March start for repairs to slipway

Press, 10 December 1981, Page 1

March start for repairs to slipway

Repair work on the worminfested part of the Sumner Lifeboat Institution’s slipway might start in March. The job, using pre-stressed concrete beams in place of treated timber, could cost about $48,000, with another $3OOO needed for a more powerful winch when a proposed new 13-tonne lifeboat is purchased within five years. Christchurch City councillors hope they will not be faced with footing the entire bill. Works and traffic committee members yesterday said that methods of financing repairs should be investigated. Councillors had been waiting to recommend a move on the slipway until they received a Ministry of Transport report on the worth of the Sumner Lifeboat Institution’s rescue role. The Regional Search and Rescue Co-ordinator, Mr W. W. Gifford, said in his report that the Sumner service had virtually . immediate availability in the area. The services of other groups were valuable) but they could be delayed. A senior member of the

Southern Regional Search and Rescue Committee had said: “As a rescue service when heads are bobbing in the water in Pegasus Bay or adjacent areas, the Sumner lifeboat is the only organisation that can respond immediately and has the necessary expertise for immediate rescue action.” Cr Geoff Stone, who had pushed for adequate repair finance before estimates last year, said the report was a clear indication that it was a valuable and needed service. “We will definitely need some support from other organisations and local bodies to pay for the repairs,” he said. The council’s design engineer, Mr J. A. Ince, warned councillors that the wavebattered slipway would be a difficult place to work, and it could prove expensive to place concrete under those conditions. The City Engineer (Mr P. G. Scoular) told the committee that a list of council spending on the slipway and boat harbour over the last 10 to 12 years showed that the council had not ignored the area.