The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1909 THE MAKING OF SLUMS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2616, 25 September 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1909 THE MAKING OF SLUMS.

The- complaint which has been forwarded to us by a. correspondent whose letter is published in this issue draws attention to the exceedingly unsatisfactory manner in which the affairs of the Borough are being conducted. Until the ratepayers sanction a proper system of drainage it is exceedingly difficult for the Council to compel occupiers of property to keep their premises s anitary. Still the local authorities might easily do a. good deal more than is being done at the present time to safeguard the health of the people. Our correspondent quotes an aggravated case in which repeated complaints by himself have apparently been .ignored by the Council. After making a personal inspection of the premises in question we can only hope that there are not many instances of the kind in the town, otherwise the outlook for the approaching summer months will be distinctly serious.

Allied to tlie drainage question is the question of overcrowding, and anyone who looks closely into the subject must be jmrsued by tbe unpleasant reflection that Gisborne is well on the road for the building of slums. There is really no excuse, for the haphazard, careless manner in which we are building for the future city that is to he the capital of a wealthy province. Outside of Christchurch no town m the Dominion has a broader expanse of suitable land available for building purposes, and there is no valid reason whatever for the skimping and overcrowding which is at present going on. Under a sane system of town planning no residence should be erected on less than a quarter of an acre of ground, and 'with a chain frontage on a main street. With the area available this ideal should be quite practicable in Gisborne. As to the dwellings themselves, there should be some restriction upon the rapacity of greedy landlords who should be compelled to erect houses with reasonable accommodation and of decent .appearance. Instead of that we find that on a section comprising a bare quarter of an acre an owner has been allowed to have three houses erected. The section has a chain frontage on a main street, and a house has stood thereon for some time. With a view to adding to his rental receipts the owner has erected two mare houses at tbe rear of the

existing: one, and these’ front a 30ft lane. Naturally the apace' available for domestic purposes is restricted-,, and oner could scarcely swing a cat in. the hack-; yard without danger to- the oat.- The cesspool Complained of is within a few i yards of the backdoor, and one shudders At the thought of children playing about in such a pestilential atmosphere. These two houses are apparently ' -well built and- convenient, and in this respect nothing condemnatory jca.ni be- said 1 of the ,owner who has merely sought to make his property as remunerative as possible. A good deal 1 ,, however, can be said ! concerning the- shortsightedness or apathy of the local authorities who have from time to: time been entrusted by the people with the development of the town. In various localities houses have been dumped down in holes and gullies with no consideration for sanitation, convenience, or appearance. ■Some have frontages to main streets, some to lanes, whilst others Jiave/as frontage the back fence of a neighbor, and the occupants have to pass along a -narrow, pc-ky right-of-way in order to gain entrance to a main street. The packing-case type of house is sufficiently conspicuous in the vicinity of theWa"ikanae stream to need no further mention than to state that the example there provided should have acted as a ‘warning to the authorities that there was a real danger of Gisborne becoming infested with slums. Unfortunately, the lesson has not been taken to heart by our civic authorities, and at the present time houses are being erected in various parts of the Borough under most unsatisfactory conditions. So long as the coat of .paint retains its gloss they -may look fairly presentable, but once the newness wears off they will be revealed in their full nakedness as the poorest type of shanties. Some residences, excellent in other respects, are spoilt for occupation through the buildings having been laid from three to ten feet below the level of the road. How the surroundings of these can be kept sanitary must -remain a mystery, for, even when a. sewerage system is installed, it will be impossible to connect such low-lying premises with the main sewer. There is certainly ample scope for a thorough investigation of the manner in which the town is being built up. At present Gisborne holds the unenviable distinction of having no less than six dwelling houses situated on a section less thaai three-eighths of an acre in dimensions. There is no excuse for this sort of thing, which would certainly not be tolerated by a Borough Council possessing an adequate conception of its responsibilities and sufficient energy’ and patriotism to give effect thereto.