PETROL CONTROL

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 September 1939, Page 5

PETROL CONTROL

LICENSES REQUIRED TO-DAY. Although it will be several days before the full effect of the'petrol restrictions is reflected in a reduction in motor traffic on the road, fewer cars were parked in the streets of Greymouth to-day. The issue of limited' quantities of petrol to private car owners ceased at midnight last night, arid henceforth, under'the 'Oil Control Regulations, no person can obtain any petrol or power kerosene unless he is’the holder of a license. Private car owners, therefore,’ have' no alternative but to garage their cars, once they have emptied their tanks. Officers of the Transport Department have authority to stop any vehicle on the road, to investigate whether it is being used for Jhe purpose authorised, and checks will .also be made of vendors’ records. The Chief Postmaster at Greymouth

(Mr. C. W. Browne) stated, to-day, it had been found that the public generally and the applicants for licenses were meeting the position in the right spirit, and there had been very few cases were applicants for licenses had endeavoured to over-state their requirements. He wished to make { t clear that the licenses stipulated the amount of petrol allowed the holder each month, and if the consumption in any one month was less than the stipulated amount, he was not allowed to carry over the additional into the next month, or draw the balance over the last few days of the month. The Oil Control office at Greymouth was fairly well up with the applications', and he did not think that anyone had been unduly inconvenienced. In an admirable spirit of co-operation, to assist in the speeding up of the licensing, several members of the Red Cross Society, both women and men, had offered their services voluntarily and several offers had been gratefully accepted. These workers were assisting the public, by ensuring that applications were dealt with as expeditiously as possible.