POWER BOARD LOAN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17522, 21 March 1931, Page 6

POWER BOARD LOAN

£78,000 PROPOSAL THE SCHEME EXPOUNDED “EXTENSION FOR ECONOMY” “Extensions fur economy” was the keynote of the address made by the chairman of the Poverty Pay Power Board. Air. F. R. Ball, at a wellattended meeting of Matawai ratepayers last evening, when lie expounded the proposals of the board involving the loan scheme of £7B,CCO for the development of the board’s reticulation system. Air. Ball received an attentive hearing, and the questions put to him at the close of his address indicated that the settlers of the hill-country district were taking a keen and intelligent interest in the loan project. The chairman of the board was accompanied on the visit to Matawai by Messrs. L. H. Ala clean and C. G. Holdsworth, Waikoliu County representatives on the power board, who strongly supported the loan proposals and urged the ratepayers to give, their sanction to the developments contemplated by the board. Officers of the board wore, also present to provide detailed information on any points raised. The meeting was the first in a, series arranged by the hoard with a view tb clearing up any misapprehensions that might have been created as to the purport of the loan proposals, and Air. Ball and his colleagues must have been well satisfied with the reception given them. MATAWAI POWER DEMAND It had been his impression, stated Air. Ball, that a long time would elapse before the hoard could see its way to extend the power reticulation system to the Matawai district, but this impression had been amended since he bad received information as to the number of cows milked by dairymen there, and the degree to which closer settlement had advanced in the Alatawai area. There should, he now considered, be a. strong probability of an early extension of the lines in that direction, for there was ample current available, and the farmers bad only to provide the guarantees required by the regulations governing the operation of power boards. So far as the loan proposals were concerned, he assured his hearers that if the additional capital was sanctioned by the property-owners of the" district, there would be no necessity for a, power board rate. They hoped, of course, to avoid the necessity for striking a rate at aiiy time, and be thought it highly improbable that the property of the settlers would be levied on by the power board. Taking an extreme case, however, lie pointed out that the necessity might arise if the board could not procure the capital it required by loan, and that the best assurance against a rate would be the adoption of the loan proposals. If the board obtained the additional capital to extend its reticulation system. Ihe extra earnings would provide the interest and sinking fund payments on the new loan, and also give the board a margin over and above its present' resources, and with the removal of certain charges which now rested upon the revenue of the board, and which rightly belonged to loan expenditure, there would be a prospect of reduced charges, as well as the assurance that no rate would be struck by the board. LOWER MATERIAL COSTS On the question as to whether the present was a good time to borrow and initiate a campaign of new work, Air. Ball, as chairman, pointed out that there were differences of opinion, but the board felt itself fully justified in putting forward its proposals at this time. The money would be obtained at a good rate of interest, and the low cost of materials would enable the programme to be carried out at a minimum cost. The price of copper, be instanced, as being lower now than for many years, and this consideration, with others, made the present a good time to purchase materials. The board had no intention, of course, of borrowing the full amount at once. For the next year or two the extentions would cost about £7OOO per year, according to the board’s estimates; these estimates being based on past experience. If an extension to Matawai was taken in hand, it would, of course, increase the amount required for the work substantially. The board had in band a sum of £6OOO, which could be used for immediate requirements if the ratepayers sanctioned the loan, the provision- being made for its repayment at a later date when loan moneys came to band. The first instalment' of the £70,000 loan would be about £15,000. sufficient to cover the requirements of the next two years. If the loan was carried, and the planned extensions in the reticulation made, the board calculated that in five years time a- profit of about £16,000 would be made, from which interest and sinking fund could be allocated, both for the present proposed loan and for other loans raised by the board. In addition, the depreciation fund, to which annual allocations would be made, would increase to £IO,OOO in the course of 10 years. CREATION OF ,RESERVES The chairman of the board dealt with* ihe necessity for the creation of suitable reserves, to protect the public from the possibility of a, rate in the future. Under the regulations, the board was obliged to provide an extension to any part of its district where the settlers were willing to furnish the necessary guarantees, and this obligation alone called for the creation of proper reserves. The loan scheme would provide for all extensions in view, and if the proposals were carried by the ratepayers, the board was quite certain it could carry on without ever striking a rate—the only circumstances not covered by this assurance being a revision of the charges made by the Government for bulk power, or the occurrence of a national disaster such as had been experienced in Hawke’s Bay. Discussing the desirability of the electrical reticulation of the district, Air. Ball was able to state that the farmers elsewhere in Poverty Bay had warmly welcomed the power lines, and many of them were making full use of current for all domestic and fanning purposes, lie dealt with a number of aspects of I lie schenle, and with the board’s obligations in the matter of purchasing! power from the Government. Ho pointed out in conclusion that the poll could only be carried on a throe-fifths majority, and urged that, every ratepayer should exercise bis or her vote. The remarks of Air. Ball wore strongly supported by Messrs. Maclean and Holdswortb, the former making the point that the defeat of the proposals would delay considerably the extension of the system to the Matawai area. A ’vote of thanks to the speakers was carried, on the motion of the local chairman, Air, R. Fleming,, who ex pressed the convict ion that the loan proposals would have wide support among the Matawai settlers.