POWER FOR THE NORTH.

Northern Advocate, 4 September 1934, Page 7

POWER FOR THE NORTH.

(To the Editor). Sir, —I. hog - to ask to he allowed to express an opinion, however erode, on the latest development with regard to Northland’s power proposals. To the discerning mind, the underlying motive is not hard to discover: that the North Auckland Power Board has failed to function, in that it could offer no policy of any value that would fill the hill. Had it approached this vital subject with an open mind, this later development, showing too plainly the thin end of the wedge, would not have obtained. No catch, indeed! Much more than that: a- clumsy attempt by the Department, through the medium of the Waitemata Power Board, to rob the. Northern area of its birthright. Your position as 'a power-producing centre is unassailable, and the Waitemata Power Board has everything to gain in the event of power being made available from this centre. Never mind about the ‘‘diversity factor bogey. ” That can be left to take ('are of itself, You must not concede a single point on the whole issue, and generalities such as tactical and strategic positions will not enter into the final discussion; only the clear, hard, cold facts of technical importance bearing on this subject will find a place.

The Waitemata Power Board should know that a groat deal of its supply is of a luxury nature, and the industrial eonditions that apply to the two areas are totally dissimilar. One cannot close one’s eyes to facts. Look waht is happening in the Thames Valley area. This, undoubtedly, is only a beginning, and is most significant. And what, happened to Now Plymouth recently? These are true Indications, and cannot be disregarded. Given a reasonable load factor, and you will eventually have this, you have a margin in your favour of 60 per cent, over the Department’s best figures. Further, you are feeding into your network at a point of maximum efficiency. | Too little thought has been given in the past to that most essential of all factors, “ co-operation.' ’ The failure to recognise how indissolubly the choice of power supply and industrial progress are linked together and its bearing on national economy, has penalised the industries of this country in a most marked degree. No, if the North were offered a bulk supply from the Government mains free of cost, you could not afford to accept it. This statement may appear as one made at random, but it will stand all the criticism that may be brought to bear on it when full ronsideration has been given to the conditions that arc peculiar to the North in relation to economic development. — I am, etc., K.V.A.