SETTLING SERVICEMEN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 7, 19 March 1947, Page 6

SETTLING SERVICEMEN

MINISTER’S CONFIDENCE He certainly hoped and believed that the settlement of ex-servicemen on the land would be completed well before all the land purchased for sub-division and settlement had been developed,. said the Minister of Lands and Rehabilitation, the Hon. C. F. Skinner, at the quarterly meeting of the Rehabiiltation Council held in Wellington. The Minister was replying to Mr W. Clarke, Dunedin, who instanced a case of land purchased for development in Otago which would not be ready for settlement until at least 1950.

“Land development is a long-term job,” said Mr Skinner, “but we do not need to worry overmuch, as we will have sufficient land to complete the task. What is retarding land settlement at the moment are housing and the shortage of fencing wire; fertiliser is not such a worry now. Some blocks will not be available for rehabilitation purposes even although they have been purchased in recent years. Some of the land recently purchased owing to its nature will not be fully developed until well after 1950, and I am quite sure it will not be all settled by returned servicemen. I feel sure the settlement of returned men will be completed before all this type of land is ready for settlement.”