ELECTRICITY IN RURAL AREAS

Press, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24747, 12 December 1945, Page 5

ELECTRICITY IN RURAL AREAS

——♦ . . . COMMENT ON RECENT LEGISLATION The Electricity Bill recently passed oy the Government to assist in the reticulation of rural areas would mislead country people into believing that something would be done to help them get electric power, said the chairman of the South Canterbury Electric Power Board (Mr G; Dash) at.a meeting of the board at Timaru yesterday. Under the new legislation, the board would be allowed £4OO a year for extending power lines to country areas, out this sum would provide only one mile of line, and the board would have »S ont £ lbute £250 t0 this amount. ♦t, £ m i sol Parl 'ament who allowed the bill to go through apparently knew nothing about details of the work that 2?= °i be done - for tne board needed B !,^ r^ lles of lines to do one small area added Mr Dash. ) Mr P. W. Young said that all power boards would not be applying for subsidies under the act. and the South Canterbury board should take advantage of the subsidy as soon as possible and put in as many applications as it could, so that the Government would realise that the act was totally inadequate. .Mr C. C. Knight said he understood that the Minister of Works had promised to make full investigation before the bill went before the House, but he evidently had not <•■ e so. , "AH we are .getting- is seven and a half miles of line in 15 years." said Mr J. R. Hart. Mr Young said °a special committee had been set up two years ago to look into the matter, but it did not look as if they had done much about it Mr C. E. Kerr said the present state of affairs provided great opportunity for the Government to redeem itself by bringing in a flat rate. Mr Dash said he did not think that would be possible without nationalising the industry. Mr G. E. White thought the board should carry on its agitation for bulk charge.