TAUPO TIMBER LINE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10849, 15 March 1921, Page 6

TAUPO TIMBER LINE

COMMISSION’S REPORT ACQUISITION OF TRAMWAY NOT ADVISED. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS. The report of the Taupo Lands "and Timber Commission was tabled in i arliainent yesterday* . , T'lie Commission, consisting ot Messrs 11. J. H. Blow (chairman), F- \V. 1* urkert, H. Burton, and O. H-. M. McClure, was appointed to inquire uito alii mattors connected with the Taupo 1 minor Company’s estate, rights, and interests, and whether it wo-uld be advantageous to the State to acquire the company d tramway from. Putamru to Mokai, or any portion thereof, or any of the rights or interests of the company; \whothev it would be advisable to extend the tramway or to alter or improve it; and to advise what, if any, action should ho taken by the Government to develop in tho best manner possible the areas of native and Crown land served by the tramway that are considered suitable lor settlement purposes. THE BINDINGS.

The following is a summary of tho Commission’s findings:— 1. We think that the acquisition by the Crown of the company's tramway would not bo in the best interests of the State. 2. We do not advise the purchase of any part of the line. 3. The cost of altering the tramway to a standard Government railway (secondary line only) would amount to about .£600,000, but we do not recommend tho expenditure 4 Government, regulations of charges should be maintained as far a© possible, but, if the company, as it contends, has tho right to surrender its Orders-in-Council, this is practically only by mutual agreement. 5 There would be no advantage whatever in extending the line beyond Mokai, but an extension from Oruanui siding to Oruanui township, as contemplated bv the company, would bo advantageous, as such an extension would bring Wairakei within seven miles or the tramway and Taupo within ten miles, and also enable the wholie of the milluble timber in the locality .to be profitably utilised. The extension, if undertaken, should be carried out by the company in terms of the Order-in-Council which it already holds authorising the same. No further extension is recommended. 6. We do not think it would be in the public interest for tho existing timber rights of the company to be acquired by the Crown at the prices that would be likely to be asked for them just now. THE NATIVE LAND. 7. We think it advisable that tho native-owned timber-bearing land in tlio vicinity of the company's tramway or of the projected extension of same to Oruauui township, or lying between that point and Taupo, or adjacent to the shores of the lake, should be acquired by the Crown as soon as possible. 8 There is a large area of land —Crown, native and private—served by the tramway and its proposed and authorised extensions which is capable of profitable development. The first step to be taken would be to ‘acquire the native title. When that has been done the marketable timber on the land can either be sold on u royalty basis or it can be reserved for the present pending the construction of a Government railway to Taupo, and could then be handed over to the forestry or other Government department for milling for Government purposes. The land that is not timber-bearing, and the timber-bearing land when cleared, could be opened for selection as soon as there is any demand for settlement land in, tho district. 9. We do not advise the acquisition of any of the remaining rights of the company at the present time. 10. This opens up a very wide question on which a great deal might be said. IMMENSE WASTE TERRITORY. I We have stated that an immense territory is lying waste and undeveloped at the* present, and we think this calls for ja remedy. The most potent remedial [treasures that can be adopted are:— 1. For the Crown to acquire the native land. 2. To open up the area by means of a Government railway. The company's tramway and its proposed, extension to Oruanui w'ill assist to a certain ettent, but it can never serve the area as a standard Government railway would do. 3. To mill all the indigenous timber. 4. To largely increase and accelerate tho planting of exotic timbers and to continue planting in perpetuity so as to. make the sawmilling industry permanent even after all the indigenous timbers have been cut out. 5. To dispose of the available land on conditions that will ensure its being used to the best advantage. Tho findings of the Commission were arrived at unanimously.