UNIFORMITY SOUGHT

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31092, 22 June 1966, Page 12

UNIFORMITY SOUGHT

High-Country Leases

High-country runholders would like to see all leases of high country brought into line with Crown leases. A remit to this effect from the Mid-Canterbury high-country sub-section of Federated Farmers was approved at the annual conference of South Island high-country subsections In Timaru this week. Mr R. S. A. Chaffey (MidCanterbury) said that basic ally they wanted all leases administered like Crown leases —one lessor instead of several —and they also wanted the right of renewal. One - runholder said that endowment leases recently renewed had no right of renewal. “The sooner the endowment leases are absorbed by the-Crown the better,” he said.

The chief pastoral lands officer of the Lands and Survey Department (Mr R. W. Wilson) said that his department had no programme to take over endowment areas, but from time to time it was offered endowment areas. In the last four years there had been two such areas—B2,ooo acres of Oamaru Harbour Board country and 35,000 acres of Lincoln College land. The chairman (Mr P. C. Ensor) said that when this matter had been discussed with the Lands and Survey Department the final comment had been that until the Government took the bold step of taking over the endowment lands and paying compensation for them there would be no way of doing this.