SUPPLY OF POWER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23384, 28 June 1939, Page 17

SUPPLY OF POWER

NEW TEKAPO STATION TUNNEL A MILE LONG DAMMING OF LAKE TO FOLLOW START WITHIN 12 MONTHS [BY TKU'.GKAPH —OWN COKIIRSPONDKNT] CHRISTCHURCH, Tuesday A hydro-electric power plant, it has been decided by the Public Works Department, will be built on the Waitaki I'iver, a mile from the existing Tekapo township. The lake will also be dammed for water conservation purposes for the Kurow station. The expectation is that the driving of the tunnel from the lake to the gorge and the building of the powerhouse will begin within 12 months. Detailed surveys,' shaft sinking, and exploratory drives at tin* outlet ot Lake Tekapo are being expedited, said the Minister' of Public Works, the Hon. 1!. Semple, in an interview, so that the building of the. new power .station could be pushed ahead. Details of the generating capacity of the station have not been completed. Water from the lake for the turbines will be carried through a tunnel a mile long. Water Conservation The driving of the tunnel will be done belore the dam is built at the present outlet of the lake, the waters of which will be conserved in summer and released for winter use >.by the Kurow station. A -request that when the huge dam and tunnelling schemes were begun the accommodation of the 200 employees should be arranged on town-planning lines, that the houses should be of a type which would permit their use later in a planned scheme for the Tekapo village, and that a recreation hall should be provided, was made on Saturday to the Minister at Rangitata by the Tekapo Planning Commission. An extra-urban planning scheme for 'lekapo had been approved, said Dr. L. S. I'albot. From the residential viewpoint, the development of the village had been checked for some years by the discontinuance of the sale of sections until the Public Works Department had reached finality with its schemes. I lie commission would appreciate a definite statement as to the time the works would take to complete. Homes for the Workers The suggested site of the new powerhouse was explained to the deputation by the Minister, who was informed that- the area was the coldest in the district and unsuitable as a site for the homes of the tunnel and station workers.

"We will co-operate with you 100 per cent, because we want to help to develop the district," replied Mr. Semple. He gave the deputation an assurance that tlio workers' homes would be of suitable design and construction. They would also be built in a manner that would make easv their shifting to the village proper later.