NEW ZEALAND FARMERS’ UNION

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19512, 10 June 1933, Page 16

NEW ZEALAND FARMERS’ UNION

NOTES AND COMMENTS. (Contributed). NOXIOUS WEEDS. (Continued). Noxious Weeds on Native Lands. Native owners or occupiers of freehold land are responsible for the control of noxious weeds on their properties to the same extent as Europeans. In the case of Maori land which has not been individualised or partitioned, the Minister has power to cause the land to be cleared, if the Maori occupants fail or neglect to do so to the satisfaction of an Inspector. The cost will be paid by the Native Minister out of any moneys available for Native purposes. When more than ten Maoris occupy a block of land, Section 16. (2) Noxious Weeds Act, 1928, provides that a committee of from 3 to 7 persons may be required to be set up by the Minister, such committee to be appointed by the Maori owners. It is the duty of this committee to clear the block, or cause it to be cleared. If the committee fails or neglects to do so, the Minister has power to cause the block to be cleared. The above sets out the theoretical side of the treatment of noxious weeds on Native lands; the practical treatment is to hand over the whole control of noxious weeds to the Department of Agriculture. The Native Lands Department helps to defray the expenses of noxious I weeds control, but only to a very limited extent. Only £SO was allowed on the estimates last year—a ridiculous vote for such a stupendous job. It is probably safe to state that if the Native Lands Department vote were considerably increased, the work of the Department of Agriculture could be considerably extended. Control of Local Authority. Section 20, Noxious Weeds Act, 1928, provides that every local authority shall, out of the general revenues, clear all lands under its control; if it fails or neglects to do so, the Minister may cause the clearing to be done at the expense of the Local Authority. Section 28. states that the administration of the Act in so far as Boroughs and Town Board districts are concerned is the responsibility of the Borough or Town Board. Section 197 (1) Counties Act, 1920 reads thus:— (1) The Council may from time to time apply or contribute out of the County Fund such sums of money as it deems necessary to expend for the purpose of eradicating or preventing the spread of any noxious weed or plant; and before enforcing or concurrently with the enforcement of any by-law made for such purpose the Council shall use all necessary means to eradicate such weed or plant from all roads, riverbeds, reserves, and lands under the control of the Council. (2) Any payment under the last preceeding subsection may be charged against either the General Account or the Separate Accounts of the ridings within which the work is done, or may be apportioned by the Council among those accounts. Noxious Weeds on Road Frontages. Besides being responsible for the cutting or destroying of noxious weeds within his property, an owner or occupier of land abutting on a road is responsible for the clearing of noxious weeds extending to the extending to the middle of the road. Memo: —In Smith v. King (1 M.C.R. 15) it was held that the occupier of land abutting on, or intersected by a road, in order to comply with the Act, was justified in ploughing up the road, or in any other reasonable interference with the road. Trimming of Hedges. Under Section 11. (1) Noxious Weeds Act, 1928, every occupier of land on which there are hedges of live fences of barberry, sweetbrier, gorse, broom or hakea—whether or not there are declared noxious weeds by the County Council —must trim or cut such hedges or fences every year, unless such cutting or trimming would destroy the fences for shelter purposes. Exemption in any such case may be obtained from an Inspector. Department’s Inspectors. The procedure adopted with regard to owners of infected land by Inspectors of the Department of Agriculture are:— (1) A notice is served upon the occupier by an Inspector of the Department requesting him to commence and do the necessary work within a specified time. N.B. The Noxious Weeds Act does not require an Inspector to wait until the weed is in flower before he can take action. (2) If the occupier fails or neglects to comply with this notice, the Inspector may do the clearing at the expense of the occupier. This will not relieve the occupier from any fine he may incur through his default, failure or neglect. () If an occupier is convicted for failing to clear noxious weeds within the time specified in the notice, he is not relieved from the necessity of clearing such weeds, but must do so within two months after the date of conviction—after which he becomes liable for a further prosecution for continued 1 ault Memo: —Owing to the serious financial plight most farmers are in at present, the Departmental Inspectors have not enforced the provisions of the Act by instituting prosecutions as previously.