AT £l2 AN ACRE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 946, 12 April 1930, Page 5

AT £l2 AN ACRE

SETTLEMENT OF CROWN LAND WHANGAMARINO BLOCK A plan for the conversion by next autumn of a 2.000-acre block of unproductive Crown land near Mercer, into farms of 75 acres, capable of carrying 3a cows, at an estimated cost of £l2 an acre, was submitted yesterday to the New Zealand Land Settlement and Development League execuThe scheme was advanced by two expert contractors who possess a. wide knowledge of the block which lies between the Whangamarino and Maramarua Rivers. The land, which is situated one mile from a tar-sealed road, requires the construction of a road, clearing of light scrub and sowing in grass, to be available immediately for productive dairy farming. Tho estimated expenditure required on the block is: Clearing and grassing the land, £7 10s an acre; fencing, £1 10s an acre; and reading, £3 an aero. To bring tho land into production it is estimated 50 men will be required, of whom half could later take up holdings. The road, it was stated, will benefit thousands of acres and a number of present settlers. After discussion the executive passed the following resolution: “That from tho evidence set before it today tho league is convinced that the Whangamarino block of 2,000 acres offers opportunities for immediate improvement, and holdings can be formed at a reasonable figure; and that the league urges the Government to tackle the problem at, once, as it would give employment to large numbers of men, and would open up an area of Crown land at present producing nothing.”