LAKE ELLESMERE LANDS.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7442, 16 October 1889, Page 6

LAKE ELLESMERE LANDS.

We are requested to state 'that the lithographs of this land, which is advertised to be sold by auction at the Provincial Council Chamber on November 12th, are expected to be ready for delivery on Friday at the Land Office, Christchurch. This being the first of the lake lands offered to the public, a short history of them may not be uninteresting. In 1876 the Ellesmere and Forsyth Reclamation and Akaroa Railway Trust Act, 1870. was passed, which, a« stated in the second section of the Act. was passed "for the purpose of providing for the drainage and reclamation of land irom Lakes Ellesmere and Foreyth. rt The sixteenth section of this Act provided that half the proceeds of the sale or disposal of the first 50,000 acres of the waste lands of the Crown within the boundaries of the Akaroa and Wainui and Little River road districts should be paid into the Trust account, the Trust being authorised to pay for a survey to determine the area of the Lake lands, the means of drainage, and the best route for the railway to Akaroa harbor. In 1878 the Railways Construction Act, 1878, was passed, which authorised the payment into the public account of the whole proceeds of the first 50,000 acres, and it set apart 72,000 acres, being the estimated area of the now drained land* to be sold as special value land, and paid to a separate account; all the moneys received from both the 50,000 acres and the 72,000 acres to be applied in constructing a line of railway to Little River, and thence to Akaroa, from the main line from Amherley to Waitaki, or from a branch of the said line. In 18S8 the Ellesmere Lake Lands Act, 1888, was passed, which sets out by declaring that of the 72,000 acres authorised in 1878 to be sold as special value land a part are not of such value, and "of the remainder no such sale can with advantage be effected until protective works are made to secure such land* 'rom overflow by the waters of Lake E lesmere and the River Halswell respectively, and the Act then goes on to empower the Minister for Public Works to construct protective works and to do all things requisite for draining the said lands, and for rendering them available for'sale and settlement. It farther authorises the Governor, upon the Minister reporting that the land* are ready for sale and settlement, to declare them open for sale by auction for cash, the moneys received from such sale to be applied in payment of the protective works authorised: 'in repayment to the Public Works Fund of all moneys heretofore paid out of such fund towards the construction of the rail- j way from Lincoln to Little River; and the balance to be applied in the construction and maintenance of a line of railway to Little River, and thence to Akaroa, as directed by the Railways Construction Act. Following the directions contained In the last-mentioned Act, protective works have been carried out by the Government, and the land has been greatly improved by the new cut made for the river Halsweu and by an embankment faced with stone, which prevents the waters of the Lake from flooding the land during the winter months, and we understand that the Government have also decided to face with stone the embankment along the new cut Halswell. Ihe cost of the now cut and embankment has been £5400, and the proposed stone facing yet to be done will cost at least £1000. The first lot of land now being offered consists of 5700 acres, which will be offered at upset prices, running from £1 to £8 per acre, and further lots will, before the expiration of the season, be placed on the market.