ELECTRIC POWER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 276, 21 November 1932, Page 5

ELECTRIC POWER.

EXTENSION OF LINES

WAITEMATA POWER BOARD,

Notification that formal application had been made to have the districts of Rodney and Warkworth included 111 the Waitemata Power Board area was received from the two local bodies at the meeting of the board this morning. The chairman, Mr. W. Leighton, reported that, with the secretary, he had visited Warkworth and conferred with a committee of the local bodies. It was pointed out that a supply could not be gK'en by extending the board's present 11,000-volt lines into the district, and that the construction of a line of higher voltage would be necessary. The board would not be prepared to erect the line, and as provision had been made by the Public Works Department to erect a 110,000-volt line from Henderson to a point in the Whangarei County in the future, it would be a policy matter for the Government, provided the revenue warranted it, to erect the proposed 110,000-volt line as far as Kaipara Flats and give the district a point of supply there. The line had already been surveyed. In reply to questions from members, Mr. Leighton stated that the inclusion of the two districts was a matter for the Government to decide, but the board would require the necessary guarantees before supplying power. Reporting on a proposed extension to Silverdale, the secretary stated that a. canvass in the district had resulted in ■guarantees totalling £240 from nine residents of Silverdale and seven farmers on the adjacent Kahikatea Flats Road and Carter's Road. The estimated cost of extending the reticulation and giving a supply to these consumers was £3100. Allowing for the few consumers who might be obtained later, the deficiency would be considerable. He recommended that the extension be declined until prospects of revenue improved. "A factor affecting the future reticulation of Silverdale, however, is the probability of the board's area being enlarged at an early date to include the Rodney County and the Warkworth Town District," said the report. "If this eventuates, it may be possible to give a supply from another route at less capital expenditure. For this reason also the matter might with advantage to the board and the district be deferred meanwhile,"

The secretary's report was adopted.