full aw^rd rate of £4 10/-, as well as the cost of materials. Mr. Maddison lntends to call the councillors 1 togetner in the very near future to complete a scneduie of works which, together with the works programme of the .Hawke's Bay Rivers Board and the Te Mata Park Trust Board, should provide work for the greater proportion of men now registered as unemployed. ' 1 j approached the Employment Jommissioner, Mr. J. S. Hunter, for a grant of £5000 from the Employment fromotion Board 's fund for the purpose of providing work withixi the borough for registered unemployed in Hastings, and my application was granted," said Mr. Maddison this morning. "The money is to be used to give work for the men at the full award rate of pay £4 10/- a week. Of this amount the Employment Promotion n'mirl will contiubute £4 a week and the Hastings Borough Council will be required to fin.d the balance^ 10/-, of the wages together with the cost of materials involved in the work. "It will be necessary — and I propose to do so immediately — to call a special meeting of the council to confirm my action in making the application and accepting the oli'er arising from that application, and to draw up a echedule of works that will enable this money to be spent in the town and provide employment for a number of men." Mr Maddison added that approval had already been reeeived for part of this grant of £5000 to be expended on developmental work at the Civic Square. ^In addition, part of the money would need to be used to carry out groundimproyement work at the Parkvale, Hastings West and Mahora Schools, for which applieations had previously been made to the Government through the Hawke's Bay Education Board. The estimated cost oi' materials for these schooi works was £543, and this amount would be found by the Governinent through the Education Board and the Education Department, explained Mr Maddison. These proposed works involved approximately 7000 labour hours. " The significance of the value of this grant sureiy will be appreciated inasmuch as it will allow the Borough Council to Carry on quite important improvements aud developmental work, besides providing avenues of employment for a considerable number of men at full rates of wages for some mouths," said Mr Maddison. "It should be remembered that, in addition to this £5000 for the borough, there are the £900 obtained by the Te Mata Park Trust Board for developmental work in its particular area and the £30,000 that has been granted the Hawke's Bay Rivers Board. "With all these amounts, it should be possible to employ praetically all those men registered as unemployed and able to do a fair day's work," said Mr Maddison in conclusion.