VILLA SETTLEMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1545, 21 August 1886, Page 3

VILLA SETTLEMENT.

On Thursday evening last Mr J F. March held a meeting.in tbp large ronn of the Geraldine To*n Bo»rd < ffiee !■* the purpose of seeing the working men, aud expatning to th«m v* hat land was open for village settlement, an » the terms upon which it was offered by the Government. Notwithstanding th* dampness rf the pvening, ami th* fact that but scant noiic* of the meeting had been given, there w»r a very attendance of bona fide working men, and several who certainly could not be said to come under tha' heading.

Punctually at 7.30 Mr M*rch opemd the meeting, He stated that he wuhighly piensed to see so many there evening. He would first sh-.w them'the lands open for settlemen ; secondly he would explain the regulations under which the lots must b . taken up, ""1 then lie would be glad to answer any .|-ucsti(»ns beiring upon thsubject they might have to ask him He would then be very glad to receive the names of those who would be willing to take up lots. The first land he dealt with was that at Geraldine, the position of which, by means of mai>s which were handed round, Mr March clearly pointed oat. He slated that the suburban lands were all marked out »> boing in |-acre sections. He though" it would be much betteV if instead H having it thus they could manage to lump say lour of these together, ai.ti have them in acre blocks. With regard to lots Nos. 8 and 10, he though' the? should remain as they were, bu' Nos. li : and 12, he thought, should be put together,, as they would thus do away with the necessity of the piece of road which ran between them, and which in itself contained nearly an acre. Thei there was some more land at Orari, which was now in 10-acre blocks, which it was proposed to put into five block*, giving 50 sens in each bhek. Mr March then read over the r<»gulati« under which the land couU be taken up, and gave lucid and salisfactory answers to a number of questions put by those present, who .were evidently deeply in terested in the scheme. He also utated that there was just a doubt as to the land within the Geraldine Town District being brought under the Village Set titment regulations, but he was prepared to strongly recommend that being done It was a D\atter, however, upon which it would be necessary to consult the I'«-w Board. He also stated that there wn further bands at Arundel, reserve N . 1257, the map of which unlortunat.ly he had left in Timaru. This would br open for application on September, loth. Those who were present took a lively interest in the whole of the plans, and at the close of the meeting several put down their nam?s as intending to appiy. Mr March explained that in the event of more than one app'icaut for the same piece the matter would be decided by lot, .married men getting the preference.

Several of those in the room ox pressed their opinion that the price of rental was too high for ihe land on the Geraldine Flat.

Mr March stated that lie was willing to take the valuation of competent persons in the district', and endeavor to get ibe rents fixed accordingly. The meeting then closed.