FIRE HAZARDS IN SECTIONS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27875, 25 January 1956, Page 12

FIRE HAZARDS IN SECTIONS

RESPONSE TO NOTICES TO CLEAR

LACK OF CO-OPERATION IN HEATHCOTE

The Christchurch City Council is receiving good co-operation from the owners of land which is overgrown with grass and scrub, creating a fire hazard during the drought “There was a lot of clearing going on at the week-end, and in many cases we do not have to issue notices to clear; a warning is sufficient," said the chief city inspector (Mr J. W. Huggins) yesterday. In Heathcote, the same co-operation is not being founcL About 30 notices to clear land had been sent out, said the clerk of the Heathcote County Council (Mr R. W. Norris) yesterday. Not much had been done, and it would be a matter for .the council to decide whether prosecutions would be made. Some of the overgrown land in the county is on the lower sections of the hills fronting main roads, and the fire danger there is particularly serious. In Wamairi a survey of the county has been made to locate dangerous places, and the council is in the process of sending out clearing notices. “Actually, we are doing it all the time,’ said the county engineer (Mr D. P. McLellan), “but with the drought over the last few weeks we have intensified our efforts of get rid of fire hazards.”

More than 200 complaints about long grass and scrub had been made to the City Council, said Mr Huggins, and inspectors had investigated complaints as well as watching for fire hazards during their ordinary duties. Not all the complaints had been justified, but about 150 notices to clear had been issued under the Municipal Corporations Act. Mr Huggins said that in many cases the owners of vacant land had merely to be told of the position and then set to work to clear the land.

The Government was among the offending landowners in the city, mostly on sections being held for housing development; but it had undertaken to clear the land of fire dangers. Some difficulty had been experienced where the owners of land could not be traced, MrxHuggins said. There were cases of residents living near overgrown vacant land clearing it themselves. While on the watch for fire hazards, inspectors sometimes come across another nuisance—noxious weeds. The council is empowered to order owners of land to get rid of noxious weeds. Commonest in Christchurch are convolvulous, Californian and other varieties of thistles, and, in some outer areas, gorse.

The cutting of long growth to reduce* the fire danger can help to alleviate the noxious weeds nuisance, for seeds are not spread so easily from the cut weeds. But, Mr Huggins said, extermination was the only answer to the weed problem, and hormone spraying seemed to be the most effective way.

FARMER TO BE PROSECUTED

STUBBLE BURNT AT BELFAST

The Waimairi County Council fire tender was called to Belfast yesterday afternoon to a fire in a paddock. No difficulty Was experienced in putting it out.

It was found that the farmer owning the land had been burning off stubble. The council will prosecute him for lighting a fire during a closed season.