Lansdowne power station

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32860, 8 March 1972, Page 16

Lansdowne power station

Sir, —In reply to the letters of T. W. C. Tothill and “Dis-

illusioned Nationalist,” I suggest they think back to the times when people complained about the noise and sight of motor cars and now avidly resurrect the early models. This is now the electricity age, and some people cannot bear the sight of the pylons that bring the power which makes our lives so much easier and more livable. I am sure the Electricity Department has gone into this matter thoroughly before building the station at Lansdowne Valley. A few poplars planted nearby will soon soften the view. Already the Port Hills have plenty of pylons, and, like the English lady who married the Scottish gentleman and had to eat porridge each morning, after a time she had to admit “she was beginning to like the damned stuff.” In 50 years we could be using solar heat and all these pylons could be a thing of the past. Adjust—and think of the good things they bring. We have our share.—Yours, etc.,

CASHMERE VALLEY. March 7, 1972.

Sir, — As an elderly husband of a youthful wife full of self-expression and an ageing father of two sons with bewildering modern philosophies, I find myself drawn into the Lansdowne Valley controversy. Occasionally L feel compassion for those in authority, who, after having made a decision, are subjected to the agonies of an ever-increasing variety of protestations. To obtain my own opinion on this debate, I spent a little time in this valley quite on my own and imagined bulldozers straightening- the winding Old Tai Tapu Road and visualised concrete blocks of powerhouses and saw a confusion of wires disentangling themselves over pylons into the distant hills. Is Lansdowne Valley really the only possible spot to serve the progress of Christchurch? — Yours, etc., AN ELDERLY SEEKER. March 7, 1972. Sir,—To the outsider who is not a resident of the beautiful Lansdowne Valley, but who has driven through it with pleasure on many occasions, it seems strange indeed that, when there are other flat shingly areas surrounding Christchurch which in no circumstance could be called beauty spots, this delightful valley should be desecrated by a power station and pylons. In the Manapouri dispute it was the New Zealand Electricity Department which voiced the need to raise the lake in spite of certain desecration, and here it seems that though other authorities who follow up to distribute the power may be the main offenders, it is surely the initial choice of site by the New Zealand Electricity Department with ho apparent regard for desecration, that sets off the damage. Let us rejoice that Mr Maclntyre has the power of

his new portfolio to help Canterbury to keep its beauty spots. He is its only hope.— Yours, etc., CONCERNED. March 6, 1972.