A MENACE TO PROGRESS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 206, 8 November 1909, Page 5

A MENACE TO PROGRESS.

♦ — ■ •- In addition to the evil of Native owned lands and the multiplicity of tenures of Crown lands the people of theTaoamrunui district are threatened with another curse in the shape of the River Trust. The following letter sent by the Chamber of Commerce to the Chairman of the Trust conveys a knowledge of the situation: — "Sir.—l have been requested by the Council of Taumarunui Chamber of Commerce to draw the attention of your board to the urgent necessity for throwing open for settlement, that block of land lying between the town of Taumarunui and the Te Maire valley, and adjoining the eastern bank of the Wanganoi river. This block is vested in the Wanganoi River Trust. It has been pointed out that this land lying as it docs between our town and the settlement in the North Waimarino block i-* a serious hindrance to the construction of roads in the district, as there is a very natural objection to the funds voted for the purpose of roadmaking being spent on unoccupied lands. The settlers in the district are opposing the formation of a county in this part of the country, and the fact that they would have to construct and maintain ten miles of road through unocct pied, and therefore onrateable, river trust land has been a determining factor in the question. There is also another serious reason why this land should be thrown open for settlement as speedily as possible. It is getting terribly infested with ragwort, especially that portion nearest to Taumarunui. This pest is getting such a hold of the land that it is menacing the whole district, and unless the land in question is soon settled, no one will dare to take it at all owing to the ruinous cost of fighting the noxious weed*. I trust that your board will give this matter early and careful consideration, and should you be in Taumarunui shortly our people would like to confer with you about it.