MILK ZONING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27079, 13 May 1949, Page 6

MILK ZONING

WHOLESALE TRADE

DECISION HELD OVER

GOVERNMENT'S INTENTIONS

The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Cullen, is to be asked by the Dunedin Metropolitan Milk -Board to indicate the intentions of the Government in respect to trading in milk by the MUk Treatment Station in Dunedin. The station at present sells about 500 gallons of milk on a wholesale basis. A motion to this effect was carried at a special meeting of the board yesterday afternoon, when . the question of wholesale milk zones was discussed at length. The board also decided that an approach should be made to the Milk Treatment Station in respect

to the possibility of the board purchasing: the gallonage at present held by the station, and that the question of zoning wholesale deliveries should be held ■ over until a reply is received. The board discussed the question of wholesale zoning for nearly an hour, and a deputation from the Dunedin Milk Vendors’ Association was heard on the subject.

The meeting opened with the reading of a report by a sub-committe* comprising the chairman, Mr W. B Taverner Mr T. McD.' Foster, and the secretary (Mr A. making several recommendations in respect to wholesale zoning. These included the rejection of submissions' by the Dairy Farmers’ Co-operative Milk Supply Company, Ltd.,, and the Milk Vendors’ Association, and ; a' recommendation that ,the previous recommendations of the committee should be adhered to. that the North Dunedin wholesale zone should be granted to the Milk Treatment Station and* .that the wholesale zoning scheme should come into force on June 1.

The secretary read a memorandum to the board stating that the proposals were merely the completion of the zoning scheme approved by the Milk Vendors’ Association, the Milk Marketing Division and the board, and brought partly into operation in Sepember, 1947. The zoning of wholesale milk sales was at that time deferred at the request of the Director of Milk Marketing, who contended that-the goodwill of the wholesale companies purchased by the division should be retained by the treatment station until the future ownership and control of the station had been decided.

The board now felt that the implementation of the complete zoning scheme should not be delayed. The matter of transferring the defined wholesale zones from, the station to private deliverers could be further considered later.

The chairman formally moved that the recommendations should be adopted. He stated that a deputation from the Milk Vendors’ Association would wait on the board to answer questions if this were thought necessary. When Mr E. J. Smith asked whether the vendors should be given an opportunity to be heard, he was informed that they had not asked for a hearing.

Mr Smith then quoted from a submission by Mr R. Greenway, a member of the deputation, which claimed that a promise was given by Mr H. H. Innes, the then Director of Milk Marketing, that the Government would not enter into the wholesale milk trade through the milk treatment centre. Mr. Smith thought that this aspect of the matter should be heard. Mr Taverner said that the matter had been referrecLio Wellington, and the new director said that there was no record on the files in respect to such a promise. _

The secretary pointed out that the vendors raised the point whether the wholesale zones held by the treatment station should be given to returned servicemen. The board, he said, proposed to stop the station selling milk all over the city, and to restrict it to zones.

Mrs R. E. S. Reeves: Does the Government get the profit from the sale of this milk? Mr Russell: Yes. Mr J. G. Barnes said that he thought the duty of the milk station was to treat milk, not to sell it. He added that the wholesale gallonage held by the station, in his opinion, should go to returned servicemen.

Mr Smith said that'it would influx ence the decision of the board if it were known whether Mr Innes had made a definite promise in respect to the station selling milk. Vendors were labouring under a sense of injustice. In reply to a question by Mrs Beeves, Mr Taverner said that the milk sold by the station was half the gallonage bought by the Government from the companies. He thought tnat, strictly speaking, the station would be entitled to sell twice as much as it did., Mr Barnes then made the suggestion that the. board should buy the wholesale gallonage held by the station and consider zoning, in the light of the reply received. ' The deputation of milk vendors, Messrs Greenway, r M. Kennedy and W. G. Nicolson, was then received. Mr Kennedy said that vendors felt that the delivery of milk should be. retained by private enterprise. Mr Greenway said that the assurance given by Mr Innes Was made at a general meeting of milk vendors. He claimed that Mr innes was asked specifically whether the Government intended to remain in the milk trade, and the reply was in the negative. After questions had been answered by the members of the. deputation, the board reached its decisions as reported above.

Others present at the meeting were Dr G. O. Lt. Dempster and Messrs T. McAhan, f¥. D. Anderson, and N. H. Shepherd.