RABBIT BOARD NOT TO PUSH CLAIM JUST NOW

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 11, 22 October 1948, Page 5

RABBIT BOARD NOT TO PUSH CLAIM JUST NOW

Cost Of Clearing Of Crown Lands At this month’s meeting, the Pongakawa Rabbit Board decided not to press its claim for

variation of the basis of Government assistance ally further

just yet, but to wait until the Board has had a chance to confer with the Rabbit Destruction Council. v

In the meantime, a list of Boards similarly placed with regard to coverage of Crown land is to be prepared.

The secretary, was instructed to submit figures to the next meeting to substantiate the Board’s claim that an allowance pf 6 per cent for administration was unreasonable to cover the Inspector’s services and office costs in respect of work done on Crown and Native land as their contribution on this basis would amount to approximately £IOO only per annum, whereas the area of Crown and Native land is approximately 46 per cent of the total area of the Board’s district.

Correspondence with the North Island Rabbit Boards Association and with the Rabbit Destruction Council was read and both organisations quoted a letter from the Director-General of Agriculture which stated that the Pongakawa Rabbit Board is> the only Board which has raised this issue and the Department accordingly assumes that the remaining Boards are satisfied with the existing position. The Department therefore stated that having regard to these circumstances it is not proposed to' seek authority to vary the existing basis of assistance.

The Rabbit Destruction Council stated that, while the Council still consider that there is some merit in the case made out by the Board, they do not propose to take any further action at present, but they will be pleased to discuss the matter fully with the Board during the course of their inspection of the Rotorua-Bay of Plenty area early next year.

The secretary’s letter dated October 8, 1948, to the Rabbit Destruction Council asking them to reconsider the application for a grant and making particular reference to the new area of 78,000 acres absorbed by the Board, was read and approved. It was reported that in the Dannevirke and" Carterton districts the approximate area worked per rabbiter was 2,500 acres compared with 30,000 to 40,000 acres per man in this district, attributable largely to the methods of destruction adopted by those Boards, which were mainly fumigation and strychnine poisoning, the latter method being particularly slow and expensive. It was decided to note this point for discussion with the Council, as those Boards apparently received financial assistance from the Rabbit Destruction Council as they are levying a higher rate, whereas it is suggested that the cost of the work could be materially reduced if other methods were employed.