150,000 Acres Of Land On Roadsides

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30769, 5 June 1965, Page 10

150,000 Acres Of Land On Roadsides

The amount of land taken permanently out of production by the provision of roads inevitably becomes a talking point as populations increase and the need for increased production puts pressure on farm land, says the Department of Agriculture’s weekly newsletter.

Recent assessments of what is in effect waste space by rural roadsides that might be used for grazing or crop production in the eight superintendencies of the Department of Agriculture amounted to 146,000 acres. Estimates of the area of road verges that could be used were as high as two and a half to three acres a mile of formed road in some districts.

It cannot be said that rural road verges in New Zealand have ever been totally segregated from use by farmers. At least in the days before Intensive motor traffic, the “long paddock" was used by farmers in many districts, either accidentally through stock breaching inadequate road boundary fences, or intentionally (if surreptitiously to avoid the risk of impounding of their stock) in times of drought or feed shortage on the farm itself.

Provision in many rural areas of a two-chain road reserve, through the middle of which a narrow metalled carriageway met the. needs of the sparse traffic of the premotor era, seemed at least generous, even before limits to the area of potentially farmable land ever entered seriously into production calculations.

Today both greatly Increased road traffic and increased value and scarcity of farmable land focus attention on the estimated nearly 150.000 acres of usuable land beside carriageways of rural roads. Apart from the productive potential this acreage represents, other considerations such as road safety, control of noxious weeds and pests, maintenance of drains and other works,

and aesthetic aspects must enter calculations of the extent to which roadsides are used by farmers or local bodies allow or encourage such use.

That they are being used to an appreciable extent is indicated by the following estimated usable acreage and comments from fields superintendents:

Auckland: 19,000 acres. Hamilton (Waikato-Roto-rua): 23,000 acres. In Piako and Matamata counties, where dairying land is selling at up to £4OO per acre, roadside spaces are generally fairly fully grazed, use of the electric fence being accepted practice; in Piako county 80

to 90 per cent of roadsides are estimated to be used in this way. The Matamata County Council allows farmers to graze roadsides if the temporary’ electric fences used are removed after grazing. Fences must be placed no nearer than 3ft from the road edge; the council will then carry insurance to cover the farmer if his roadside grazing results in an accident

Hastings (Hawke's BayEast Coast): 15,000 acres. In Hawke’s Bay county, because of summer drought, roadside grazing is usually cleared out by stock once or twice a year. Palmerston North (Taranaki, Manawatu, Wellington): 22,000 acres.

Nelson: 7000 acres. The Waimea and Murchison County Councils encourage farmers who are refencing on road boundaries to enclose road verges to within 6ft of carriageways.

Christchurch (CanterburyWestland): 25.000 acres. The Mackenzie Country has a fairly high proportion of twochain road reserves and an appreciable part of its reading is unfenced and open to grazing. The estimated usable road verges in Canterbury and Westland are equivalent to about 2j acres per mile of formed road. On the Canterbury Plains it is not uncommon for road verges to. be cultivated for growing" grass and lucerne for hay, potatoes, and even wheat and linseed.

Dunedin (Otago): 21,000 acres. The Waihemo, Waikouaiti and Maniototo County Councils encourage farmers to move road boundary fences close to the carriageway to use the grazing and control noxious weeds.

Invercargill (Southland): 14.000 acres. The estimated usable • acreage of verges represents three acres a mile of formed road.