WESTLAND WASTE LANDS BOARD.

Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 1026, 9 November 1871, Page 2

WESTLAND WASTE LANDS BOARD.

A meeting of the Waste Lands Board was held on Tuesday, at the Land Office, Hokitika. Present — The Chief Commissioner, Messrs Hoos, Lahman, Evans, and the Receiver of Land Revenue. Before the ordinary business of the day was proceeded with, a sitting of the Board was held by adjournment from the last sitting and in continuation of the same, for the purpose of determining upon the applications of Mr Martin Kennedy and of Messrs Kilgour and Perotti for rural land in Block No. 1, Greymouth district. Those applications had been postponed in consequence of the District Surveyor's report not having been sent in, and also in consequence of a petition against the sale of the land having been telegraphed from Greymouth, the ground of objection being that the land is auriferous. A report was read from Messrs Hoos and Evans stating that, in accordance with the resolution of the Board, they had proceeded with the Chief Surveyor to the ground, and having taken the evidence of parties working in the locality, they recommended that the land in the Blocks No. 1 and 67, south-west of Sinnet and Co.'s race and dam, and from thence along the proposed Marsden road, to about peg 70, should be withdrawn from sale for the present, as there are sufficient indications of the said land being auriferous. A report from the Chief Surveyor to a similar effect was also read. The Board resolved to grant the application of Mr Martin Kennedy for 275 acres rural land, as the land applied for was not within the area reserved from sale. The application of Messrs Kilgour and Perotti for 300 acres, made through Mr Horton, was withdrawn, as the greater portion included the land applied for by Mr Martin Kennedy. A letter was read from Mr Warden Revell, informing the Board that a large portion of the railway reserve, Greymouth, was washed away, -by miners ground sluicing to a depth of ten to fifteen feet, without provision being made for the restoration of any portion of the ground. A letter was read from the Town Clerk (•f Greymoijth objecting to the sale of Block No. 67, near Greymouth, and requesting that the same be reserved as a Municipal reserve, subject to all legitimate rights. The letter also solicited the aid of the Board in procuring the granting of the land to the Corporation as an ]

endowment, in consequence of the town being burdened with the cost of constructing and maintaining expensive river protection works. There were several documents accompanying the letter in support of the ground upon which the Corporation of Greymouth applied to have the land reserved as a Municipal reserve. It appeared from these that Block 67 originally formed part of the township of Greymouth, but was withdrawn* from > the township for the purpose <of obtaining powers for the Warden to adjudicate upon mining matters within that area. E. F. Barnett applied by his agent, Mr Learmonth, to have thrown open for sale 40 acres of rural land near Rutherglen, in the Greymouth district, at present held under an agricultural lease. The Board directed the Chief Surveyor to report on the same at the next sitting. Thomas Joyce applied by his agent, Mr Driscoll, for 20 acres of suburban land in Block 67, near Greymouth. The Chief Commissioner said this was part of the land in respect to which a communication had been received from the Corporation of Greymouth. The application could not be entertained until that matter had been decided. The application was postponed until the sth of December. William Harcourt applied for a pastoral license for 3100 acres of land at the Teremakau. Application granted— L2s 17s paid. „.,:- i The Board then proceeded to consider the application of the Borough Council of Greymouth. Mr Whall, the Town Clerk, having been heard. Mr Lahman suggested that the consideration of the matter should be. postponed until the next meeting of the Board, as that in the meanwhile lie might ascertain whether it would not be better to sell the land and pay over the proceeds to the Corporation of Greymouth. The Chief Commissioner could not see how an endowment could be made, as a similar application, had been refused to the Corporation of Hokitika. Mr Hoos said that an endowment of the land would be of no use to the Corporation, as they could not dispose of it. It would be better to sell the land and give the money to the Corporation. He moved — "That a reply be sent to the Borough Council of Greymouth, to the effect that the Board would give their decision in the mater at the next sitting." That would be preferable, he said, to adjourning the consideration of the question until next meeting, as in the meantime the Board could go into the matter and arrive at a decision. The motion of Mr Hoos was carried. The Board ordered that the County Chairman, be requested to have the 44 acre section of " The Westland Waste Lands Act, 1870," and the 4th schedule of the said Act printed and attached to the mining rules and regulations, for general circulation. The total amount received at the sitting wasL379 2s6d. The Board adjourned until Tuesday, the 21st instant.