MODEL SETTLEMENTS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4670, 5 March 1924, Page 2

MODEL SETTLEMENTS.

RAILWAY housing folic y> COMPREHENSIVE PROJECTS.

Plans have been completed for the establishment of railway settlements tnrough the North Island for the supply of standard houses by the Rail ■ way Department from its factory, at a weekly rental of a daytal of a day’s pay ui.'d for the incorporation o£ mpdem ideas of town-planning in the settlement scheme.

A I’ttle over six months ago the work of erecting standard houses i’l tne Railway Department’': factory commenced, and is now in full It was anticipated at the time thtfTy the output would be equal to a house a day, but the average oulput is now three houses in two day. Officers of the Department teen engaged during the last few months in visiting North Island centres for the purpose of .purchasing blocks suitable for the establishment j 1 housing settlements. Their activities extend from Whangarei to as fa” - south as Marton, and it : s intended later on to operate in ’Wellington, Hawkes Bay, and Taranaki. The average price of the land pur--chase-' is about £5O an acre, and the size o. 1 ’ the settlements is in the vicinity of 40 acres. In some cases, where the land is highly valued, as high 180 aii acre has been paid, but it :’s pointed out in an instance such as this that the original price asked was double that amount. The Department ;s thoroughly satisfied with its nego-

tiations as to prices. The most modern ideas of townplanning have been brought to bear in laying out the new settlements. Where the employees have been reiding close to, railway jards, >r

actually within their boundaries, the Jg settlement will in future be some distance- up to half a mile—from the railway, and between the houses and the line and works will be reserves and recreation grounds. The houses will be of two patterns,

English and American. The sections ■.ill average about a quarter of an acre. The houses will cost, roughly, 1700 each, and will contain five rooms, .vith bath, scullery, outbuildings, elec trie light, electric iron, and hot and cold water. Almost all of the settlements will have drainage, and whera this is impracticable septic tanks for the disposal of sewage will, be provided. The rent will be one day’s pay per Week. Thus, an employee receiving 14s 6d a day will pay 14s 6d a week, while the man in receipt of £1 a ’ay will pay £l. Questioned whether there would be any difficulty in obtaining the differential rate, the departmental officials stated that their experience so far indicated that they would have no difficulty whatever in this connection. Tlie settlements will be with recreation reserves foi cricket and football, tennis court::, croquet

lawns, and children's All roads will be 66ft wide. The ing system provides for 20ft of metaled roadway, with two 15ft strips for tree planting, and two Bft footpaths. • To date 150 houses have been ed out by the factory, 55 of these havi ig been erected at Frankton, where it is situated. Others are now being erected at Maungaturoto, Helensville, Otahubu, Ngaruawahia, Te Awamutu, Te Kuiti, and Morrinsville." in addition tp these, areas of from 30 to 50 acres nave been purchased for housing settlements at Henderson, Papakura, Pukekohe, Mercer, Huntly, Matamata, Te Aroha, Paeroa, Taumarunui, Ohakune, Taihape, and Marton.

Already at Hamilton the railway men have laid out in their own spare time a very fine bowling green, three tennis courts, and a croquet lawn, with p commodious pavilion. have been as many as 120 men employed voluntarily on holidays, .with 2C carts, levelling and forming, the Railway Department supplying, the material. It is expected that the same voluntary labour will be forthcoming at all the settlements, and that the task of beautifying them will be carried out mainly by the man

themselves. The advantages of the new scheme are enthusiastically explained by Daily way Department officials. At Otol kune, for instance,. which is a sub-. > l terminal, and where there are a large number of loco, men, the present dwellings are in the railway yard. The settlement in this town is to be some distance from the yards; bounded on the railway side t.y a nice.-4»_ stream with swimming enclosure, I addling pool for- children, and a site for an institute. At Te Kuiti, where CO acres have been purchased, there are 20 acres for grazing reserve and native bush. At the edge of the Taumarunui settlement huge trees are growing in their native environment on a very beautiful site, formerly a reserve of the Wanganui River Board. At Marton, where ten houses are aE - ready going up, the recreation t?" serve and native bush are between the settlement and the railway.