Ohakune Railway houses

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 15, 13 September 1983, Page 11

Ohakune Railway houses

At last month's meeting of the Ohakune Borough Council, it was resolved that council approach New Zealand Railways to have the railway houses in Egmont Street removed. This resolution followed discussion about the pros and cons of retaining or removing these houses. On the one hand it was felt that the houses should be retained to provide lowcost rental accommodation for local families permanently resident in Ohakune. Another alternative considered was to sell the houses to needy local families. But the prospects of them becoming substandard weekend ski chalets at some later date dissuaded the council from adopting this alternative. On the other hand if the council were to buy the houses and then rent them •t, the on-going problems maintenance, roading, supervision, rent collection etc was a factor to be com sidered. It was felt that these costs could not be covered by the rents that might be obtained and ' council lors were generally of the opinion that the Ohakune Borough Council should avoid becoming landlords of those particular houses. The borough council is

still awaiting a reply from NZ Railways to a letter sent in July asking what NZR intended to do about these houses.