Hard News: Buy now: spend the recession inside!
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"Helengrad-style housing".
Bill has a point.
Back in the day of the State House, the NZ Govt & Banks would be favourable towards private building on the State House Model.
Creating the egalatarian myth.
Graffiti made the destruction of the school more miserable? I'm not sure I'ld be able to focus on little more than the chared remains.
Sorry is this a policy or a plan yet to be adopted?
Does anyone have the details? I really want to dig through this. -
from Jones' PR:
“My colleague Housing Minister Maryan Street has already announced a revised Welcome Home loans scheme and a shared-equity plan to assist first home buyers which underlines this government’s commitment to the future.
That to me is the real BS. The proposed 'Affordable Homes' scheme is a lottery, only 1,000 people will get one. Imagine if you're 1001 on the list - do you wait another year for the next allocation? And if you do, what happens if your income/circumstances improve slightly? Will you still be eligible?
And if you don't choose to wait a year how do you feel about those people ahead of you in the queue who 'got' an 'affodable home'? Do you feel happy for them, or sorry for yourself? Bitter? -
Graffiti made the destruction of the school more miserable? I'm not sure I'ld be able to focus on little more than the chared remains.
Sure, and I don't want to make light of how utterly shit it is for a community when a local school get torched or even vandalised. You can replace the buildings and all the stuff. But not the memories, love and dedication that gets poured into a school over the decades.
But I just wish Shane Jones would try opening his mouth without being an utter brown-neck with more attitude than taste or judgement. This was one occasion where a lot of gravitas was not only in order, but required.
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"more attitude than taste or judgement."
I haven't warmed to him yet. A bit of the Lockwood Smith about him.
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Bill has a point.
Back in the day of the State House, the NZ Govt & Banks would be favourable towards private building on the State House Model.
Creating the egalatarian myth.How is it a myth? They're bloody good houses. I live in one: it passed out of public ownership in the early 50s, during one of the period policy windows, and I imagine its provenance did make it easier to get a mortgage back then.
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We're still discovering the last batch of Cowboys work - Leaky Schools etc. Any change is too soon.
I'm not quite sure what you mean here unless you mean "Any change is not soon enough" or somthing like that. Anyhoo. The cowboys who are responsible for all the leaky ticky tacky buildings were the accountants trying to save a few dollars on time and materials for the sake of greater profits for their masters, at no time were those savings passed on to the buyer and all the time we were being fed the line that "the builders were to blame" The fact that developers were able to cut corners was the result of changes to the building code to allow cheaper materials and methods (you can guess who lobbied for these changes and which party was in power, here's a clue, A big Australian cement products company and it was pre Labour)
There are ways to build without using treated timber even using tacky cladding like pretend wood spongy stuff that absobs water like a, well, sponge. If you have enough ventilation and the timber can dry between soakings then you don't get mould and rot. As for double glasing harden up boy and buy a swannie or take up knitting.Back in the day of the State House, the NZ Govt & Banks would be favourable towards private building on the State House Model. Creating the egalatarian myth.
It may seem like a myth now but it was an ideal that was hoped for by Micky Savage and his band of merry labourites. To this day state houses are still as strong as the day they were built because they were built well and built to last, back then it wasn't all about money it was about the greater good. So who's to blame? let's just say greed.
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How good were they?
I remeber the ice on the inside of the windows, freezing in winter without insulation and the sacks of coal being burnt choking the air outside, while writing my name in the smoke filled air inside as well.Egalatarianism was about an illusion of "you can be this equal".
Egalatarianism in NZ has always been a myth, like the Queens Chain. Egalatarianism had INNA (Irish need not apply), Cockers Htl banning Indians, Womens wages reduced below a mans etc.
Oh NZ Railways on St Paddys day turning red with blood - this was in the 1980s.It created a bench mark that others would not reach above.
