Page:Municipal Handbook of Auckland 1922.djvu/153



The question of providing houses for workmen has at various times received the consideration of Council, but it was not until 1915 that it was resolved to erect six workers' cottages on land belonging to the Council in Clarence Street, Ponsonby. Four of these are designed as semi-detached and two as detached cottages. Competitive designs were invited, and the plans of Mr. T. G. Price were accepted. The accommodation provided for each house consists of 5 rooms, bathroom, wash-house, etc. The total cost, exclusive of land, was £2,264. These houses are let on weekly tenancies, the present rents being £1.

The matter was again under consideration in September and November of 1918, when a scheme was submitted, providing for the erection of 224 houses upon three City sites, at a total cost of £165,855, which included roading in each case and the purchase of the necessary land. On two of the sites there was already property belonging to the Council.

After careful deliberation, the larger scheme was deferred, but the Council resolved to take steps to erect, on the site formerly occupied by the Abattoir, in Grey Lynn, 79 dwellings, and, with this end in view, applied to the Government for an advance of £50,000 to carry out the proposal. It was ultimately found, however, that £10,000 was the maximum that could be advanced in any one year. This sum was accordingly borrowed from the State Advances Office. After