Counties in Bad Way

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 238, 28 December 1927, Page 8

Counties in Bad Way

STATE WILL HAVE TO ASSIST Acute Problem of Deteriorated Lands SO far has the Government written down the 'valuation of certain lands in the rural districts of New Zealand, that the rates are insufficient to maintain the county roads and keep the hospitals, and relief will have to be provided from the Consolidated Fund. This has given the Minister of Lands, the Minister of Public Works and the Minister of Finance, a problem which will have to be investigated immediately.

The seriousness of the deteriorated lands position was discussed by the Minister of Lands, the Hon. A. D. McLeod. this morning, when he acknowledged that the situation had become acute with prospects of becoming worse in some places. The chief difficulty, he told THE SUN man, was in respect to the counties, when the writings down had been so heavy as to make the rates

%ib% a- %asasas %% a; sk as % at a non-payably low figure. It was the only thing that could be done in the circumstances, but it had placed the counties in an awkward position. VALUATIONS WRITTEN DOWN “In some cases,” he said, “we have written down the valuation from £1 5s an acre to 5s an acre. The difference is too great. I am going into it at the present time with the Minister

of Public Works and the Minister of Finance, but it is possible that some relief will have to come out of the Consolidated Fund. The Works Fund will have to stand some of it.” The revaluation of Crown lands generally was touched upon by the I Minister, who said that the board I which was constituted under the Land Laws Amendment Act of last session was now operating, and although he was not aware that the applications for revaluation had been heavy, it was anticipated that relief would be afforded the men who had been on their farms for more than six years. The old Act had restricted applications for revaluation to those occupying the land for over three and not more than six years. Some effort is going to be made by the Minister and his departmental officers to bring into greater productivity the land in the North Auckland district, which has been giving the settlers —and incidentally the Government —some trouble in the past and if it can be arranged, relief for unemployed will be provided there during next winter. POSSIBILITIES DOUBTFUL The Minister expressed the intention of concentrating mainly upon the Kerikeri area of 20,000 acres, but he was not aware of the extent of the possibilities of this stretch from the productive point of view. In many cases the possibilities of this class of land were extremely doubtful, but he could not specify in this instance until he had seen the land itself. The qualities, he understood, had never ■ been thoroughly examined. It was possible that a great deal of felling and scrub-cutting work would have to be done there, while on the other hand it might be found that the land could be burnt off as it stood. Mr. McLeod has also been looking into the possibilities of a block of 50,000 acres in the Taupo district, which it is intended to utilise for purposes similar to those for which the northern land will be used. This land was near the 10,000 acres which had been given by the Lands Department |to the Prisons Department for a j prisons reserve, but the difficulty was the securing of titles from the native owners. The purchase of the Maori title to land was always a lengthy proceeding, and the execution of the transfers was going through slowly.