Scheme extension call

Press, 30 August 1980, Page 11

Scheme extension call

North Canterbury Federated Farmers will call for an extension of .the Land Development Encouragement Loan scheme, which will expire at the end of next month.

The North Canterbury Federated Farmers provincial executive has resolved to call for an extension to the scheme, and to investigate how the scheme could be changed to in-

elude the present inflation rate, and to increase its scope so that fencing, water supplies and other development works were included. At present, the scheme basically finances land clearance and fertilisation. Members agreed that the scheme was making a considerable impact on the amount of stock carried on New Zealand farms, and consequently the amount of overseas revenue being earned from this increased production. Sir William Dunlop, who is a director of the Rural Bank (which administers the L.D.E.L. scheme) said that about 400,000 hectares had been developed through finance from the scheme; and this had earned New Zealand an extra $75 million overseas. The L.D.E.L. scheme, in combination with the Livestock Incentive scheme had financed about 10 million extra stock units, he said. Executive members agreed the scheme should apply for much longer than the three years it was initially set down for. A sub-committee was appointed to investigate increased development costs, to see if part of these could be recouped through the scheme. Ways of having the loan money usable for more types of development work would also be examined.