H.B. LAND BOARD.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 11249, 13 April 1908, Page 5

H.B. LAND BOARD.

GISBORNE MEETING. The quarterly meeting of the Hawke's. Bay Land Board, was held U^r^morning, when there- were present: /i'ne Commissioner lor Grown jumds (Mr H. Trent),! and Messrs Hyde, Ba-rti-g^i, and Lane. iMOTU TIMBER. RIGHTS. TJie application, made by Mr W. D. Lysnar, on belialf of Mr W. A. Liinbrick, of Hawera., ior approval of timber grants m respect ol several Crown •sections at Motui came before the Bourd again tliis morning. Mr W. S. McCredio appeared on, behalf o-f Air Lysnar. TJi© Commissioner reviewed' the circumstances regarding previous- considerations of the application, explaining that the Board' held it was a, sub-lease and that the necessary declaration as to limitation must bo made. Mr Lysnar hod' contended it was not a sub-lease, buit before the document could be registered it had to be. approved of by. the Board. He contended that the timber-cutting grant came under the definition of "or other disposition," and! as. such the question, of limitation did not arise. The Commissioner added' that the Under-Secretary liad held it was a sub-lease> and this opinion had been upheld by the Grown Solicitor, to whom the matter had been referred. Under these circumstances the Board could' only agree to the sub-lease m compliance with, the Act. Mr Lane inquired what was the area m question. Tlie Comanissioner said applicant desired to obtain milling rights over 5000 or 6000 acres. Mr Lane thought it was giving a monopoly. The Commissioner said tlie Act gave lessees full power to dispose of their timber, but to protect his client Mr Lysnar had brought: these, documents to the Board for approval, 'and. which they must hold to be sub-leases. Mi- Hyde moved -that the Board could only approve of .the applications as subleases and a& . such must be subject to limitation.— Carried. ADMISSION OF. A (36-TENANT. Mr W. S. Lunn, holder of section 1, block 10, Hangaroa, 0.R.P., applied for permission to admit Mr S. Boland as a co-tenant m the lease. , ; oir T. Alston Goleman appeared m support, and explained that there was no proposed payment m respect of the admission of Mr Boland, but his admission : as a half-partner was desired because applicant was only a theoretical farmer, .whilst Mr Boland liad had a lengthy ex. rperience. ", • The Commissioner said the section had 3een held since. June of last, year, and he pointed out that under the conditions of last year's Act no transfer, could be made for two years. ; Mr Coleman said he was not applying for a transfer, but as had been done m other instances,., the .inclusion, of; a second name m the lease.. , The Commissioner said this liad only been permitted prior to. entering upon occupation, and could not be granted at present. '..••■• Mr Lane pointed out that under the 1892 Act, under which the land was disposed of, applicant had not to reside on the land for a twelve month from date of lease. He might go there oil the very last day. Mr Coleman explained his client did not desire to take advantage of any technicality. In vie\y\pf this- arrangement, and Mr Boland's '■valuable experience as a farmer, he .suggested that permanent residence on behalf of lessee might be met by. residence on. the part of Mr Boland as locum tenens. There was no question of dummyism.at all. Mr Lunn was resi-. dent m town, and had a family of small children, and it would 'be inconvenient for ; hiih to^take'^jp his : residence on the section. ...v* :.<-.. . The '' Commissioner remarked that the lessee should have thought of this on taking up the land. The Board could not consider the matter till the expiration of the twelve months. Mr Coleman added that if the Board would be satisfied with one day's residence at the end of the.,- 'period, Mr Lunn had already complied. He had 6pent a great, deal of v time there. Mr Lane: G^. up and hold a picnic on the last- day. ; ,* • The Ranger stated that the improvement clauses were being complied with. Application to be renewed at expiration of^first year.. REBATE. OF RENT ON TE ARAL Mr J. W. Bright waited on the Board to enquire what was likely to be the out. come of the application for a rebate of rent to the Te Arai settlers, which he had made on their behalf. He also desired, to point out that the settlers who had taken up the land had been loaded with the cost of prospective roading, which could not be completed this winter, whilst they would suffer much incon-. yenience through