MINING LAW

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 94, 18 October 1934, Page 15

MINING LAW

AMENDMENTS TO BILL

FARM LANDS PROTECTION

Strong objection to any authority be- j ing given for tho use of farm lands for mining purposes, thereby destroying the agricultural value of the land, was taken in the House of Representatives yesterday, when the Mining Amendment Bill was reported back from the Mines Committee with amendments. Mr. W. J. Poison (Government, Stratford) urged that it should be made impossible for anyone to sell agricultural land for gold-mining purposes, and in this view he was supported by tho Minister of Mines (the Hon. C. E. Macmillan). It was explained by the chairman of tho Committee (the Hon. W. A. Bodkin) that tho Committee had considered this point, but felt that it was a matter of .Government policy. The principal change made by the Committee in. the Bill is a provision that' compensation should be paid _ to the Crown1 for damage done by mining in the same way as compensation is paid to private owners and lessees of Crown land. Another, amendment deals with the basis of computing _ damage done to land by mining operations and provides that tho warden and assessors shall take into consideration the extent to which tho whole of the land comprised in the holding of which tho damaged land forms part will be detrimentally affected by reason oi any reduction in tho area not used for mining purposes; they must also consider the effect tho loss of fiat land necessary for working hill country will liavo.on the value of the hill country. MUCH APPREHENSION. Mr. Poison saia that_ there was a great deal of apprehension on the part of a number, of farmers in the South Island as to the effect of mining on farm lands and ho had received a number of letters from farmers in Otago and the West Coast urging that there be no interference with farm lands. There was a grave fear that, under certain conditions, tho Bill would give power to sell good farm land for mining purposes. To destroy land of this nature for all time was a crime to the State. He would go so far as to say that no farm owner should be given power to sell his land for mining purposes, if mining was going to destroy the land. Gold might not always be valuable and its value might cease, but the value of land would never cease. On the west coast of . the South Island, pakihi land, which, it had been found, could be used, was being destroyed by an American dredge Under the control of an American dredgemaster. The Hon. W. Downie Stewart (Government, Dunedin West) said that there was considerable apprehcnsiou_ in Otago .that the Bill, did not give adequate protection to farm land. . Mr. J. A. Maepherson (Government, Oainaru) said that there wero no big areas of rich agricultural land left in the mining districts although there might be a few alluvial flats. Provision could be made for returning the soil'to the land after mining, operations. Mr. A.- E. Ansell (Government, Chalmers) pointed out that .the small areas of good land were required to carry stock during the winter and that with irrigation splendid crops had Loon grown at Cromwell, BETTER PROTECTION The Ministor of Minos said that the Bill did not go as far as Mr. Poison -had wanted, but:at-.tho beginning of tho Committee proceedings only Mr. Poison and himself were supporters of tho view that private lands should be secured so that there could be no mining, It was extraordinary that there had been no provision in the Mines Act for compensation to the Crown for damage done by sluicing, and the Bill now made provision for^ that. Ho said that he had no objection to making conditions on mining documents that no agricultural land should be mined except on condition that such land should not be destroyed. The Bill gave better protection for agricultural land than had previously beon the ease. Mr. Bodkin said that every member of the Committee had given serious thought to Mr. Poison's suggestions, and a great number of witnesses had urged that on no account should mining be permitted to destroy agricultural land. Most of the damage hud been done by freeholders who had bought the land and then destroyed it by mining. There was a big principle inI volved and it was a matter for Government consideration. What was wanted was a revision of the mining laws and he suggested that the whole question of mining policy should be referred to the Goldfields Committee for the purpose of making recommendations to the Government-

As Crown lands are affected by the Bill, it was referred to the Lands Committee for consideration.