Emergency Aerodrome.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 February 1939, Page 4

Emergency Aerodrome.

The establishment of an emergency landing ground for aeroplanes at Motuhora, in the Bay of Plenty district, is foreshadowed in a notice signifying the intention of the Government to take 51 acres. The site of the proposed aerodrome is a short distance to the north of the Motuhora railway station. Kowhai Road, which leads to the railway station, will also give access to the aerodrome. Forty days have been allowed in which objections to the scheme or the taking of the land may be lodged with the Minister for Public Works (the Hon R. Semple), and in the meantime no work has been commenced on the aerodrome. Exhibits of Birds. Exhibits of birds at the Canterbury Museum are shortly to be increased by the addition of a Royal albatross, which has just been mounted by the taxidermist, Mr P. O’Brien, after it had been kept in a refrigerator for nine months. The bird makes a very fine exhibit, and is the only example of the adult albatross possessed by the museum with the exception of one about 40 years old. It is in a standing position, with the wings, which have a span of more than 10 feet, folded. A blue penguin, found recently at the mouth of the Fox River, on the West Coast, is also to be mounted and displayed, and a habitat group will be made of two hawks which have already been mounted.

Exemption Under Waitangi Treaty. “They claim exemption from paying rates under the Treaty of Waitangi,” said the Rangiora County Clerk (Mr S. G. Dailey), when the Minister for Lands (the Hon F. Langstone) was told by a deputation at Rangiora about some of the farm problems in the Tuahiwi Maori settlement district. The chairman of the County Council (Mr C. Rands) explained that the Tuahiwi area was weed-infested. Part of the trouble was that the Maoris leased out the land on a short-term basis, and the land was being allowed to decline, to the detriment of surrounding properties.' The council also had difficulty in collecting rates from the Maori holders, who claimed the exemption of the treaty. The Minister, in agreeing with Mr Rands that supervision system might be desirable in the area, added with a smile that exemption could not be claimed under the treaty on payment cf rates.