Majority shareholding in ports sought

Press, 15 February 1989, Page 13

Majority shareholding in ports sought

It was logical, in political, economic and policy terms, for the new Canterbury regional authority to have the majority shareholding in the ports of Lyttelton and Timaru, according to the chairman of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, Mr George Wright.

He said the Local Government Commission’s proposals for the allocation of shares in the two ports to the territorial authorities was not in the future interests of the port companies. It was contrary to the economic principles underlying the reform of local government and would not promote the efficient operation of these “critical elements of international transport.” Mr Wright put a motion to yesterday’s meeting of the Canterbury Regional Council Transition Committee, of which he is a member, suggesting that the committee support the shares being held regionally and that it prepare a submission in support of this stance. The committee decided not to vote on the motion yesterday, but to recon-

sider it at its next meeting

« after members had had a * chance to discuss the mat- < ter.

- Mr Wright said the LytZ teltbn Harbour Board had -• debated the issue and " agreed that the shares ~ should be held by a re- " gional authority. 3 International ports of ; the size of Lyttelton and Timaru were fundamental to the driving force of the regional economy. Rural

and primary exports were the key and were regional and joint-regional in character, not district. The region was also in a good position to encourage interest from the West Coast region to treat Lyttelton as its international port, Mr Wright said.

“It is a regional issue however you look at it.” The retention of the shares by the regional council kept intact a wider range of options for the future and allowed the ability to co-ordinate a rational and complimentary development of the two ports. Mr Wright believed competition between the ports could still be retained. The chairman of the Canterbury United Council, Mrs Margaret Murray, supported his proposal, saying that long-term coordination could not be forgotten.

“I think this is one of the tragedies if we and the commission do not acknowledge that the ports are regional in nature,” she said. Mr Dave Walker, of the Aorangi United Council, said some of the statements in Mr Wright’s report were false. He did not see how competition between the ports could be retained if shares were held regionally. “We really do believe that the two harbour boards have to remain separate. They have a lot of competition and there is no love lost between them.”