WESTLAND WASTE LANDS BOARD,

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1062, 21 December 1871, Page 2

WESTLAND WASTE LANDS BOARD,

Tuesday, Deqember 19. The following letters were read ; — from M. Kennedy,; Greym.outh, stating, that paying purphasgd, Qn the 9,th ult., land in Block 1, Grey district, he notice^ on receiving his license to occupy, that it does not include the south-west corner of the said block, south of the Marsdenroad, and containing about 53 acres. Mr Kennedy therefore requested that should that land be hereafter open for sale he might ,he considered the fitst applicant. From Colman Hynes, pquiring whether he can appjy for a pasturage lease of 500 acres at the Saltwater Creek. Messrs HUI : and J tjamp,ton applied through their agent, MpJL)eannonth, for a license for a run of 600 acres of pasturage land in the Grey district. Granted, LlO rental paid. Martin Kennedy applied to purchase a portion of rural land (the quantity did not transpire) in Block 1, Grey district. Mr Cornelius Driscoll, who appeared for the applicant, pointed out that though the Board had, staged they would not sell the land ia questOn, yet as the withdrawal had not been gazetted, he concluded that the land was still open for sale. The application was refused, the Chief Commissioner stating that the Board would not sell the land, as the Board had decided that all the land in Blbuks 1 and 57* south of Sawyer's Creek should be withdrawn from sale, The Board directed that the withdrawal be gazetted forthwith/ Mr. Harvey applied, on behalf of Mr. W. H. Harrison, that the block of land, which by the resolution of the Board at | its last Bitting had been excluded from the town of Greymouth, be put up to auction. „.; I Considerable discussion took place on the matter, th& Board being generally of Opinion that the application could not be entertained until a map had been sent to Wellington, defining the boundary as agreed to by the Board, and the previous tracings sent back; f rbjty Wellington. M :

Harvey, however; persistently continued to argue that the Board at once direct that the land should go to atiction. Ultimately the Board directed that the ; resolution passed at its previous sitting be forwarded to Wellington, together with a tracing showing the boundary aa defined in the resolution, Mr Harvey to renew his application from time to time, ' unffl- a reply be receded from Wellings ton. ■ . -■•;•;- -" John Wright applied, on behalf of himself ; and other miners, that the. land, in Block fto. . 71, ,Grr§ y Jlistrict, which had been thrown open tor sale on the application of Kestrns, be withdrawn from sale.J Mr Lahman said that it had been proved that the very land applied for by Kearns is auriferous, and he moved that the resolution of tna Board in respect to that land be rescinded. The Chief Commissioner denied thai it had been so proved. The Board had the report of the Chief Surveyor that the land is not auriferous, and the applicant had been required to show the Chief Surveyor where there were any auriferous indica;tions, but he seemed afraid to do so, lest the Chief Surveyor ihpuidi, as Wright expressed it, "lay other people on." The applicant said that neither he nor his mates were so foolish as to show to other people where gold was to be foundj he could not therefore consent to point the place out to the Chief Surveyor. : Ihe Chief Commissioner believed that Mr Muller had quite enough to do with; -out laying himself out to turn to account the information whiclv Wright could give^ If he. refused to give information suffi-j ciently specific to induce the Board to alter its decision, the only alternative Wright would. have to purchase the land; himself. ; '. Wright said he should do so, and wouldj enter his name as an applicant at the con-, elusion of the businessof the Board. : Mr Lahman brought under the notice! of the Board an application which had] been received at its last Bitting in a letterj from the Grey mouth Jockey Club. ' A desultory discussion took place on thej matter, in the course of which it was explained to Mr Lahman.by the Chief Com-; missioner, that while the reserve remained) a recreation ground it was not possible to! vest it in the Jockey Club, so that they could exclude the public. But the com-; mittee appointed by the Board had re-; commended that the reserve should be: lifted and re-gazetted as a reserve for a | rafce-cotirae,. and to be vested in the Jockey j Club. It was, However, . questionable >! whether a reserve could be vested in «*j body that was not corporate. That was a * legaliquestiQn which. the Board need not: go into at present. As soon as Mr Evans \ had looked through the whole of the re- 1 commendations of the committee respecting tb^e reserve^, they wpuld be dealt with j by the Board. Mr Lahman said he would like a reply , to that effect sent to the Jogkey Qlub, which was agreed to. The Board resolved to hold an auction sale on Sfonday, the sth of February. The Board arranged to meet formally bu Tiieaday, the 2nd of January, and then to adjourn to some day to be fixed at such formal meeting.