Petrol at week-ends

Press, 29 August 1980, Page 12

Petrol at week-ends

Motorists will be able to celebrate

spring this week-end by taking longer i, drives in the countryside. Restrictions on week-end sales of petrol, which were imposed in February, 1979, have been lifted. For most, people the restrictions have not been particularly arduous, but 'they, have helped a little to restrain consumption by reminding everyone . that New Zealand’s supplies are uncertain and expensive.

A return to the free-wheeling days when many service stations stayed open for long hours, seven days a week, seems unlikely. Petrol retailers are still unhappy about their profit- margin on sales. Wages have increased significantly in the last 18 months. Service stations on main highways and .in popular resort towns will probably find it worth while to open all day on Saturdays and Sundays; but many suburban service stations might still be happy to close at midday on Saturdays.. Motorists planning to travel long distances for the next few week-ends will have to discover where petrol will be available. It may be some weeks yet before all service stations decide what hours they will open. A shift in buying habits may even cause some that have

opened on Saturday mornings for the pre-noon rush to stay shut on Saturdays because the concentration of sales will end.

The week-end restrictions have probably altered permanently the readiness with which New Zealanders will be able to buy petrol or obtain other services for their vehicles at week-ends. If the restrictions have also brought about a small, permanent reduction in the amount of petrol being used, it is all to the good. The restrictions themselves, however, with a system for emergency sales, were difficult to administer. For so long as adequate petrol is available their removal is welcome.

Lifting the restrictions should also mean motorists will no longer be tempted to carry spare fuel in unsuitable containers, or to store quantities of fuel in their garages. Motorists who break down at week-ends will have more hope now of getting help. Having been relieved of earless days and “dry”' week-ends, the country is going to have to depend on the price of fuel and publicity campaigns to keep consumption of petrol within limits which supplies, and the economy, can sustain.