C—s

Purchases of land during the year under the provisions of the Lands for Settlements Act, 1925, were confined to the following three areas:— (1) Part Reserve 2195, Tengawai Survey District (area, 193 acres 1 rood). Purchased from the Timaru Borough Council at £4 10s. per acre for addition to an uneconomic holding of a Crown lessee in Raincliff Settlement, Canterbury. This property is situated 12| miles northwest of Pleasant Point and comprises 193 acres of good tussock land, of which 30 acres is ploughable and now in English pasture. (2) Sections 1-12, 81, and 82, Town of Edgecumbe, Rangitaiki Survey District (area 34 acres 0 roods 08-8 perches). This area, situated on the Rotorua-Whakatane Main Highway, was purchased from Miss H. Reynolds for £2,270 2s. 8d. —i.e., £66 13s. 4d. per acre. It is proposed that the area be developed as an extension to the existing Township of Edgecumbe. (3) Parts Section la, Square 143, and Part Sections 3 and 4, Block I, Ngakawau Survey District (area, 21 acres 1 rood). This area, comprising flat land centrally situated at Ngakawau, was purchased from G. E. Fergus at a price of £3,000. Portion of the area is required to meet urgent recreational and housing requirements in the locality, and the residue will be held against future development in the district. As the Land for Settlements Act, 1925, was repealed by the Land Act, 1948, which consolidates all enactments relating to lands of the Crown and comes into operation on the Ist April, 1949, this report will not be submitted in the future. I have, &c., D. M. Gtßeig, Director-General of Lands.

Annual Accounts A statement of the moneys received into and paid out of the Land for Settlements Account during the year is included in parliamentary paper B-l [Pt. I].

Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, riot given ; printing (658 copies), £2 10s.

By Authority: R. E. Owen, Government Printer, Wellington.—l 949. Price 3d.]

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