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1950 NEW ZEALAND

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND SURVEY SETTLEMENT OF CROWN LANDS (ANNUAL REPORT ON)

Presented to Both Houses of the General Assembly Pursuant -to Section 181 of the Land Act, 1948.

Sir, — Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington, 30th June, 1950. I have the honour to submit the annual report on the settlement of Crown lands for the year ended 31st March, 1950. I have, &c., D. M. Greig, Director-General. The Hon. the Minister of Lands.

REPORT

GENERAL REVIEW With the insistent demand for increased production, coupled with the demand for land by ex-servicemen and civilians, continued attention has been given this branch of the Department's activities during the past year. Fortunately a further improvement in the supply position of essential development materials has enabled greater progress to be made in preparing land for settlement, although in some districts difficulty in arranging for the erection of buildings is still delaying final settlement. Where practicable, this difficulty is now being overcome by the use of temporary accommodation, and in general it is hoped that with a continued easing of the supply position the tempo of the development work can be still further increased. As the fertilizer position improved, each year has seen an increased area of undeveloped Crown land brought under development, and at the end of this year 45,100 acres of this land were in grass in various stages of consolidation. In addition, an area of 411,211 acres acquired from private sources for settlement purposes and the residue of older " civilian " blocks is held and expected to yield ultimately 878 units for ex-servicemen settlement. The land utilization survey, which is commented on later in this report, will on completion, give an authoritative guide to the amount of Crown and other land available for closer settlement. There is already sufficient information available, however, to show that the undeveloped Crown land which can be speedily turned to production and closer settlement is not unlimited, and it is pertinent to draw attention to the fact that every thousand units of 250 acres absorbs 250,000 acres of land.