“MADE FOOLS OF OURSELVES!”

Grey River Argus, 22 September 1932, Page 11

“MADE FOOLS OF OURSELVES!”

An Early Board Meeting ‘We have let the community down, and made a pack of fools of ourselves” was an utterance made by Mr D. Tenncnt at a meeting of th e Grey Power Board held on the evening of March 20. 1924. The meeting was held to fix the site of the steam plant, which the Board, at its previous meeting, decided upon a s the source of electric light for the Grey District, in place of the Arnold River hydro electric scheme, the latter having been adversely reported upo n by the Engineer (Mr J. S, Langford) who, before the poll was taken, had submitted a favourable report on the scheme. Th e discussion arose out of a suggestion by Mr A. Robinson that the Board should secure the services of another engineer to report upon the possibility of a hydro scheme. Mr Robin so n said that Mr Langford was to have reported on the iTcn Mile. Arnold River and Crooked River Schemes. The* Chairman (Mr Doogan): “No. Upon the Arnold River, the Crooked R ver and steam schemes.” “WNI, the Crooked River was one of them, anyway,-’’ said j[r Robinson, was reported upon as not suitable, but as far as I know, Mr Langford never went near the place. Were you there, Mr Langford “No.” replied Mr Langford. AL" Robinson said that, in his opinion, (he, (’rooked River scheme was the only scheme on (he Coast, and until it was reported upon, he would not be satisfied. The ratepayers in the district had voted soLdly in favour of the loan, and it wa s due to them that the schenip should have a fair chance. In

his opinion, the natural breastwork m ide the Crooked River very suitable as a power source. The Chairma n said he had met seveal people whose schemes wore the “only ones on the West Coast.” In the way th e Board proposed to go new, it would be possible to supply the existing demand, and. meanwhile have hydro schemes reported upon by the Engineer that the Board would ap point. Mr D. Tennent said that, none of the Board members wore exports. They depended on th e Engineer for information, and it was unfortunate that what they learned in the last report was not discovered in the first. Th? many features that were mentioned’ in favour of ihe scheme at first wcr e now condemned. The narrow channel was at first mentioned as a good feature of the scheme. In th® second report, it was said to be a clanger. In the first report it was said that the river would not be flooded abov e Stoney Creek. Now it was said the floods would take place at the 18| mile peg. “When we engaged the National Electrical and Engineering Company,” said Mr Ten. nent, “thuy were entrusted to give us full information and these matters should have arisen before. After booming and boosting |hc Arnold Rivc-r scheme as the one and only one, we have let the community down and made a pack of fools of ourselves. I was sorry to see- the last report of the Engineer published. A« you know yourself Mr Chairman, I was responsible in delaying its publicat on, because I considered the report was no cr< dit to Mr Langford or ourselves. I was very much disappointed to find that the information was not at all what wo expected and hoped for. After spending much money, we arc in

the identical position that faced Ug in th'* beginning. ’ ’ Mr Langford said the abandonment of the scheme was due the subsequent, further and complete investigation of the watershed conditions. Much difficulty had b<e a experienced in obtaining a history of the Arnold River, but they learned that not more than four or five feet of flood water I would be expected. Messrs Birks and ! Kissell had visited the site and agreed i that if. afforded a good catchment ■ area. There was a big chance* at flood time of water coming from Lake Brunner into the Teramakau R ver and breaking through to the Orangipuku ; stream. They were faced with that in considering the Arnold River scheme. The river at full width could carry the water away, but could not with the present width, discharge' it without increasing the head and backing up the water to such an extent that it would cause a lot of trouble and risk. Lack of knowledge of possible flood waters led to the abandonment of the scheme. Mr Tennent said the local bodies had been acquainted with tha position of the Orangipuku River for years. The ■ possibility of a flood wag very remote. I “There will never be any big 1 floods,” said Mr Robinson. [ The, Chairman said the Board could 1 go on with the steam scheme and take time to get a report on any other sell-

emo that suggested itself as suitable. They could get a report on any, or all of the schemes from their own Engineer when he w a sappointed. Later o u in the meeting Mr Robinson declared the ratepayers were against the steam scheme. “Well, I tell you that the ratepayers are with us in the selection of a steam scheme, ” said the Chairman. “They are with us because it is not expensive and because if can be added to as the demand arises.” “1 am going to move, anyway, that we get another engineer to report on our schemes. We won’t have much extra cost, and as we have gone so far, we might as well hang for a sheep as a lamb,” said Mr Robinson. Mr Robinson’s motion lapsed for the want of a seconder.