Refuses To Leave Land

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31094, 24 June 1966, Page 3

Refuses To Leave Land

(N.Z. Press Association) HASTINGS, June 23.

The Waiwhare block of Forest Service land, occupied by Mr J. Whyte, who intends to defy an order to quit in September, will be visited on Monday by the Director-General of Forests (Mr A. L. Poole) and members of the Land Utilisation Committee.

The property is to be planted out in Douglas firs and Pinus radiata trees. It is believed that after inspecting it the committee will report its findings to the Minister of Forests (Mr Gerard). Mr Whyte has been ordered

to quit 2245 acres of land he leases from the department. He says he will squat with his sheep and cattle “until they move me by force.” Mr Whyte is taking this stand to draw attention to what he describes as the Forest Service’s “dog in the manger” attitude over the use of productive land it holds for future afforestation. He also wants to draw attention to the need for the Government to grant shortterm leases, with a right of renewal and to compensation for improvements, to farmers such as himself who are prepared to invest in land that would otherwise lie dormant for a number of years.

He admits he has contravened his 10-year lease by cultivating land he was ordered to leave alone, and acknow-

ledges the department’s right to order him to leave. But he says he wants to “cause a fuss” to make the public and the Government aware of a “shocking waste of productive Tand.” In a letter to Mr J. R. Harrison, member of Parliament for Hawke’s Bay, the Minister of Forests (Mr Gerard) said that when the lease was granted it was made clear to Mr Whyte that the land was wanted for planting and that the lease was for grazing only and carried no right of renewal and no compensation for improvements. “I regret to say Mr Whyte has become a rather difficulty tenant and on occasions has carried out cultivation work without approval,” said Mr Gerard.