‘Straight talking’ sought

Press, 9 December 1983, Page 21

‘Straight talking’ sought

The Rakaia Conservation Order hearings ended yesterday with a call for a top official of the Ministry of Energy to be subpoenaed to give evidence on the future of Lake Coleridge. “I believe that it would be appropriate to try to get some straight talking on the future use of Lake Coleridge,” said counsel for the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, Mr D. M. Palmer.

The lake was included in the Government’s 1983 Energy Plan, and the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority committee needed some “straight answers” on the future of the lake before it could make a decision on the Conservation Order application, he submitted. “Everybody has their own ideas about what could and could not be done with the lake, but we are all talking

in a vacuum if we do not really know what the Government wants to do with it,” said Mr Palmer. The committee was to make a decision last evening.

It was not certain of the legalities of a subpoena, but Mr Palmer said this was within the Water and Soil Conservation Amendment Act, 1981. He said that the lake could be either used for

storage for irrigation purposes, or it could be used for a big hydro-electric dam.

The Government had to decide which option it wanted, he said. Although the Minister of Energy, Mr Birch, could not be subpoenaed because Parliament was in session, a top official, who could give the political viewpoint, could be called to the hearing.