NEEDS OF NORMANDALE

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1791, 2 July 1913, Page 8

NEEDS OF NORMANDALE

CONFLICTING INTERESTS.

SETTLERS & PETONE BOROUGH

INQUIRY PROMISED.

Residents of Normandale Settlement, adjacent to Petone, -waited upon tho Hon. W. P. Massey (Minister for Lands)' yesterday to place before him their views regarding tho development of the settle-, ment. Mr. W. H. D. Bell, M.P., who introduced the deputation, said that the Prime Minister Was reported to-have stated, when a Petone deputation waited upon him recently, that the Government would be very glad to get out of the Normandale Settlement. The settler's wanted to put their Tiews before him as to what could be done to mako tho settlement successful. Mr. Mass«y..: I shall be very glad to hear them. . Mr. H. Mason said that the deputation, had been sent to ask the Minister-.to interest himself in the progress of Normandale to prevent the Petone Borough Council from acquiring land in. Normandale for a catchment area because'it would retard the settlement. They asked that the land should be subdivided into suitable acre and half-acre sections, which would be readily taken up. They could not understand -the desire of the Petone Borough Council to acquire a catchment area in Normandale. Petone- was going to have a large population, and could befit acquire a pure water supply from the city mains. The water on Normandale could then be conserved for faro prevention and power purposes. Blocked by the Borough. Mr. R. B; Bell said that when Normandale was first thrown open for selection by the public every small - and moder-ately-sized section was taken up readily. The larger sections (near the railway station), of 29 acres and upwards, were the. ones, neglected. Seven years ago the Petone. Borough Council had promoted a Bill ~to acquire 800 acres of the settlement as a ca.tchment aTea. Before that Bill passed a . section of thirteen acres applied for, but the application was returned on the ground that Petone Borough wanted the land. Six years revenue -upon this section, was thus, lost, and tl«T® were said to be other similar cases. Most of the sections on the proposed I catchment area liail been vftrant ever , since. One or two had been offered, but it was only because -they had been forfeited by previous holders. ; No one was going to take up sections that the Petono Council might take over at any time For nearly seven years the Petone Borough Coil-noil had blocked, (the, sett ement altogether. On one -occasion the speaker continued, the Eduoat.on Department desired to shift the school to a site on the catchment area, 'but tho Petone blocked the Government from taiMnio the school on its own tone had never paid a pennj for the to a, and- had not taken up an acre of .it. When the settlement was the Kors was bad, but- now that the catchment are® 'had been neglected for seven years gofse and ragwort threatened to swamp tho whole of th© Hutt. 'On Ins own section of six acre's,"' last year, had never allowed a ragwort plant to ■seed he had picked enough :to fill a 600 gallon tank. The sections .near the railway °vere too large, but if cut.up and (Mayor of Petone) had a keen eve to business and had umittpd to say why tlio settlement had becomo a white elephant." He (Mr. Bell) considered that tho Lands Department should assist scttlera in dealing with noxious weeds. At present every time' antnn grubbed gorse oh his section he provided' a> sced-lieil for the' weeds on tho ncishhourins Crown 1& In further discussion it appeared that under'the Petone Water bupply and Conservation Act of 11807 87 ncres of bus£ land in the settlement' had been vested'in Petone borough, while the borough had also been granted a-n option over a further area of' about <00 acres. Of the latter area all save some 91 acres _wero unoccupied.' Tho Petone Borough Council had leased the land over which it held an option for one year and had paid for the grazing rights for that period. This, the deputatiomsts stated, was all i that tho Government had ever got out reply to questions by the Minister, it was stated that a lot of the land would cut up into sections of from halt an acre to ten acres if roads were made, lho settlement did not appear to be difficult %lr. a A. Lewis said that Normandale settlement had never been put properly before the public in the past. Slany parts of it Were handy to the station- end plenty of people in Wellington would be glad 'to tako up suctions and mako their homes there if they realised the advantage of th» place. Some of tho sections were only ten minutes' walk from the Bt Mr° n- W. H. D. Bell said that' it had been to him that sections in places lik-a Normandale would be taken up much nlore readily •if * they were termed estates instead of settlements. Many people objected to the latter term. Report to be Obtained. The Minister, in replying, said that a deputation from Petone, ivhich had interviewed him a few. days previously had mads .' out a very good case. 'ljie point. ;it''!.had';.niade vivaß that there was in th* lio'roVgh a.' very- -largo area of Crow;a • la : nds» fr.om:,wjiich f .they received no rate:?. 'He :ovoiild endearour to meet the Petore people Un the and in Jiis capacity rof .Miniver; fpr Mds he would pla'fl soma -sectiops? at Pefone on the market at. a Avery early: do-te/ . The suggestion of ithe prosent deputation- was that it would be. easy .to disposed of.; suitably-sized sections in 'iNdniMAdal6.-.:He would get'.a report from tho head ot i the Lands Department nnd if'the' opinion of that official coincided with , ; that expressed: b.v the deputation, as no doubt .it. would; he r wouldput sohie 1 6f the' seijtioitf! on the i market; '' A's;.t'rustce of'the'lands of . the "Crown"' lt was his" business'.to see, that -thpy ; 'wert'.put profitable use and they [ iiiight, look to, have'something done in the ' Very -near..future'. . •' .