COASTAL TOWN LIGHTS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 110, 3 February 1941, Page 6

COASTAL TOWN LIGHTS

Possible Aid To Enemy MEASURE OF CONTROL INTENDED Trial Reduction Held The necessity fur control of public and private lighting visible from the open sea was discussed by the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, in an interview last night. He said that the brilliant display of lights around parts of the New Zealand coast had been causing the Government some concern because of the possibility of these lights being of use to enemy raiders. The question was discussed in Wellington recently at a meeting of local body representatives called by the Associate Minister of National Service, Mr. Wilson, in connexion with various aspects of emergency precautions. It was revealed by the Prime Minister that to test the efficiency of the existing organization a trial reduction of lighting- was arranged on Saturday night in several places, including Wellington. Mr. Fraser said a certain amount bad already been done by way of shrouding and obscuring individual prominent lights in various parts of the country, but it was felt that a great deal more was necessary if the work was to'be really effective. Preparations had already been made for the immediate extinguishing of certain navigational lights in case of need, and it had now been decided that it might be necessary to put out or at least obscure all lights which were directly visible from the open sea, and also to put out all those lights which, while not directly visible from the sea, produced glare or reflection on the clouds or sky, and which might thereby indicate the whereabouts of centres of population. Appointment of Controller. Mr. Fraser explained that to carry out these proposals the Government would appoint a controller and a central technical committee in Wellington to correlate work being done in different centres. As explained recently to local body representatives in Wellington, the work in different centres would be carried out by an appropriate section of the emergency precautions organization, which was already established in most of the areas concerned, that is, in the principal coastal towns of the Dominion. The Prime Minister said that to test and try out the efficiency of the present organization a trial reduction had been arranged at short notice for last Saturday night in the following localities : Gisborne, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch (including Lyttelton and adjacent seaside boroughs), New Plymouth, Timaru. Oamaru, Dunedin, Greymouth, Hokitika and Westport. In this trial, which was continued for some hours iu the different localities, observations were made to tost the efficiency and to observe any defect in Hie scheme. In Auckland, where practicaly the whole city was visible from the sea, the problem was larger thau in the other centres but preparations for a trial were well in hand, and it was hoped to carry this out at an early date, probably next weekend. Results Of Test. From the reports that he had received of the test, said the Prime Minister, it was clear that a very line organization existed in the electric supply and other local authorities, and that all .public lighting could be treated rapidly and effectively. It showed, however, that apart from, .public lighting, there was a considerable amount of .private lighting from house windows and a good deal of other special lighting that would have to be controlled before the scheme could be considered completely effective. .Mr. Fraser said that, there was no occasion for alarm —the action taken was purely exploratory and precautionary. He wished, the people to realize, however, that we were in a state of war, and that as long as there were enemy raiders at large there was always a chance that they might make a sudden raid on the New Zealand coast. He felt therefore, that we should do everything possible to make it difficult for any such craft to identify poinls on our coastline. Mr. Fraser said that regulations dealing with the matter would be put 'r.t.o operation at an early date and if the requirements of these regulations necessitated some curtailment of the advantages of adequate lighting which the public had come to expect and to enjoy, lie felt sure that they would fully recognize tlie wisdom and necessity of tlie precautions taken and would cooperate with the authorities to the fullest degree.