Fumigation Grant To Rabbit Board Refused By Council

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 99, 24 September 1948, Page 5

Fumigation Grant To Rabbit Board Refused By Council

Advice from the Rabbit Destruction Council that the Board’s application for a fumigation grant of £9OO had been refused, was conveyed to the monthly meeting of the Pongakawa Rabbit' Board. The Council stated that generally speaking, the funds available are to be used to assist Boards where the carrying capacity of the land is low, and to assist Boards that had recently been formed. Members of. the Pongakawa Rabbit Board expresed the opinion that their application complied with both these conditions, as the carrying capacity is low in the case of the large portion of the district, and further, the Board had absorbed a further 78,000 acres which was being worked, for the first time during the current year, while the board itself is comparatively newly formed. It was resolved that the secretary (Mr A., H. Dukeson) reply to the Council’s letter, pointing out that the 78,000 acres is a new .area and equivalent to a new Board and further, that the infestation is heavy in places. The letter will also seek information from the Council on the following lines: (a) What finances has the Council at its disposal; (b) what grants have been made to date; (c) such other data regarding the policy of the Council as effects this application; (d) point out that the Board has levied the usual rate per acre and when preparing the estimates had allowed for the receipt of a grant on the same lines as had previously been received in all years from the Department of Agriculture, as it had no reason to believe that the policy of making fumigation g»ants would be cancelled; and (e) point out that the carrying capacity of the land is low on half the area and if necessary quote the Government values.