LAND DEVELOPMENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21618, 10 October 1933, Page 11

LAND DEVELOPMENT

AREAS NEAR PAPAKURA TOWN BOARD SUGGESTION Greater Government interest in the development of areas of partly improved land adjacent to Papakura was advocated by the chairman of the Papakura Town Board, Mr. H. E. McEntee, at a meeting of the board last evening. Mr. McEntee said that from 3000 to 4000 acres of land in the district were lying idle .and if they could be brought into cultivation it would greatly benefit the district. The land was easily accessible, was served by good roads and had the advantages of postal facilities, electric power and easy access to schools. He moved that the board should express the opinion that it would be advantageous not only to Papakura, but also to the country as a whole if suitable undeveloped lands adjacent to the district could bo brought into closer settlement and that the board shpuld communicate with Mr. J. N. Massey, M.P., and the Hon. O. J. Carrington, M.L.C., suggesting that they pursue the matter as far as possible.

The motion was carried unanimously. Mr. McEntee stated that at the invitation of the Minister of Lands, the Hon. E. A. Ransom, the Lands Department had been supplied with a list of properties considered suitable. One particular block of 582 acres was offered to the Government at £2 an acre and there was enough firewood on it to pay for it. The unimproved value of another block was about £1 an acre. The land was very suitable for development. The matter was one of public interest and a real avenue for the advancement of the whole of the district.

The practice of the Lands Department in developing back-blocks land when many areas remained near established townships was criticised by Mr. D. Weir. He considered that farms for settlement should not be made too small, as, in his opinion, a man could not live on the produce of less than '2O cows. The 10-acrc scheme was not practicable, he said.