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The fifth reservation in North Auckland during the year comprised an area of 98 acres 3 roods 2 perches in Wairoa Parish. This land was owned by the Manukau County Council, which body agreed to the area being formally taken under the provisions of the Scenery Preservation Act and the Public Works Act for scenic purposes. It is proposed to reserve some further areas in the locality, and finally to appoint the County Council as a special Scenic Board to have the local control and management. Reservations in the Auckland Land District included an area of 302 acres with a frontage to Lake Rotoma, and an area of 448 acres on the Kiritehere Road. The road through the Rotoma area is overhung on either side by tree-ferns and dense native bush, forming one of the most beautiful drives in a noted scenic locality, while the Kiritehere Road reservation is an addition to the reserves set apart in that district in 1927. An area of 3,575 acres in the Matakaoa Survey District, Gisborne Land District, was surrendered from a small grazing-run lease and set apart for scenic purposes. The land concerned has little value for grazing, and comprises mostly very steep cliffs covered with bush. It has been placed under the control of the Pukeamaru Range Scenic Board, which already had the control of an adjoining reserve of 1,878 acres. An area of 11 perches was purchased from the Mangorei Dairy Co. and added to the Meeting of the Waters Scenic Reserve, New Plymouth, for the purpose of providing access to the suspension bridge across the Waiwakaiho River. Other reservations in the Taranaki District were those of a small area on the Stratford - Main Trunk Railway adjoining an existing scenic reserve, and the Tapuinikau Pa site near Warea. An article on the latter area kindly contributed by Mr. C. M. Hill, of New Plymouth, is published as Appendix J of this report. An area of 2 acres 3.roods 19 perches at Lowry Bay, Wellington Harbour, was purchased and. set apart during the year. Half the purchase price was provided by the Bruce Trustees, the remainder being found by the Crown and by means of private subscriptions. Miss Nancy Wilson, of Bulls, was instrumental in bringing the desirability of the acquisition of this area under the notice of the Department, and also took a leading part in raising the funds required. The reserve contains a good selection of native bush, and should prove a valuable public asset. The only other Wellington reservation was that of an area of 132 acres along the Raurimu-Kaitieke Main Road, on the watershed overlooking Raurimu. This is a rugged piece of bush country particularly rich in ferns, and lies in full view of the tourist traffic from the Chateau Tongariro to the Whakahoro Landing. In the Nelson District an area of 8| acres was set aside in the Bulwer Township, Pelorus Sound. This reserve, which is a very pretty spot, covered with good mixed bush, is an addition to a reserve proclaimed in 1921. Last year Lake Rotoroa, together with a large area of the surrounding country, was set aside for scenic purposes. It was subsequently found that the scenic reserve overlapped portion of a provisional State forest, and with the concurrence of the State Forest Service the matter was adjusted by means of special legislation cancelling the forest reservation and setting apart the land concerned as a scenic reserve. In the Marlborough District an area of 9| acres which became vested in the Crown as a publicutility reserve on the subdivision of the Town of Miritu, Queen Charlotte Sound, was set apart as a scenic reserve, for which purpose it is well adapted. Other reservations in this district were those of some 179 acres on the top of the range overlooking Picton ; a small piece of closed road adjoining one of the Ilundalee Reserves ; and an area of 95 acres of native bush fronting Patten Passage, Queen Charlotte Sound. In the last-mentioned case special legislation was necessary cancelling the existing provisional State-forest reservation over the land and setting the area apart as a scenic reserve. The State Forest Service concurred in the proposal. Several interesting reservations were made in the Westland District. An area of 7 acres near the Main Coast Road from Greymouth to Westport was generously surrendered by the lessee in order that the scenic bush might be preserved. The land contains a very fine piece of bush, particularly rich in tree-ferns. On the main tourist route to the Franz Josef the opportunity was taken in connection with a road-deviation being carried out by the Public Works Department to acquire under the Public Works Act an area of 220 acres of scenic value along the Wataroa River. An area of 169 acres, comprising a strip of land 5 chains wide around the shores of Lake Rotokino, together with portion of an unformed and unused road along the Rotokino River and the shore of the lake, was set apart for scenic purposes under the provisions of section 11 of the Reserves and other Lands Disposal Act, 1929, The 5-chain strip was portion of a provisional State forest, and the State Forest Service agreed to the change of purpose of the reservation, while the Westland County Council offered no objection to the closing of the road area. It is proposed to extend the reservation by the proclamation under the Scenery Preservation Act of a further area of 461 acres, being the lake itself and portion of the river-bed. An area of 362 acres of birch bush in the Wairere Settlement, near Springburn, Canterbury, was proclaimed under the Act during the year. The reserve comprises an area of bush withheld from selection when the settlement was opened in 1919, together with an area recently surrendered from one of the settler's holdings. In the Catlin's District, Otago, an area of 327 acres of dense bush was proclaimed for scenic purposes. On the face of a hill on this reserve a colony of penguins build their nests and rear their young, this being one of the few places where the birds breed along that part of the Otago Coast. The revocation of the scenic reservation over areas totalling some 198 acres was arranged during the year. The cases dealt with were those of a small portion of the Wairua'River Reserve, North Auckland ; the Omaio Reserve at Whitianga Bay, Gisborne District, a small portion of the Tangarakau Gorge Reserve, Taranaki District; portions of the Lake Kanieri Reserve, Westland ; and a reserve of 40 acres on the Port Hills, Canterbury. In the case of the Omaio Reserve the circumstances were somewhat unusual. The area in question was taken for scenic purposes under the Public Works Actin 1927, it being understood at the time that the Native owners were agreeable to the proposal. Tt.

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