LAND FOR SETTLEMENT OF SERVICEMEN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21947, 15 February 1946, Page 2

LAND FOR SETTLEMENT OF SERVICEMEN

DISTRICT BLOCKS

NEARLY 20,000 ACRES

TAUMATA NOW ON LIST

Notice of liis intention to take the Tallinn ta station property of approximately 8092 acres, in the Ngatapa and Vt'aikohu survey districts, for the settlement of servicemen has been given by the Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr C. F. Skinner. The property is expected lo provide about eight unit farms, on sub-division, and comprises bill country with a good pro portion of terrace lands and river Hats.

Taumata adjoins Hihiroroa, and is in the possession of the estate of the late Mr J. D. Williamson, who was associated with two brothers in land settlement in the early days of hill-country improvement in this district.

If the negotiations in connection with this and other properties in which the Rehabilitation Department has interest in this district come to fruition, about 19.712 acres will be made available within a reasonable time for Kiwi settlement.

Properties Under Negotiation

Taumata is one of five properties now under negotiations, the others being the Reeves property at Tolaga Bay, the Hihiroroa station at Ngatapa, a portion of Mr A. J. H. Kirkham’s property at Ruatoria, and the Ilangnron property of Viscount Doneraile.

The ' schedule of properties now under negotiation, with their approxi-

male areas and the probable number of units in each, is as under:

It is understood that in the case of Mr Kirkham's property, situated in the lower Mata Valley and comprising hill lands and river terraces, the price will approximate £ls per acre. The transaction has not yet reached completion. but only formalities remain to finalise the negotiations. Part of the property has been withheld from .sale by Mr Kirkham, and will be farmed by his son.

The sale of Viscount Doneraile’s property of 5000 acres, which was subject to many obstacles in the early stages of negotiations, is also approaching completion; it is understood, though it is not as far advanced as the sale by Mr Kirkham. In the cases of the Reeves property, the Hihiroroa station, and the Taumata station, only the first steps of proclamation have been completed to date, though a good deal of background work has been done by departmental officers in preparation for assessing compensation to the owners. If the Rehabilitation and Lands Departments can settle 29 men on the properties named, and when the subdivision and selection of .the Te Wera block of 11.000 acres is completed, a substantial proportion Of the men awaiting settlement will have been catered for. The Te Wera block is expected to accommodate about seven settlers, the type of country calling for larger areas for grazing.

Owner Area Units Reeves .. • • ,. .. 840ac. 8 Kirkham . . . . .. .. 1780 ” 4 Hihiroroa .. .. 4000 " 5 Doneraile .. .. 5000 ” 4 Tauma.ta .. .. 8002 ” 8 19,712ac. 20