CONWAY RABBIT BOARD

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26398, 17 April 1951, Page 3

CONWAY RABBIT BOARD

SUBDIVISION OF AREA

LETTER TO DESTRUCTION COUNCIL

The former chairman of the Conway Rabbit Board (Mr R. R. Laidlaw), in an interview with the Minister of Agriculture (Mr K. J. Holyoake), was told that if the new board, when elected. still favoured subdivision, Mr Holyoake would recommend that the Rabbit Destruction Council accede to the board’s request. The Conway Rabbit Board decided at its monthly meeting to advise the Rabbit Destruction Council of this in renly to a letter from the council, which said that the board had not presented any fresh material which would justify the council reversing its decision against subdivision.

The board decided also to inform the council that the board had taken a noil among the ratepayers which had confirmed the board’s opinion.

The chairman of the board (Mr John Trewin) said that members had been given definite instructions by the ratepayers on subdivision, and that as a majority of the poll had favoured it, they were entitled to have subdivision carried out. When the Rabbit Destruction Council had visited the Kaikoura district in November, 1949, Mr Laidlaw, who was then chairman of the board, had made a proposal for the subdivision of the Conwav board's area, with the Kahutara river as the dividing line. The southern area would have comprised 93,111 acres representing 35 ratepayers, with approximately 30 ratepayers on the northern side of the river responsible for 57.981 acres. Ratepayers in the southern area had. at that time, agreed to rabbit this area without subsidy to make the amount available to the northern area, which included 10.000 acres of the Clarence Reserve station. The council had agreed to the subdivision, but opposition to the proposal had resulted in the council withdrawing its recommendation.