PIRONGIA TOWNSHIP

Waipa Post, Volume 42, Issue 3270, 10 March 1931, Page 5

PIRONGIA TOWNSHIP

AN UNIQUE POSITION.

FROM TOWN TO FARM LANDS

There was a representative gatherjing at the meeting called a few days ago to prepare and complete the plan of both East and West Pirongia townships, showing all roads to be closed so far as the occupiers of the land through which the unused roads ran wished.

The plan was provided by the Lands Department, with the request that after each occupier's roads had been coloured differently the plan should be returned to the Waipa County Council for revision, after which it shou.d be returned to the Lands Office, when the roads would be declared Government ones and sold to the occupiers on much the same terms and conditions as the recently-proclaimed absentee land.

After the work of colouring had been completed the meeting appointed Messrs T. C. Grace and T. M. Mounsey to wait on the Council at its next meeting and explain the relative positions of the roads and the farms of intending purchasers. During the meeting it was related that in connection with the conversion of several hundred acres from town and suburban status to that of rural land, a prominent Lands Department official had remarked that in all his experience he had never before assistin the unmaking of a town, and, while he had often assisted in the transmogrification of farms to towns, this was the first time, so far as he knew, that a town had been legally declared a farm in New Zealand. Messrs Grace and Mounsey duly waited on the Waipa County Council on Monday, and presented the map showing sections and roads that it was proposed would be incorporated in adjoining freehold or leasehold properties. Mr Grace said the Council was concerned" with only the roads it was proposed should be closed. They were all clearly marked on the map.

The area is an extensive one; covering both east and west townships. After inspecting'the plan, a councillor commented that it 1 seemed that several more of the roadways might well be closed. These were very unlikely ever to be needed. Then there were some roads li chains wide; these could be reduced to the uniform width of one chain. Mr Grace said that for years past the fences had been shifted forward in many places for. convenience in clearing the boundaries of sections. In the case of roadways fronting reserves he and his committee expected they would be merged with, the reserves in most cases. General approval was given to the scheme, but, to avoid as far as possible any mistakes beign made, the riding members (Crs Macky and Johnson), with the engineer and the clerk, were deputed to inspect the locality with the Pirongia committee. Meantime the map will be submitted to the Raglan County Council for that body's approval. Mr Grace mentioned that the whole of the sections and "paper" roads would represent about 400 acres, about half of which lay on each side of the Waipa River. .