West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Tuesday 22 April 1952, page 4


New Suburb In Making For 1,300 Homes A new suburb known as Willagee is being created by the State Housing Commission. It adjoins Palmyra in the Melville district and is one mile from Canning-highway.

Announcing this yesjerday, the Minister for Housing (Mr. Wild) said that the new suburb, where 168 tradesmen were at work, would consist of .1,300 dwellings. About 270 homes would be completed by December. Most of the houses going up were Austrian prefabricated structures on which over 100 skilled Austrians were working. Homes For Workers Mr. Wild explained that the new suburb was being brought into existence primarily to provide accommodation for employees in the new industrial area being developed by the Fremantle City Council. Surveys and clearing of the sites bad begun in December. 1950, he said, and first-class roads were constructed last year by the Melville Road Board, as contractors for the Commission. Water and power were laid on to the area and two bus routes to serve it were planned. 'The Austrian 'prefabs' are a rather novel feature to building

construction in Western Australia," said Mr. Wild. 'They consist of four rooms with bathroom, laundry and lavatory under one roof. "The livingroom is lSft. 6in. by 12ft., the front bedroom 62ft. by Ilft. 8in., the second bedroom 12ft. by 9ft. 2in., and the kitchen 12ft. by 10ft. 3in. "Sites have been reserved for schools, churches, community centres, a theatre and two recreation grounds."In "In addition there are sites for a post office and fire and police stations. etc. "The spectacle of so many men and so much material being applied to the quick development of a new suburb is very interesting," Mr. Wild added, "because each week sees a fair measure of progress." First Memorial: What is believed to be the first memorial in Britain to commemorate King George VI was unveiled and dedicated in Flitcham parish church on Sandringham estate on Sunday. The memorial took the form of a priest's carved oak stall.-Reuters.