House Wasted on Yanks

In last week's Salient a note on the front page announced a squat organised by the Tenants Protection Association. The attempt to gain a house was inspired by the plight of a family of six who were living in a Newtown hovel scarcely bigger than a caravan. And, of course, there are scores of other ill-housed people in Wellington. On Saturday afternoon about 40 people gathered at 23 Fitzherbert Street Thorndon and gained entry to the house selected for the squat.

There are twenty-five odd rooms in the house — it could accomodate fifty people in comfort. Of these twenty-five rooms the U.S. Embassy, which was given the house by the Ministry of Works, is using one room for storage of stationery, and two rooms for general junk. Soon after the house was taken over by the squatters, the police arrived and drove them out on threat of arrest.

In the past, the T.P.A. has squatted in a number of empty houses and has ensured that they be used for accomodation. T.P.A. has had little trouble from the law and the police in doing this: the laws broken are negligible compared to the urgency of the need for houses and the obvious (short term) solutions which T.P.A. offers.

What happened on this squat was different but only because the house is owned by the Americans. They may be using it with crass ineffiency, but our police will defend their claim to it.

Now it has come to light that the house is of historic interest in that our greatest writer used to live there. It has also come to light that the Americans intend to demolish it to build a new embassy.

The Tenants Protection Association, and now a number of other interested parties, intend to campaign to save the house for some form of better use. A public meeting is to be held with this aim. It will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday April 17th in the Katherine Mansefield Memorial Park, opposite the vacant house at 23 Fitzherbert Street Thorndon. For any further information please contact Salient. If you want to help try and win back this house for the people, for shelter, for culture or whatever, you should come to this meeting.