POWER FROM HUNTLY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20602, 28 June 1930, Page 15

POWER FROM HUNTLY.

SUGGESTED STEAM PLANT.

ARGUMENTS OF RESIDENTS.

The movement for the generation of electrical power at or near Huntly is the subject of a letter that lias been addressed to the Minister of Public Works, by the Huntly Town Board. The letter is the outcome of the public meeting held last Wednesday for tho proposed discussing of the question. It is contended that the proposal to add to the Auckland power station is not economical as the coal required to drive the plant must come from Huntly. Running to capacity the Auckland _ station paid over £65,000 a year in freights alone, to which must be added handling and other charges. The Auckland station was built on land of a tremendous value. A site in the Huntly district would not cost nearly so much an acre as it would a foot in Auckland. Land could be bought for from £lO to £2O an acre and it was almost assured that a site would be provided. Suitable land with good foundations and abundant water was easily obtainable. At present the coal had to travel 70 miles north and the electrical energy had to return over the same route.

There need be 110 fear of a shortage of the supply of coal, says the letter, the companies being prepared to guarantee a full and regular supply, and in any one of several gullies the expenditure of a few pounds in construction of a small dam would provide storage for sufficient coal under water to ensure full running in the event of a protracted strike, or should anything else happen to render the mines idle for a period. The Government owned the rich coal-bearing area known as the Mac Donald mine, which could be utilised.

A steam-driven plant was now available in Britain at a cost of £140,000, it is stated. This could bo shipped at once if required, and could be in operation soon after the end of this year. Good foundations in the Huntly district could be found quite near the surface, and if it was decided to purchase the plant now under offer, the foundations could be completed by the time the machinery arrived. It is contended that Huntly is the natural source of supply for electrical energy, and that such can be supplied from there with less loss than from Arapuni or Auckland. It is asked that before any. decision is cnmo to regarding additional plant, the closest investigation of the position at or near Huntly bo made.