WATER POWER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2978, 12 April 1911, Page 22

WATER POWER.

PAHIATUA, April 9.

A deputation waited on the Hon. R. M'Kenzie, Minister of Public Works, on Saturday night to urge the early development of the Makuri water-power scheme which, it was contended, would be inexpensive, and would command a large market. Mr W. Wakeman, president of the Pahiatua Chamber of Commerce, stated that the late Mr Seddon had promised that this would be one of the first schemes developed by the Government, and the people of the district would certainly have undertaken the work themselves before this had the Government not taken control of the water-power. Mr M'Kenzie, in reply, said it was admitted the scheme would develop sufficient power to radiate all round the district. The proper position to take up was to develop the scheme so as to supply the requirements not only of Pahaiatua, Masterton, and Eketahuna, but also oi Woodville, and as far in the Hawke's Bay direction as Dannevirke, also Palmerston North. He was satisfied that sufficient power could be developed at Makuri to meet the demand for many years to come, and in (say) 20 or 30 years, when the requirements of the population had doubled or trebled, there could be a supplementary scheme. In undertaking the development of water-power, the Government had set. its hand to a task which it intended to see through, but of course a lairge amount of money would be involved, and the Government was limited at present to £500,000, of which the development of Lake Coleridge would probably absorb half. The proper course for the Chamber of Commerce, the Borough Council, and the County Council to follow was to confer with the local bodies concerned and to get an idea of the quantity of power they would be prepared to take at a guaranteed price. A further report could be obtained when the engineers recently appointed viewed the falls. He was satisfied from what he knew of the Makuri scheme that there was good power there, and that there would be a reasonable demand by the population for power. The Makuri would not be a costly scheme, and the transmission line would not be very long, consequently the wastage would not be large.