POTENTIAL VALUE OF FARM

Te Puke Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 19, 14 March 1947, Page 3

POTENTIAL VALUE OF FARM

ALLOWANCE OF. £5 PER ACRE MADE CUTTING-UP PROPOSITION FOR SETTLEMENT OF SERVICEMEN “Having regard to the evidence as to the value .of this 100 acres as a dairy farm-, and agreeing that a fair value for the farm as a dairying proposition is £‘4s an acre, the committee is of the opinion, that a sum of £5 an acre shoiikl be added to the area of 85 acres which is considered to be suitable for citrus growing, as representing fairly the added potential value of the farm as a citrus and small fruits proposition,” stated the chairman of the Hamilton Land Sales Committee (Mr J. It. Olipliant) when delivering the committee’s reserved decision on an application concerning a' farm property on the No. 3 Bond, Te Puke. The case was heard in Tauranga recently when decision was reserved," the committee’s finding being received last week by Mr V. S. Holland, who appeared in . pport of the application. The committee stated that the a n fixed ns the basic value was 125. At the hearing, it was reded that the Crown valuation ,/as ,£4154, as a dairy unit, while Mr C- H. Jordan, for.the,applia it, valued the property at £ ] 695, which included a potential value for citrus farming of £8043. In delivering its decision, the . Chairman stated the committee was called upon under Section 14 of the Act to fix the basic value of an area of 100 acres at Te, Puke at present farmed as a dairy farm and actively as such under the management of .the Public Trust- ; e up until July, 1946, when the property was offered for sale. The -ale price (reduced from £4,00 per ..ere to £75 ; an. acre) of the property failed to attract a higher offer (by tender) than £65 even . though the Public Trustee in his advertisements of sale.had stressed the suitability of the area for the successful growing of citrus and small fruits. “Meantime,” it was stalled, “the Public Trustee was notified by the Minister of Lands that the property would he taken under Section 51 of the Act for the settlement of servicemen, posK sibjy upjo ten settlers being sug'’gfistßrr The question which the committee have first to decide is whether the basic'value to •he fixed should be computed on the basis of the,use of the land-as a djjtiiT farm or a citrus proposition. Evidence At Hearing “Evidence sworn to at the hearing shows that the area can be used for the growing of citrus and small, fruits, that it is within a belt of countfy having the general lay elevation, and class of soil proved by successful citrus and small fruit growers in the same locality, and to possess all the natural requirements for that class of farming. The area, however, is good dairying land, and as such has been used for many years. Of the area of 500 to 600 acres of land in the locality,'stated to be suitable for the successful growing of both citrus and small fruit, only 45 to 50 acres are actually in use by registered citrus and small fruit orchardists. “Further, it is common, ground 'that large areas of land suitable under all essential headings for the successful growing of citrus and small fruits exist in the Bay of Plenty area from as far south and east as Opotiki and beyond. “It would appeal', that in view of the stated intentio'j, of the Crown in acquiring this aTea of 100 acres for the settlement of servicemen on small areas and for the growing of citrus and small fruits, the Hhe question of potential value for that purpose must he considered. It is known that where land is used for citrus and small fruits the returns therefrom are not immediate, it being from six to seven years at least before profits come in from citrus and approximately two years • before returns from small fruits are available. The vagaries of weather and the ravages of disease are factors also to lie contended with, and it may well he ' that the areas of land on No. 3 Road, Te Puke, are not as attractive as suitable areas further north.”

The committee then iraWe its decision as above detailed.