YALDHURST FARM SOLD

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27985, 4 June 1956, Page 10

YALDHURST FARM SOLD

STATE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

A property of 113 acres in Withells road. Yaldhurst, the farm of Mr G. H. Blair, chairman of the New Zealand Potato Board, has been bought by the Government for development as a State housing block. Mr Blair said yesterday that negotiations for the sale had covered several weeks. The arrangement was that he would retain the property on lease for two years. The block could probbably hold about 460 houses. The arable farm has been owned by Mr Blair for the last 18 years, and has belonged to his family for 52 years. Originally the area was 100 acres, but Mr Blair added the other 13 acres.

Giving his reasons for selling. Mr Blair said that not only were the rapidly-extending State housing blocks placing his future in jeopardy and giving rise to uncertainty, but under the recent’revaluation for rating purposes his farm had jumped from less than £1 to £345 for farm land tax. That was making a lot of farmers sell cut.

The district superintendent of housing (Mr H. S. Sherbrooke) said there could be no suggestion that any pressure had been brought on Mr Blair to sell his farm. The Government would develop it for housing in due course, but no plans had yet been made. He considered that it was in an area that was well worth buying.