WASTE LAND DEVELOPMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 9 July 1931, Page 6

WASTE LAND DEVELOPMENT

UNEMPLOYMENT BOARD’S TASK. That under the new legislation the Unemployment Board will have a much wider authority to take in hand the utilisation of waste lands was a point made by the Hon. E. A. Ransom, Minister of Lands, when discussing the bill. In the House, the Minister showed, bv quoting actual experience, that the letting of contracts for clearing waste areias did not result in absorbing a large number of unemployed, but, lie added, the Lands Department and the Unemployment Board were associated with the object of extending that phase of activities, which he regarded as one of the important functions of the board. His own Department was dealin<r with a number of such schemes, but there were very large areas of waste land privately owned which could be developed, and the board would get in touch with the owners. Mr W. L. Martin (Labour, Raglan): Why not vonr own Department? The Minister: The Lands Department has no power to deal with piivate lands, but the hoard would have , no such restriction. He emphatically declared that he would not be a party to clearing areas which had gone back and which would not show a prospect of giving a reasonable chance to any settlers if they weie again taken up. The phase involved in the existence of large areas of private-ly-owned undeveloped land should,, he tackled. “I would go so far as to say,” he added, “that the Government should approach the owners to ascertain theii financial position, and if they are unable to bring those lands into production or the area is in excess of what they can handle, they should place a price on it so that it could be dealt with by the Government.”