OVER-CROWDING.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 June 1920, Page 5

OVER-CROWDING.

NEW PLYMOUTH'S PLIGHT. HUTMENTS AS TEMPORARY RELIEF DEPUTATION TO THE PREMIER. The deplorable conditions existing in New Plymouth in regard to overcrowding-, which were graphically described in the Daily News last week, ftre not being [ lost sight of by the Borough Council, an I [ at last night's meeting of the Council the , general manager (Mr. F. T. Bellringef) submitted a report on the mattei*. , He recommended that the most feas- , ible way of temporarily relieving the dist tress caused by the acute overcrowding . of dwellings in New Plymouth was by , the erection of barracks with communal kitchens. Any other method would take i too long to bring into operation owing to the great scarcity of building materials ; His view was that .the whole matter ■ should be placed before the Prime Minister by the deputation which was going to Wellington on other matters, and that i a further effort should be made to obtain say half-a-dozen of the hutments from Trentham or Featherston. With this object in view he had already instructed ! Inspector Day to submit particulars of specific cases of overcrowding, and also • to report generally upon the question. The Mayor: I struck a beauty to-day; a four-roomed house in Lemon Street, 1 price £450, in which there are thirteen 1 people, nine children and four adults, two ! families. The ■'owner couldn't get the i tenants out, so gave them two room:): ' and kept two for himself. ' | Tho town clerk: Inspector Day has got j a few as well. v ! HARBOR BOARD ATTACKED. ! ; j Inspector Day then read a scathing report upon tho conditions of the i huts erected by the Harbor Board to house its workmen. No permit had been obtained for the erection of the "shacks," as he described them, and ho expressed the opinion that the Board was probably relying upon its powers under section 22 of the Rating Amendment Act, 1010. Cr. Hayden suggested that the inspector's report should be published. The Mayor: It would be better to send a copy to the Harbor Board first. Cr. Hayden: It would be better to publish it. It would do more good. The Mayor: The Harbor Board Act allow.s the Board to put up residences for bachelors, but owing to tho shortage of houses, I suppose they have had to let others in. I'm quite convinced that if we put this crowd out of these huts, they will only come into the town and crowd into rooms. It's bad enough here already. Cr. Short: What about the Drill Hall? The Mayor: There's plenty of room there. About ten are living there now. Mr. Day: I'd sooner live in the Fitzroy Hall than in any of these places I've seen. The Council decided not to publish the Wport, but. to send a copy'to the Harbor Board. The general manager's report was received. THE HOUSING SCHEME. At a later stags' the report of the Housing Committee came before the Council, and it was referred to the Finance Committee to consider the question of selecting designs and calling tenders. The Housing Committee reported that in connection with the £IO,OOO loan for the erection of workers' dwellings for the Council's employees, the original arrangement with the architects that three designs of elevations be submitted, had not been adhered to by the three architects, 'Messrs. Messenger, Bates, and Mannix, in submitting the plans. Each architect had submitted a ground plan and elevation for each class of building required, viz., , 5 rooms, C rooms, and 7 rooms, leaving it to the Council to select the most suitable plan. No estimates of cost were shown. "The committee feel," adds the report, "that it would be unwise for the Council . to attempt such a selection and therefore recommend that a Wellington architect be appointed to classify in order of merit the plans of the 5-roomed and 7-roomed dwellings, with particular regard to cost, convenience of arrangement, character, and architectural features. In the opinion of the Committee the decision of either of the following firms, viz., Messrs. Penty and Lawrence, and Messrs. Crichton and 'MeKie, should be acceptable to all concerned, and that before the plans are submitted to a Wellington architect the local architects be required to endorse on each plan their estimate of the cost of erecting the building shown thereon." ■ The committee recommended that the architects' fees, inclusive of plans and specifications for the contractors, be fixed at Ci per cent, of the cost of erection, also that if it could legally be so arranged, that the tenants of the houses shall have a lease with a perpetual right of renew'al, and shall purchase the improvements by meeting instalments of principal and interest in addition to the ground rent, further, in order to prevent speculation, provision be majie whereby th.'. Council, in the event of 'a sale, shall, secure in every case a proportion of the increment. The committee expressed the opinion that .the erection by the Council of temporary canvas shelters according to the plan forwarded by the Couueil to the committee for report was not advisable. These shelters would be quite all right for use in summer, but would not be suitable for use in the comparatively severe winters experienced, in New Plymouth.