Interview with Colin Reid

Colin Reid was born in Dunedin in 1925. Describes how his mother died when he was six and his father died when he was thirteen. Talks about growing up in St Kilda and education at St Clair Primary and Kings High School. Describes many responsibilities at home and little time for sport, reading or music. Recalls a series of housekeepers and the care of his stepmother and other relatives after his father died.

Recalls James K Baxter at high school and his unwillingness to be involved with school cadets. Talks about religion. Describes becoming a cadet with Lands and Survey in 1943. Discusses acceptance by the RNZAF during World War II and being a navigator on planes in the Pacific in the Flying Boat Squadron number 5. Describes working at Lands and Deeds after the war, joining the Housing Division of the Ministry of Works and working in Palmerston North. Recalls the Director of the Housing Division, Reg Hammond. Discusses the responsibilities and functions of the Housing Division of the Ministry of Works. Talks about planning work for subdivisions and setting up the infrastructure of sewage and water for Porirua.

Discusses sorting out legal issues for the sale of state houses and the effects of the Town and Country Planning Act on the Housing Division. Comments on the group housing scheme and hardening of public attitudes to state housing, partly as a result of social problems in some areas. Argues that state housing brought in good design and the requirement to use New Zealand materials. Recalls the work of the architect Plischke and chief planner Ian Dudding. Describes higher density housing as a reaction to urban sprawl. Comments on subdivisions in Palmerston North, New Plymouth and Napier.

Describes `pepper potting' as the placement of state housing within a suburb. Mentions the Race Relations Act. Explains the housing allocation process which resulted in ethnic groupings within blocks of flats. Describes mass earthworks as the result of the advent of new machinery. Notes that state housing was a political issue and mentions Don Borrie and Rev Charles Waldegrave.

Describes the positions he held culminating in Assistant Director General of the Housing Corporation. Comments on the formation of the Housing Corporation from the Housing Division of the Ministry of Works and State Advances Corporation in 1974. Describes being a member of the National Housing Commission from 1975 to 1984. Discusses the first Director-General of the Housing Corporation, Ted Babe and his successor Hec King. Comments on Hec King's death. Talks about Minister of Housing Bill Fraser. Discusses the change in political climate and the diminished working relationships between politicians and senior civil servants by the time of his retirement in 1984.

Venue - Wellington : 1989

Interviewer(s) - Susan Fowke

Venue - At Colin Reid's home at Crofton Downs, Wellington

Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-002250; OHC-002251; OHC-002252; OHC-002253

Quantity: 4 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 3.30 Hours and minutes Duration.

Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete AB 416.

Alternative form available:

Listening copies available at OHLC-003062, OHLc-003063, OHLC-003064 and OHLC-003065.