Luggate dam decision delay unpopular

Press, 15 October 1986, Page 12

Luggate dam decision delay unpopular

PA Dunedin The latest reason for the delay in the decision on the Luggate dam cut no ice with the CluthaCentral Otago United Council this week. At its meeting the council considered a letter from the Minister of Energy, Mr Tizard, in which he said that in the light of the planned changes to his Ministry’s Electricity Division, it was not possible to set a date for a decision on Luggate. An establishment board had been formed to make the division a corporation, Mr Tizard said. “As you will appreciate major decisions such as embarking on Luggate should be held until the board has a chance to put them into perspective

with the division’s total activities,” he said. Mr Tizard recognised that delays in the decision had implications for the people of the United Council’s region, and said the delay also materially affected the Electricity Division’s own projects. The council resolved to write to Mr Tizard expressing its deep concern in the delays in announcing the Government’s intention with respect to the Luggate dam. The council decided to tell Mr Tizard that delay would cause severe dislocation and hardship for the Upper Clutha community generally and Cromwell, residents in particular. . The new Mayor of Cromwell, Mr D. A. Butcher, said Upper Clutha people had been

told there would be a decision by now, “and now it’s looking like it could be April. By that time it could be the end of the year ... - “We’re being fobbed off again, using that excuse not to make a decision.” Cr R. J. Davidson, the chairman of Vincent County, described Mr Tizard’s letter as a “classic buck-passing exercise,” and Cr M. K. Ryan said he believed the decision had already been made, and it was in the negative. “Why else wpuld they keep delaying things?” The council also received a letter from the Cromwell committee of the New Zealand Workers’ Union, saying that the committee was seeking the continuation of the scheme.