Mr Watt Comments On Future Action

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29170, 2 April 1960, Page 7

Mr Watt Comments On Future Action

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 1. A decision on whether to bring electric power from the Benmore scheme to the North Island is now one for the Government to determine after it receives the recommendation from the Power Planning Committee.

The Minister of Electricity (Mr Watt) said today that the Government’s responsibility was not so much to decide whether the cable was to be laid as of anticipating the most appropriate time to put the recommended .Cook Strait proposal into effect.

“When the findings of the committee appointed to estimate future power requirements has been presented to the Government, the Power Planning Committee will then have the responsibility of recommending a programme to tneet that demand,” Mr Watt said. “It should be recalled that in its report to Parliament last year the Power Planning Committee recommended that the laying of the proposed Cook Strait cable be deferred, and in its place recommended the construction of a hydro station at 'Matahina to meet the North Island’s power needs in 1965, this programme being adopted in principle by the Government.

“This year, the planning committee must recommend a programme which will meet the requirements of 1966. Under the planning policy of this Government there can never be another shortage of power in New Zealand.” Mr Watt said the Government’s London consultants had not minimised the amount of thought that must still go into technical aspects of the Cook Strait proposal and to the complex and extensive nature of the preparations that must be made before putting down a cable. After a close investigation they had reached a positive recommendation on the engineering feasibility of linking the power supply systems of both islands. “There are still some factors to be cleared up, and, with the engineering possibility of the proposal broadly established, we have still to consider its economic aspects,” the Minister said. “Our responsibility is not so much one of deciding whether or not the cable js to be laid, as it is one of anticipating the most appropriate time to put the proposal into effect. It is to be a costly undertaking. This aspect of the proposal must be closely studied by the Power Planning Committee before it reports to Parliament.

“A big change has taken place in the electrical supply position since 1957 when, this proposal was filrst brought forward. In the three years since a great deal of

new information on the potentialities of the North Island’s own power resources has been gathered and is under careful assessment. Southern Expansion "This fact has an important bearing on the economics of the Cook Strait cable project and the timing of its initiation. Besides this, the Power Planning Committee will have to consider whether it can take the risk of transmitting any surplus power from Benmore to North Island centres of consumption because of the possibility of the large industrial expansion that could take place in the South Island in the near future. “Full attention must also be given to the independent report by Captain O. R. Bates, a recognised world authority on cable laying. His report discusses navigational and other aspects of this proposal to which the powerplanning committee must give close consideration. His Views on the selection of a route for the cable are very clear and very helpful.

. “The provision of an adequate and continuous supply of power is essential to the progress of our country,” Mr Watts said. “It is the basis on which industry can be expanded and the means by which our economy can be improved. With this in mind, I can say that both the Power Planning Committee and the Government are fully aware of their responsibilities and will not lightly discard any proposal that has the promise of making the future of this country more secure.”