WASTE LANDS BOARD.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5172, 19 October 1877, Page 5

WASTE LANDS BOARD.

■ A meeting of the Waste Lands Board was held at noon yesterday. Present —Messrs. . Holdsworth (in the chair), H. Button, and T. i Mason. ! The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. 1 NATIVE LANDS BILL. i The Chairman laid before the meeting the i following memorandum, a copy of which it was received should be forwarded to the i Minister of Lands : The attention of the Board having been directed to the proposed increase in the upset -price of the Crown lands in this provincial district, as set forth more particularly in sections 40 and 45 of the- Lands Bill, 1877, as reported from the Waste Lands Committee, and considering that the waste lands under its administration are almost exclusively forest, and for the most part of a broken and hilly character, they desire to bring under the notice of the Government the very serious hindrance that will be placed in the way of beneficial settlement by small capitalists should the recommendation of the Waste Lands Committee be confirmed by Parliament. The proposed increase would raise the upset price of rural laud from 10s, to 205., and pastoral land from 7s. fid. to 205., while to fix the minimum price of town land at £3O per acre would all but prohibit the formation of any new towns. The mode of disposal at present in force of leaving to the Board the power of fixing the upset price, and the offering all Crown lands for sale in the first instance at public auction after survey, enables such a price to be fixed as may reasonably be deemed the value of the land ; and in practice it has been found that whenever the land is worth more than the upset price, the increased price has been obtained. It is further suggested that in section 5, appendix D, twenty-ninth line, the following words should be excised, viz., “in the manner directed by this Act,” as in the case of appendix G, section 4, line 20. It is strongly recommended that sections 6,7, and 8, appendix D, be struck out of the Bill, in the belief that survey should in all cases precede sale. APPLIO ATI ON9. In reference to an application from the Manawatu County Council to have a block surveyed and disposed of on the deferred payment system, the Board decided, after considering the report of Mr. Dundas, the surveyor, that the block was not suitable for the purpose. The consideration of an application from Mr. Meredith, for 640 acres pastoral land at Whareama, was postponed until next meeting. Mr. Macdonald, who is in occupation of some land in the Wanganui District, on which he . has made improvements, applied to have their value added to the upset price. The Board resolved to take the case into consideration when the block had been surveyed. MAUBICEVILLE. A memorial was read from settlers at Mauriceville, asking for an extension of time to make improvements.—The request was granted. ■ OKUTOKD. It was resolved that the plans of sections in the Okutuku District wh ch are to be sold at auction should be lithographed. LAND SALES. The land sales since last meeting were stated to be 154 acres .2 roods, and the receipts £176105.