the difficulty of obtaining supplies and wire, etc., on their sections. The Commissioner said the letter had been forwarded on to the Under-Secre-, tary, who had replied the rebate could not ybe made, and. had never been done on an initial deposit. The most effective way of obtaining some redress, it was suggested, was by a petition from all the settlers, through, the Board, to the Minister, for increased time to pay. ! Mr Lane held that this question of rebate was not a matter for the Board, but for the Commissioner and the Receiver of Land Revenue. Had it been for the Board to decide, he was 6ure the majority would have consented. Mr Bright thanked the Board, and withdrew. SMALL GRAZING RUNS. Mr, Eustace Lane , submitted , the following notice of motion : ."That under clauses 43, 49, 201 and 209 of the Land Act, 1885, this Board is appointed to decide whether or not the small grazing runs leased under that Act are suitable for close settlement, and that we cannot accept the instructions forwarded under date December 21, '1905, by the Undersecretary for Lands- us Cabinet instructions, seeing that such instructions tend to deniorahse the tenants, belittle the land, and dummy, the Board." The Cabinet instructions referred to bore out the intimation, given by the Minister/ for Land£, ; the Hon. R. McNab,- when oh a .visit to. the district, that on the expiration of leases small grazing runs shortly falling m would, if suitable, be subdivided for closer settlement.' TRANSFERS. Mr P. Smith ; applied for transfer of section 2, block 7, Nuhaka, transferred to Mr R. E. Jefferson..— The Commissioner said the. section was tak,en up m 1900.; The requirements of the Act had been complied with, and the, consideration money was set down as '£2lso. — In the ! absence of a re'porlg from the ranger the transfer was sanctioned, subject to conditions being, fully' complied with to date. ' . ' ' ' Mr G. . Witters . applied for transfer of section" 43, block 16, Hangaroa, to Mr W. L. Butler.— Approved .of on same conditions as above. , EXEMPTION FROM* RESIDENCE. Mr F. W. Nolan, on behalf of Mr and ,Mrs L. E.. Cc-tterill, applied for exemption from residence ; bn behalf- of two sections m their name m the' Waitahaia block, Waiapu county. < Mr Nolan explained that 'Mr Cotterill was manager of his deceased brother's estate, the Hputuru station; aid joining. The improvements-_ were - being fully complied with. Applicants had a family of small children, and it- would be inconvenient for them to reside apart. . The Commissioner said that as the Crown Lands Ranger was proceeding m that* direction -in* a week or two, *it would be advisable to await his report. The question of relaxing the residential clause .was a very important- one. On behalf of Mr T. E.. Sherwood, Mr Nolan made a similar application, explaining that m this jnstauce the circumstances . were more pressing than m the other. The sections were m the Motu district, and abutted on the Hikurangi forest reserve. There was no road. access, and. the probability of same was only visionary.. Applicant managed the adjoining property. He had spent close on £4000 on the section since taking it up m 1900. and had been granted exemption until April 9 of this year. Consideration to be held over pending ranger's report. . . GRAZING RUN SUBDIVISION. Mr \V. Bruce waited on the Board m respect of an application for the sub. division of S.G.R., 44A, 3905 acres,

Waingaromia (adjoining Kanakanaia). Applicant stated he had held the land for 20 years, and he desired to subdivide between himself and his son. The Commissioner said the 21 years' lease would expire on August 31, 1909. He suggested tho matter be held over pending the ranger's report. Mr Lane thought this run might come m for sub-division and closer settlement. It was pointed out that lessees could apply during the currency of a lease for subdivision amongst their sons. Mr Lane remarked that they might all avoid subdivision if they had the. sons. Held over, pending ranger's report. APPLICATION FOR SURRENDER. The Commission said Mr T. Sherwood had applied to the Land Officer to surrender the section m Te Arai secured at the recent ballot, on account of his being unable to dispose of some other property to complete his financial arrangements. The Commissioner said he had told Mr Sherwood this could only be done on forfeiture of his deposit. He thought lessee would stick to his section. — There being no appearance of applicant the matter was struck out. CROWN RANGER'S REPORT. The Crown