LAND DEVELOPMENT

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 225, 19 June 1931, Page 8

LAND DEVELOPMENT

Government’s Proposals BIG PROPERTIES INVOLVED Particulars of further land development work the Government proposes to carry out were given by the Minister of Lands, Hon. E. A Ransom, yesterday on his return from a tour of the Walrarapa. Hawke’s Bay was to be the centre of considerable development work, the Minister said. Tenders were being called for scrub-cutting and bushfelling on about 2700 acres of Crown land In the Mohaka area, south of Wairoa, and on about 2000 acres at Kotemaori, 43 miles north of Napier. It was expected that work would be provided for about 100 men, as numerous contracts would be let. The areas would be ploughed, fenced and subdivided when the preliminary clearing had been done, and they would then be thrown open for sele- '■'on. Finance for the work was being found from the lands development fund. Further large areas would be cut up as soon as the plans and specifications could be completed. These included a block of 18,000 acres at Kotemaori and Kakarikl, on the East Coast, and these would ultimately be brought into full production. In addition an area or about 3000 acres, 14 miles from Otorohanga, would be cut up in the near future. A total of about 13,000 acres at Maerangi, near Kawhia, was under consideration for subdivision and settlement purposes. The construction of eight miles and a half of reading wou d be Involved in , this work, and this would provide a direct route from Frankton to Kawhia. A fully developed block of 2100 acres at Poukawa, near Te Aute, had been acquired. This was said to be among the finest land in Hawke's Bay, and it would be cut into nine sections, six for dairying purposes and three for sheep farming. The block would not be thrown open for about a month, although the plans would be ready within a few days. The Minister added that he In spected a property of 395 acres at KiwitaTtast Friday, and his recommendations concerning it would be considered by the Dominion Land Purchase Board.