Wartime Construction in Northern NZ

[pjw4118]

I spent some time at the AWMM archives and copied maps from Denys Bevans 1992 book US Forces in NZ









These have helped to relocate some facilities.

PWB Effort
At the same time I looked up the PWD report on Principal Defence Works Northern NZ, excluding aerodromes. A huge amount of detail but some great accounts of the effort needed to build radar/radio/observation posts in remote places and even then at Curies IS the key man, a bulldozer driver, locked himself away from the Tuataras! Read on.

[emron]

Impressive statistics, Peter.
It's amazing the scale of works completed under emergency conditions.
Hey bring back the PWD, they would solve the housing crisis in quick fashion,
But they might not enjoy undoing their bygone efforts at Hobsonville Point.

[pjw4118]

I agree Ron , but its all now too PC to order people to do things . Perhaps a rewrite of the War Regulations into housing would work but remember in those days NZ financed its own development and and didnt rely on cash from via Aussie Banks and overseas bonds . Also people used to actually physically work in those days and were manpowered to do so . Those that declined ended in Strathmore , kept there until post war and lost all civil benefits for 10 years. Ah " the good old days".

What I liked was the Tuataras scaring the bulldozer driver ..classic.

[Dave Homewood]

The government can and still does take land for its purposes these days, with the owners having no choice in the matter under the Public Works Act, that has never changed. Look at the land taken for the new Waikato Expressway, with more to be taken soon as it spreads further south. The people in its path had no choice but to relinquish their land, and take the govt valued cash in hand.

[eieio]

Waikato expressway.......surely so much land is not needed ,hundred of yards to the private property fence's. No mans land totally unproductive ,needing weed control, fire fuel growth in summer ,very little of it could be harvested mechanicaly ,Oh well we can all eat synthetic meat and plastic cabbages when the land is all wasted.

[Mustang51]

Ahhhhh compulsory acquisition....... minefield there