UNUSED LANDS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17180, 10 February 1930, Page 9

UNUSED LANDS

KING COUNTRY DISTRICT SETTLEMENT PROJECTS N'A TIV E MTN IST Li; 'S IXsP E< IT lON The Minister of .Native Affairs. Kir Apirana Ngata, paid'a return visit to To Kuiii district last week and inspected a number of areas of land with a view to selecting blocks suitable for closer sett lenient. The Minister was accompanied by Mr. \V. J. Broadfoot, it.P., Judge ('. E. MacCormick. Air. C. M. Wright, of the Agricultural Department, and Mr. IL K. Balneavir. Under-Secretary for Native Affairs. The first areas inspected were the native blocks ai Puketut.u. .Here, adjacent to the Main Trunk railway, lies a block- of-approximately 10,0(10 acres of native and Crown, lands. It is partially bounded on the west, by the To Kniti New .Plymouth main highway and on the south by the Te KuitLßuils main highway and the J'ukerinm road. The I'u'ketutu railway station ip in the western end of the area. .1- is considered that comparatively very little in the way of subsidiary roads would suffice to open up the whole of this area. The ..Minister has called for a report as to the settlement possibilities. KOPAKI AND W.UMIIIA DOWNS Kopaki was tlic next [dace called at, and here again the .Minister was most favorably impressed by the railway and reading facilities so essential to successful development. A large area of useful land lies dormant ill the district. The Waimiha Downs, lying to the east of the Main Trunk railway within a mile of the station were next visited, and the development work of Mr. dames Andrews ami Mr. Middleton was inspected will! grcal interest. The Minister admitted, that the results shown were exceedingly gratifying, and showed there were great possibilities in that large area of flat country in the locality now lying clothed only in short fern and manuka. Incidentally, the Crown has interests in these flats, and it was suggested by Mr. Broadfoot thai the locality presented a good opportunity for a Maori and European scheme side by side. It was pointed out that access to this block by -both rail and road was already excellent. Immediate consideration was promised by the A! i nister. I-'! PTY THOUSAND ACRES ""' The following day the Minister inspected iheTiroa and Maraeroa blocks, comprising between them approximately 50,00(1 acres of easy rolling country within seven miles of the Mniigapechi railway station. The Bills and B'urnand Co.'s railway runs through the centre of both blocks with a feeder line extending in an opposite' northerly direction for some half a dozen miles. The Ministerial party received a welcome from the Maoris at Tiroa Pa. They asked that assistance be given them to develop their lands. 30,000 acres of which were Inderal up by the Maori Lands Board. Sir Apirana, in reply, said he was

greatly impressed with the latent possibilities of the' country visited. .He would give instructions that an area of this land be selected, where practical mammal experiments would be carried out. Sheep would be farmed and kept under close observation, and if the experiment proved satisfactory to him he would then go into the question of further development in this locality. Thai this experiment will prove successful seems very probable, for on the journey to these lands many sections of similar' country were to be seen on which both dairying and sheep farming are being carried on with abundant success. There is already ample proof that these areas visited by the Minister must shortly become equal to the best producing lands of the Auckland Province. All the facilities for closer settlement are already there. All that is lacking is a progressive land settlement policy.— Star.