PICKNICKERS FINED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22402, 24 April 1936, Page 18

PICKNICKERS FINED

FIRE LIT IN RESERVE VISITORS TO HONGI'S TRACK [by telegraph—own correspondent] KOTORUA, Thursday " I am not asking for a heavy fine. The penalty o:F £IOO is particularly heavy, but the Lands Department has asked that "this prosecution be taken in order to draw the attention of the public to the fact that fires must not be lit on scenic reserves," said SeniorSergeant E. J. Carroll in the Rotorua Magistrate's Court to-day, when two Bay of Plenty residents, Roy Harold Stafford Cairns and Eardley Arthur Haultain, were charged with lighting a fire at Hongi's Track, contrary to the Scenery Preservation Act. The senior sergeant said the offence was committed on New Year's Day. when defendants, with their wives and families, formed a picnic party and camped at Hongi's Track and lit a fire to boil a billy. Defendants had stated they did not know they could not light a fire in the locality, although notices were erected at both ends of the reserve. The magistrate, Mr. S. L. Paterson, imposed a fine of 10s in each case.