Land Ranger, Mr lan S. Simson, submitted the following report : — ; ... Wigan : This estate is m a very prosperous condition, but the residential clause is not m some instances satisfactory. Ono tenant, who is a. married woman, applied for six months' leave. of absence, which was granted by the Board m Napier. On making enquiries I find that her husband has purcliased a large property m another part of the Dominion, and is residing .there. I recommend' that at the expiration of the six months' leave of absence, tliis tenant gets notice to reside at once or forfeit. The Act m her case has not been carried 1 out satisfactorily, either m regard to improvements ox* residence. Two spinsters are not residing, liaving permission to reside with their parents. It appears to me tliat m several instances two or tliree .sections are worked as one, and with stock all the one brand and ear-mark. I suggest the Board compel every tenant to register his or her own brand and ear-mark. I would point out that on the estate of 336 acres there are 56 people living, while on that of 10,000 acres ther are only 49 people. This is owing to the number of nonresidents by permission of the Board and bachelor tenants. Tliis improvements effected ar© £8605, whilst the ainoiint required is £3419 19s lOd. Pouparae : I find tliat ' some tenants clean out their drains and some do not, and tliat some of the tenants on the Main Ormond Road liave allowed their fences to get out of repair. I propose under section 21 of the 1900 Act to give them all notice to clean out their. drains, and anyone neglecting to doyso-.I propose liaving it done and charging as allowed by the Act, and also to send notice' to .have, all fences repaired. Tliis is very necessary, as some are keeping 'both fences and drains m order and some are licit* Tlie improvements effected' are £4245, and those reauired £859 6s, 3d. Willows : No comments are reqwiwd about tliis estate- All the settlers -are doing well. 'Improivemer^s ,effeiqite.d £5994, as against £1913 4s 7d required. Waimare: This estate is very much improved since the flood .has been over it, and the land is carrying and bearing better crops. There are no comments necessary on this estate. All the settlers appear to be doing well, but' m most instances are earning their living off the land.p One or two of the settlers are trying v> take more crops off the land than the Act allows. I propose to give them notice. / Improvements effected £3507, as against £1086 19s' 3d required. . With regard to the lessee granted exemption from residential clauso for six months it was decided that nothing could be done till the time expired, and after the discussion as to the land held m the same settlement (Wigan) by spinsters, a similar decision was arrived at. After some consideration of the suggestion that lessees should' register their own ear-marks it was agreed the Board could not interfere as long as they were complying with' the .law. - Mr Lane agaftfi introduced the . matter of . the Pouparae drain, the main Government drain m! : the; ' settlement, of that name, which he. complained had not been, graded in\the middle where it ran through private property (over which the Government had a right to enter). The consequence was the water ran back on the section. The Commissioner said he would have the necessary action taken to remedy this state of ; things. TE ARAI LEASES. The following leases were approved of m connection with the disposal of .Te Arai settlement :— -Section SA, block (12, Patutahi, 377 acres, , H. WilliamBon.| The Commissioner explained! (that this was the section drawnl by Miss Livingstone •' who, "being unable to make the necessary declaration, had withdrawn, and the section had been balloted for by tho two remaining applicants, Mr Williamson being successful. Section ' 18, block 5, Turanganui; 1 acre, J. Morton ; section 15, ditto, C. J. V; Munn ; section 13, ' ditto, -E. O. Stewart. ROADING TE ARAL A deputation representing the settlers m the Te Arai settlement waited upon the Board respecting the urgency of roading requirements, through the seetle. ment.— lt was resolved oh the motion of Mr Bartram, seconded by' Mr Lane, "That m view of the urgent requirements of the settlers, on Te Arai settlemeans for the means of access to their holdings, this Board desires to bring under the notice of the Department the desirability for prompt measures to place the roads in' such condition as to render them fit for conveyaiice of ma-, terial to their 'several holdings."