And now with the removal of housing standards like double glazing (the only concrete issue reported on) it seeks to enshrine inadequate housing that will impact on the health of NZers now and in the future.
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RB - Private house builders would follow the state house plans in order to get through the Council easier and would get pref for mortgages to build a private house the same as a state house.
"As for double glasing harden up boy and buy a swannie or take up knitting."
Swannies are all made in China now.
Cold homes are a major health problem. They agrevate all kinds of conditions and lead to a miserable existence then an early grave.
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Let me agree and agree.
They're bloody good houses.
Indeed. The state houses are held up in the design community as exemplars of efficient, practical design. Having at least done some house-sitting for some friends who bought one, I was amazed at how compact but well-proportioned theirs was (proportion in rooms matters as it can determine where the bed goes, how much useless space there is at the foot and how much useful space there is to the side and so on).
I also lived in a council flat for several years and loved that, for the same reasons. Currently I'm in the lower floor of a private house converted to make flats and while it's pleasant enough, the design quality - both of the original plan and the conversion - leave a lot to be desired.
Generally, the much-derided public housing begins with well-determined functional standards driving the design, which may be superficially dull, but work as dwellings. Looking at recent suburban developments, I'm so astonished that I often have to resort to flabberghastment at the unnecessary complications of plan and facade made - badly - to give 'visual interest', which only serve to add useless expense and complicate the construction. Murphy's Third Law comes to mind (the second being, anything that has gone wrong will get worse) - the more bits there are, the more things there are that can fail.
On the other hand:
Helengrad
I'm thinking of Levittown and all it's dreary clones. Really though, we don't need more suburban sprawl.
That, I'm afraid, is the main gripe that I have about Labour, despite my grudging preference for them: short-term, narrowly targeted solutions with almost willful ignorance of the wider consequences and social and environmental changes. It's that which marks their thinking as being stuck in the last century. Meanwhile the Greens really need to get on board with architects and urban designers to present some positive policy - there has been a lot of work on sustainable design that doesn't involve having to eat cold lentils in darkened geodesic domes.
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Kracklite - I agree with you but you're side stepped insulation.
And we need to be a bit more prescriptive than this charmer on Trademe.
Notice how none of the photos were of the Bedroom.
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It may seem like a myth now but it was an ideal that was hoped for by Micky Savage and his band of merry labourites
Good point, Steve.
And now with the removal of housing standards like double glazing (the only concrete issue reported on) it seeks to enshrine inadequate housing that will impact on the health of NZers now and in the future.
Not to mention heating costs and energy waste. There is a sort of nirvana-like timeless state beyond flabberghastment that is compounded of resignation, ennui and deep cynicism about the prospect of any change. I'm getting there.
As I've posted before, I'm afraid that NZer's are going to have to give up the fantasy of a private quarter-acre estate and move into truly urban housing along the European model. The one good thing about the new policy was the long-term leasing idea. Now I just hope that that leads to better apartments...
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side stepped insulation.
Nah, just forgot.
Now I'm looking forward to a cold, damp Aro Valley winter and I'm thinking of the nice and toasty WCC tower block flat that I used to live in.
Still, views of greenery and tui to wake me up in the morning. Swings and roundabouts.
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How good were they?
I remeber the ice on the inside of the windows, freezing in winter without insulation and the sacks of coal being burnt choking the air outside, while writing my name in the smoke filled air inside as well.State houses were very good for their time. Practically no houses in New Zealand at the time they were all built had good insulation, double-glazing etc. They were well constructed, and they've lasted a lot better than many houses built since (eg, Leaky homes).
Compared, for example, to the villas that half the Dunedin student population lives in, with a strong breeze when the doors are closed, no north facing windows, many of which were built shortly before state housing started... brilliant.
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I agree with you but you're side stepped insulation.
