WANTED : NEW LAND PURCHASE BOARD.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 5 February 1918, Page 2

WANTED : NEW LAND PURCHASE BOARD.

- CLOSER SETTLEMENT /I AGAIN. " : :M ■ :J Cr- Mackenzie brought up at ,>'4 last night's meeting of the liorough Council the question of the "ja§ Governments refusal to purchase'• the Heatherlea Estate for closer settlement. He asked the Mayor what the position was, adding that if, as the Minister had stat- r||| ed, the price was too high, it did' Jst not greatly redound to our pa- '.Ds triotism as a community that we '"~M were asking soldiers to pay the the highest prices for land. 'Jg _Cr Lancaster asked what the -Jgg price was. The Mayor said no price had been suggested. The trustees had agreed to arbitration on the mat- % ter, which assured that the land M would be obtained at a reasonable rate. The Land Purchase Board, , | however, had reported that the ajqujins jo jC{uo , for the purpose was much broken by small swampy gulliies. This • was a somewhat absurd report be- <■!& cause arbitrators who knew anything about land would take that T ;:p into consideration. The Trustees '$jm had since stated that their offer had now been withdrawn and they were malting arrangements 'Ira to dispose of the land in another M way. The Mayor added that from is what the Minister had said he did J not r consider the matter finally settled and he himself had not let it drop by any means. '-Ji .Cr Lancaster: Do we understand you to say, sir, that the "m Land Purchase Board considered the land unsuitable for closer set- 5 tlement? /' . i §'|ff| The Mayor: Yes. " Jf Cr Lancaster: Well, it's time 'J we had a new Land Purchase Board. lam sure there is no more suitable land in New Zealand for Jg closer settlement than the Hea- f| tlierly Estate'(Hear, hear). ; -gj The Mayor said the tenure was ' : f put forward as a difficulty, but he was sure, if properly tackled, this could easily be got over. Cr Ryder corroborated Cr. Lancaster's opinion as to the suitabil- -£| ity of the land, saying practically the wTTole of the. Estaite was good for closer settlement. f| ' -it