Housing vital to growth in taupo

Taupo Times, Volume 23, Issue 57, 18 July 1974, Page 6

Housing vital to growth in taupo

As a community Taupo, of recent years, has become a centre of industrial activity as well as being a centre for tourism. It is well known for its lake and its attractiveness as a tourist resort. Taupo is also fast becoming a centre for such industries as forestry, geothermal power development and, to a Jesser extent, for industrial undertakings and the production of minerals such as perlite and sulphur. It i^; also known for producing agricultural products, using geothermal steam, in the dairy industry and for lucerne pelletising. All such industries require a considerable expansion in our housing development.

This need has been accentuated by a past reluctance to make available the Crown lands which surround the Taupo borough. I have already indicated that the Government has ' now made a start in the Waipahihi block. Some 200 sections will be available there, beginning next June. But these will not overcome the backlog which has been artificially created by withholding sections and escalating their price. We have now planned for a further 400 sections to be developed concurrently with these 200 sections. Of necessity, this will mean a combination of effort by the borough council, by industry and by the housing corporation. Following on from these sections, there will be also (we hope) land available on the western shores between Taupo and Acacia Bay. At this stage, this is still dependent on resolving

no ownership problems. However, I /would like to stress that if Taupo is to have its overall development proceed in an orderly fashion, it cannot be without well-planned and orderly housing. It is for this reason that I am most grateful for the support of the county, the borough, the chamber of commerce and Government departments and for the

facilities which they can provide for such development. However, because of the heavy load on the Government departments, some decentralisation of effort, and some autonomy in development on an orderly basis, will be the only method of ensuring that we overcome a very serious disadvantage in development of the area — the difficulties in housing our people. Such development can go hand in hand with the present tourism. Taupo is also a place for those wishing to retire. Better housing development will ensure that Taupo is a town which is well balanced, and which does have a positive future •for the coming generations.

• f 11 ~'t /) l\ // ^ /ti I/)