TE WERA BLOCK

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 42, 23 January 1945, Page 8

TE WERA BLOCK

SETTLEMENT PLANS

EARLY ACTION LIKELY

The Te Wera block of land lying near Matawai, which has been the subject of much heated debate, following its purchase in 1926 from Messrs. Cliappell and Field, is once again in the limelight. The bloc'k was originally purchased with a view to general settlement, but since that time has ben farmed by the Lands Department. Returns from the property in recent years are believed to have been highly satisfactory as a result of a considerable amount of improvement carried out with a view to the Ultimate subdivisional project. Tlie intention of the Government is to subdivide the 10,000-acre Te Wera block for settlement of returned soldiers of the present war # states the Gisborne Herald. Already a tentative selection of homestead sites has been made i} and the necessary road and track-cutting mapped out. It is expected that. five, or six sections, will be available for settlement within a reasonable stated the Minister of Rehabilitation, the Hon. C. F. Skinner, in an interview in Gisborne on Monday night. ! In common with other blocks farmed by the Lands Department Te Wera has been conducted as a prospective settlement area since it. was purchased by the Crown, the Minister added. All the fencing and roading work done in recent years has; been planned to fit in with the eventual scheme of 'subdivision, and latterly there has been increased attention to the selection of homestead sites and the apporioning of fiat or . undulating land with suitable areas of hill country. Co operation between, the Lands Department and the Rehabilitation Department both of which are under his Ministerial control, was essentia: in preparing a block such as Te Wera for settlement said Mr Skinner. It. would be possible to put men on Te Wera almost at once, by making use of the portion of the block already brought to a wellimproved stage. Subdivision of the block to the best advantage, how r ever, was not a simple matter. It would not help the general plan of land settlement if the best country was allotted to a few families, and the poorer and rougher areas were left, on the hands of the State. Those who get farms in the Te Wera block he pointed out would '' i share the good and the not so good land so that everyone would have a good homestead site ? and with some land suitable for root crops and winter pastures as well as hill country for general grazing purposes. Study of Economic Prospects The Rehabilitation Department was giving close attention to the economic, prospects, of the settlers, as a matter of. course, he added. The general principle on which it was working was that a man taking up dairying should* be able to depasture 35 to 40 cows, as a dairying proposition, or between 600 and 1000 ewes according to the nature of the country and its location. The Minister was asked to express an opinion on the Gisborne R.S.A. stock committers proposal that the economic unit for soldier settlement should be based upon a capacity to carry a soldier and his family plus at least one regular employee. His Comment was that lie knew of many fanners who were handling dairy farms single-handed, and not killing themselves to make a fair living for themselves and their families. He did not feel that the country could start its new settlers oft' on the scale suggested; for they should' be prepared to face a few years, of hard work to get on their feet. He was quite confident that, the new settlers would be prepared to battle for establishment and the departments under his control would not let good men go to the wall. *