TAUPO COUNTY NOTES

Taupo Times, Volume IV, Issue 165, 25 March 1955, Page 7

TAUPO COUNTY NOTES

Building By-

\ •Laws

The Taupo County Office has had a fairly steady stream of applications for building permits since the new building by-laws came into force on March 8. The County Commissioner (Mr O'Keefe) told a "Times" representative that the standard of most of the buildings, for which applications for permits had so far been received, had been very satisfactory. Mr O'Keefe added that he hoped that district residents who were in the process of building new houses, or were contemplating adding to existing buildings, would apply for permits without delay, for otherwise, as he had pointed out earlier, the County would be obliged to prosecute. Holiday Cottage Stanidards From enquiries received at the County Office, said Mr O'Keefe, it was clear that many district residents were not aware that the full building by-laws applied only to permanent residences, and that there were appropriate standards, of a less exacting nature, for holiday cottages. The minimum square footage for a holiday cottage for two persons was as low as 307 sq. ft., comprising 63 square feet for . the kitchen, a living room of 144 square feet, with a minimum width of 9ft., and a room for ^sleeping in with a minimum width of 7ft. and an area of 50 sq. ft. for each person. * . * Sanitary fittings, cooking facilities, etc., were also required for holiday cottages, but again the requirements were .less exacting. The County Ofidce had available for enquirers a short list of the minimum building requirements for holiday cottages, set out in a way that was easy to understand.

From a copy of the list of minimum requirements mentioned by Mr O'Keefe it is noted that a holiday dwelling is one that is used intermittently, and the definition of such a house is as set out in the Housing Improvement Regulations as follows: "Any house which between the first day of April.and the last day of November in every year is not occupied or is occupied only occasionally for periods not exceeding one month at any one time." The kitchen of a holiday hbuse must be fitted with a sink with a properly affixed waste pipe, connected to a drain and sump by a licensed plumber and drainlayer. An adequate supply of water -must be connected to the sink, tank water sufficing. * In built-up residential areas, properly installed septic tanks and waterclosets must be provided, but in all other areas pit privies or chemical closets suffice, and must be eonstructed at least 20 feet from the dwelling. A bath room or shower room must be provided, and if a W.C. is situated in the bathroom it must not open directly off any kitchen or living room. Other requirements provide for windows in each room "equal in area to one-tenth of the Hoor-space of the room, with at least one-half of the window space opening to the fresh air. All rooms must be lined and ceiled. A shedule of building materials is included in the statement of requirements. A point mentioned is that the * Building Control Regulations still will not permit more -than 700 sq. ft. of floor space for holiday accommodation, and this must temporarly limit the size of such cottages. • • The statement stresses that the requirements it lists, some of which are mentioned above, are for holiday accommodation orily, not for permanent dwellings, the standard for which may be obtained on enquiry at the County Oflice. In handing our representative a copy of the statement, Mr O'Keefe stated that its requirements were the same as those already in force in many other counties, and were aimed to secure a reasonable standard of holiday accommodation, and to eliminate unsightly, unsound and insanitary shanties.