RETAINING BUSH

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 92, 15 October 1940, Page 8

RETAINING BUSH

AREAS NEAR CITY

BEAUTIFYING CONFERENCE

With the object of obtaining State aid to preserve the Akatarawa bush and bush in the Maungatukutuku Valley from destruction, the Wellington Beautifying Society decided at its monthly meeting last night to call a conference of delegates from other beautifying organisations and local bodies in the district.

Speaking first of the Akatarawa bush, the president (Captain S. Holm) said the society had approached the Minister asking if the 18,000 acres of I bush could be made a scenic reserve. j The Minister, he said, held out no great hopes of assistance, stating that "Wellington had been treated extremely well in the past, had received the lion's share of State aid, and should not be coming to the Government for help. However, later he said he would see what he could do and mentioned a subsidy of £ for £ on any money the society could raise. Captain Holm said he thought the Minister had not been quite fair. He mentioned a city "not far from here" which had recently received £130,000 for a road into a scenic reserve. "It seems strange that the Government will not help us to retain this scenic reserve close to Wellington," he added. Another area of bush with which the society was concerned was in the Maungatukutuku Valley (behind Paraparaumu). Part of that area had been set aside for the Acclimatisation Society to conduct operations in. The president said he had been told that men who had been given the right to cut 500 cords of wood from that area were spoiling one of the best bush areas in New Zealand. He suggested setting up a committee to confer with representatives of other interested organisations with a view to waiting on the Government "Either the Government should assist us to retain our reserves and beauty spots or, if they are going to follow the programme of permitting these two bush areas to be cut down, then we should know the worst," he said. DEAD WOOD ONLY. Referring to the five hundred cords of wood being cut from the Maungatukutuku Valley, one member said he had been informed that the workmen were taking only dead timber and that not one standing tree had been cut down yet. Captain E. V. Sanderson contended that timber cutters should not have been allowed in the bush and said they would get as much as they could. He understood the bush was a sanctuary! under the Animals and Birds Protec-i tion Act and also that it was a game reserve. " «. This meant that one Department had set the bush aside while another (by allowing the timber men in) was cutting it down.. He believed that green wood, too, was being cut for the manufacture of; charcoal. "This the only remaining area of bush Bear the city, should be preserved," said Mr. R. L. Macalister. These were not normal times in which to ask for financial aid, but if that bush was going to be cut down the society, similar organisations, and local bodies should be asked to take action. The local authorities of Wellington and surrounding districts should be asked to contribute something. A committee consisting of the president Messrs. Macalister and A. de B. Brandon, and Mrs. Knox Gilmer was set up to discuss the question with representatives of other beautifying organisations and local bodies.