LAND FOR SETTLEMENT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 228, 9 January 1911, Page 2

LAND FOR SETTLEMENT

NEARLY TWO MILLION ACRES \ OPENING. | By Cable—Press Association —Copyright. Wellington, Saturday. Within the first three months of the present year an area of Crown land aggregating nearly two million acres will be opened for settlement by the Lands Department. The country to be offered is varied in quality and is distributed over all the land districts in the Dominion. Information prepared for a New Zealand Times representative by the head office of the Lands Department at the instance of the under-secretary, , Mr. W. G. Kensington, 1.5.0., shows that ! the exact area to be opened for selection is 1,870,890 acres, of which 77,37:> acres is being offered this month. The distribution of the first-mentioned areas is shown in the table:— Land District Acres. Hawke's Bay 2,055 Auckland 3,227 Taranaki 3,830 Wellington 2,500 Marlborough 21,031 Nelson 2,055 Westland 191,000 Canterbury 1,279,000 Otago 244,090 Southland 73,038

The Auckland area includes the second instalment, 5222 acres in extent, of Hauraki Plains land, which has been drained by the Department. It will he opened in January 31 on the optional system. The area first offered on the Plains was of 17,000 acres, and met with a very large demand. The total area affected by the drainage operations is 90,000 acres, and the land is being offered in instalments as it becomes fit for settlement. Among the Hawkc's Bay land to be opened is an area of 1087 acres near Dannevirke, and also 17,002 acres in the Ngatapa district, near Gisborne, which is to be taken up on the optional system. The Ngatapa land was formerly held on pastoral license, which has now expired, and the run has been sub-divided into forty-two sections for closer settlement. On the land is the village of Otoko, the present railhead of tli» Gisbornc-Rotoma line.

Nearly the whole of the Taranaki' laid to be offered is situated in the Opatu block, on the Oh'ura River. The block, comprising practically all firstclass land, will be opened on renewable lease on January 23, in addition to a large number of town and village allotments along the Main Trunk Railway. The Wellington land includes 1847 acres in the Rangitatau block, among which is the last of the land cleared by the unemployed during the winter of 1009.

The Marlborough land comprises the Cape Jackson pastoral run on the long narrow tongue of land west of Queen Charlotte Sound, 3134 acres in the North Bank settlement, 14,076 acres in the Wakamarina Valley, and 2781 acres in the Ronga Valley. "Mostly rural bush-land sections," is the official description of the Nelson land.

The Westland area is mostly pastoral country suitable only for cattle. It will be offered ior license by" auction on February 28. Canterbury's big available area is also mostly pastoral. There are 042,500 acres of pastoral runs to be offered for license by public auction, and 552,501) acres of pastoral runs to go by license on application towards the end of February and also 82,020 acres as small grazing runs. These include the M'Kenzie Country rung, which.have been subdivided wherever possible. There is also an area of 9153 acres in the Stoke settlement to be opened on the 11th inst.

The nrca to be made available in Otago is nearly all in pastoral runs and small grazing runs. It will be offered towards the end of February. The same description applies to the Southland country, which will be offered about the same time.

In addition to these areas, which arc to be opened almost at once, there are a large number which are already open and awaiting selection by the first applicant, The table shows how the land is distributed:— Land District Acres. Auckland 409,955 Hawke's Bay 5,343 Taranaki 801 Wellington 1,441 Nelson 220,409 Marlborough 3" Westland 764,280 Canterbury fifil Otago * 13,321 Southland 20,770