VILLAGE SETTLEMENT

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 218, 10 June 1933, Page 11

VILLAGE SETTLEMENT

Details of Napier Scheme HELP FOR UNEMPLOYED Dominion Special Service. Napier, June 9. The Napier Village Settlement Scheme is nearing completion, and applications are being invited from married unemployed men who are registered at the Napier Labour Office. The settlement will be bounded on the west by Riverbend road and on the east by the Tutaekuri River. Access will be from Riverbend road. Approximately five sectors have been planned, and these again will be sub-divided into five-acre sections. The selection of occupiers and the balloting for sections will be controlled by the representatives of the Government departments on the Napier Village Settlement committee, who shall act as a sub-committee for this purpose. The sub-committee’s decision regarding selection will be final. Each settler will undergo a probationary period of two years from date of initial occupation. during which time he will be under the direct control of the Department of Agriculture At the expiry of the probationary period, settlers then approved will be given a lease from the Crown on a 21 years’ perpetual system. The Department of Agriculture with the approval of the committee reseiwes the right to remove and replace any man who proves unsatisfactory during the term of probation. For the first two years the whole area will be developed as thought fit by the Department of Agriculture, and for such purpose holdings will be individualised at the discretion of the department. Each settler will be expected to develop a home garden and maintain a flock of poultry, but may be called upon to assist in the general development on a co-operative basis. The proceeds from co-operative cropping may be used or distributed at the discretion of the controlling committee. Each settler will be liable for rent from the date of entry, the amount of which and method of collection being controlled by the committee. It is expected that rental will not exceed 10/- per week for the period ending April 20, 1913, but a revaluation of the propertv will be made some months before that date, and the rental from April 20, 1913, will be only 5 per cent, on the unimproved value of the land, plus interest on capital expenditure by the Crown. . , x . Each settler will be required to submit a weekly diary on a form to be supplied. This diary will show the nature of work done, and money earned. Each section will be of live acres, more or less. Equipment will consist of a cottage containing two or three bedrooms according to the size of the family, living-room, kitehen. baM-room-wasliliouse, supplied with artesian water, electric light fittings, timber for outbuildings, stock and seed as required up to a limited amount. Successful applicants will . not be eligible for ordinary unemployment relief, but will be provided with a sustenance allowance at the discretion or the Labour Department and the Department of Agriculture, the extent of the allowance being decided by these departments on the marital status and the position as revealed in the settlers diaries. . Settlers will be given every assistance possible, and free expert advice in the development of profitable undertakings.