‘No use’ blaming others on gas

Press, 16 March 1982, Page 6

‘No use’ blaming others on gas

Blaming . other local authorities for the lack of an adequate supply of liquified petroleum gas in Christchurch was of no use, said Cr C. E. Manning at a meeting of the Christchurch City Council last evening. He was referring to block-ing-moves made by the Lyttelton Borough Council in response to public concern about. the movement of L.P.G. tankers in the borough, the proposed L.P.G. pipeline from Lyttelton to Woolston,' and the proposed L.P.G. installation in Woolston. -", He said, “The Minister of Energy (Mr Birch) should have instituted planning procedures for. the supply of L.P.G. a year before he did. But other local authorities have to ensure their people are safe arid there is no point in blaming them for doing so. “We need an assurance from the Minister that either manufactured gas or L.P.G. will be available in sufficeint quanitity to protect those 800 jobs that will otherwise be lost. “We have a duty to protect

our citizens and their jobs. Yet it is said by our opponents that whenever we take such action, we are politicking.” Cr Manning, who is chairman of the council’s clean air and health commitee, told the committee last month that the lack of an adequate alternative gas supply after the closing of the gas works in Moorhouse Avenue could threaten the livelihood of nine Christchurch companies and their 800 workers. The member of Parliament for Fendalton, Mr P. R. Burdon (Nat.), in response to this, later accused Cr Manning of politicking. Mr Burdon said that manufactured gas would still be available > from the Christchurch Gas Company for an indefinite period after the scheduled closing date of the gas works on March 31. Cr Manning said last evenings, “In 1979, it was said by the Government that when the gasworks closing was announced, it would not be the end of a gas supply for the city.

“We still want to know how. We are not seeking a continuous supply of gas but we do seek a supply to keep those 800 jobs going. No immediate relief seems available, however.” Cr Manning said that in spite of statements by the Government to the contrary, a study of correspondence between the council and Mr Birch showed that no firm undertaking on a gas supply had been given to the council. Cr Rex Lester said that the problem was one that had been forced on the community. “Eight hundred jobs are at risk because of a decision of the Government,” he said. ‘There is no-one else we can appeal to so we must find a solution now, not in a few months time when those jobs have gone.” Cr Lester said the Government should be mindful that it was not just the loss of 800 jobs that was at stake, but also the loss of thousands of dollars of potential export warnings.