THE LYTTELTON GASWORKS

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIX, Issue 13108, 23 April 1903, Page 6

THE LYTTELTON GASWORKS

It is already evident, states the Lyrtelton correspondent of this paper, that the Lyttelton Borough Council has done a wist/ thin" bv acquiring the local gasworks;. At the'meeting of the Borough Council last night, the Town Clerk (Mr G. A. Lewin) reported on the subject as follows:—"The gas supply account, takes on a receipts and expenditure statement, shows a deficiency, but against this there are the March accounts, which are outstanding at the close of the year. I have prepared an interim profit and loss statement, which shows that even' 1 on a basis 0 F the four months that the works have been controlled by the Council—four of the worai months 'in the year from a gas consumption point of view—the works have paid their way, including interest and renewals, and left a profit of some £SO. The outrmt of gas for the four months,. December to March, shows an increase of 21.81 per cent on the figures for the corresponding period of last year, and that increase has oecn more than maintained during the present month. This means an increased revenue from the. sale of gas for the twelve months of £4OO, and it is safe now to estimate a surplus for the first year of municipal ownership of the works "of £6OO or £650. Such a result will, I hope, be regarded as satisfactory, and plainly indicates that when the works have been got into a complete state of efficiency the Venture of taking over the works will result in considerable benefit to the town. While on the subject of the gasworks, it may be of'interest to remark that the-total cost to the Council of acquiring the works, outside the actual purchase money, amounted to- £B3 5s 2d. This includes the cost of promoting and passing the Act which gave us power to acquire, valuation fee (£6O) and cost of transfer to the Corporation. By the issue of the proclamation under the Public Works Act no stamp duty was paid. The transfer of the works to the Council is the first record of compulsory acquisition by a Corporation in New Zealand, and the cost of so acquiring the works compares more than favourably with such undertakings in England, where, in one case, and that a typical one, the cost of transfer amounted to £6/300 over and above. the purchase money, made up of exnert's fees A law costs and stamp duty."-