Briefs

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 3

Briefs

Toddler named The name of a boy, aged two, killed in a tractor accident on a Fairlie farm on Saturday was released yesterday. He was Joseph Dillon Butters, of Sherwood Downs. The police said the child was a passenger in the cab of a tractor and tried to jump off the vehicle when it rolled forward. — PA. Farmer faces sale A North Canterbury farmer placed on the land by the Government six years ago will put his 347 ha Motunau property up for auction tomorrow. Mr Ken Turpin was one of 360 New Zealand farmers given the option of buying his farm from Landcorp. This follows a request by the Government that Landcorp sell its financial interest in farms. The sale was forced on Mr Turpin because the property was not capable of servicing interest rates at the market rate. The farm’s stock and plant will be sold at a clearing sale. Mr Turpin plans to find a farm manager’s job as the amount of money he will get out of the sale of the property and stock and plant will not be enough to allow him to get back into farming. Schools to close? The decision whether to close schools during Thursday’s caretakers and cleaners’ strike will be made individually, says the general manager of the Canterbury Education Board, Mr Keith McNeil. He said all schools would not be closed. It would be a matter for principals and boards of trustees’ chairmen to decide. “Most will manage in terms of toilets, but heating will be the problem. Only a few schools have electric heating — the rest are heated by boilers.” Mr McNeil said schools were advised yesterday that the decision to close could be made locally.” New cars for M.O.T. Many traffic officers will be driving new cars in the next 12 months. The Ministry of Transport has been allocated $5 million in the Budget to improve its motor vehicle fleet. Traffic officer cars make up the majority of the ministry’s fleet. The Land transport division’s general manager, Tim Sanger, said tenders for the new vehicles had already been received, but no decision had been made. The ministry hopes the $5 million injection will mean reduced maintenance costs over the next few years. — PA.