Pastoral lease future is still ‘open-ended’

Press, 19 November 1982, Page 26

Pastoral lease future is still ‘open-ended’

The future of pastoral lease land is still “openended." according to the Minister of Lands. Mr Elworthv.

Although the recent report of the Committee of Inquiry on Crown Pastoral Leases (the Clayton Committee) had recommended that parts of those leases should remain in public ownership, the Government was not prepared to implement this until such time as study teams of the department had reported back on the feasibility of such a concept, said the Minister.

The first of these reports has just been released for public comment. The Clayton Committee recommended that areas be set aside for what it called “multiple use.” These areas would embrace lands having significant value for recreational, ecological, conservationist or similar purposes. The designation of these areas is the key issue, said Mr Elworthy. The Committee of Inquiry was established in response to requests from pastoral lessees w T ho, with the advent of new rental assessment procedures, were faced with large increases in annual rents.

Many of them saw a freeholding option as a way but of the financial dilemma.

The Clayton Committee recommended that pastoral leases be phased out and be replaced with renewable leases, which would mean an increased rental as well as the option to buy the Crown’s interest over a long term. But, as a part of what the Minister called a “trade-off,” lessees would be obliged to either surrender certain areas with no or little primary production value but where limited grazing may be available, or other areas with long term lease provisions but which would also be available for public use. The objective of having a study team investigate the committee’s proposals, was, according to the Minister, to provide the Land Settlement Board through its district committees, with a sound information base to work from.

“I am keen to see the matter settled' as promptly as possible. It has been hovering around for about 11

years now and leases are coming up for renewal in large numbers in 1984," he said. “What we have to do," he added, “is be seen to be fair to the new owners in the event of the buying option being taken up, at the same time to be fair to the Crown and tb the rest of the farming industry. “I will be looking to the Land Settlement Board for advice and to suggest ways and means whereby flexible arrangements can be made which will enable lessees to meet the increased costs. Many will do so from income generated by development but others, in the process of developing, may find it difficult to continue development programmes whilst at the same time meet increased rental charges." Mr Elworthy said he did not believe that the State should own farm land in New Zealand and because a lot of pastoral leases contained large areas of farm land he thought it should be either farmed as a renewable lease or purchased outright.