Well. bad insulation methods are as bad as none. bad insulation deployment can lead to lack of ventilation and absorption of water vapour thus making the whole house a breeding ground for disease and pestilence. As for the Swannies being made in China. Once we get that FTA we can all bulk up on cheap Swannies to keep warm ;-)
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Compared, for example, to the villas that half the Dunedin student population lives in
We're at risk of a reference to Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch ... please bring it on.
I remember another Aro flat I had when I took the butter out of the fridge and thought that it was warm, but no, it was firm - the butter conditioner was the warmest part of the flat, the fridge wasn't cooling my food to preserve it, it was putting energy into warming it up.
Then I discovered an alternative to Tantric sex - you can make it last ages when your girlfriend has a cold that she hasn't been ablt to shake off for months and has to stop to blow her nose every few minutes. The floor would be covered with tissues...
You probably didn't want to know that.
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Once we get that FTA we can all bulk up on cheap Swannies to keep warm ;-)
Perhaps cheap knock-offs. The 'genuine article' are now terribly expensive.
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Steve & George shall we jam the walls, floors and rooves full of Swannies?
Irrespective of price the Swannies are now made in China.
Kyle - " Practically no houses in New Zealand at the time they were all built had good insulation"
And that's my point. The Govt was highly prescriptive in order to achieve the illusion of egalatariamism, effectively halting the building of better housing in NZ.
While being better than the criminal housing in Dunnes, a state house and the govt policies were written with a deluded view of our reality of south pacific lattitude and weather.
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Back to an earlier topic....
Two readers, including another journalist, described him as "frothing at the mouth". There was also a promise to dish it out to me in his next Herald on Sunday column. I sincerely hope he's calmed down by then.
Well, we can call him chicken, say he makes empty threats, or be charitable and suggest he simply calmed down and saw better of the situation....
But there's absolutely no mention at all of Russell Brown, Hard News, or blogging in general in Bill's latest column.
Good decision, I'd say.
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But there's absolutely no mention at all of Russell Brown, Hard News, or blogging in general in Bill's latest column.
Let's praise Bill for doing what all journalists should do before publishing: factchecking. Turns out what Bill's hairdresser's mother's neighbour's nephew in Hamilton heard from a friend (a really good friend, who wouldn't make this up) about Russell simply wasn't true afterall.
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I hear Alt TV with such luminaries as Bomber & Driver are lowering the bar on the Boob Tube, again.
The last show I saw with Bombers had him prostitute a child. OK he didn't let her get in the car - but highly suspect actions.
Does Steve Crow have the controlling interest in Alt TV?
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Alt TV to do Naked News
I figured it was more of a publicity stunt, altho' I'm sure there's more than a few kiwi gals dumb enough to audition for it, thinking it's their route to fame ...
Still, if it works Russell could add this to PAS:
SFW - until you get some questions right -
I hear Alt TV with such luminaries as Bomber & Driver are lowering the bar on the Boob Tube, again.
Well, let's hope Alt 'creative director' Oliver Driver is going to be keeping his kit on if we ever see another series of Front Seat.
And if Media7's rating are soft, I'm quite happy to do my interpretive coochie dance to 'Blowing In The Wind' for a modest fee -- all I need is two bottles of gin, a pole and a bucket of reasonable quality cooking oil.
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We're at risk of a reference to Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch ... please bring it on.
Eeee. When I were a lad we had to sit int bath till all the heat were used up then we had to lick t" condensation off windows wit tounge for tea. mind you we had navel fluff for insultation int those days. Ahh Looksharry.
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And that's my point. The Govt was highly prescriptive in order to achieve the illusion of egalatariamism, effectively halting the building of better housing in NZ.
I don't think the government building state houses halted the building of better housing in NZ. Private individuals were free to do so, but simply didn't, and never have in NZ. Our poor quality of housing is as much part of our culture as anything else. The government was simply building as good, or slightly better, than everyone else was at the time.
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Kyle - (see the bottom of pg8)
The Govt openly endorsed the State house model building and discouraged anything else for privately built houses .
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