PROGRESS OF PORT

Taranaki Daily News, 16 March 1928, Page 15

PROGRESS OF PORT

BOARD’S FUTURE POLICY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME CHAIRMAN SUBMITS VIEWS DISCUSSION OF FINANCE The policy to ho carried out by the Jfew Plymouth Harbour Board for the development of the port is to be fully considered at a special meeting of she board on April 2, when matters generally will be fully considered. This wae the decision reached by members of the board after briefly discussing a report brought down yesterday by the chairman of the board, Mr. C. E. Bellringer, MJ 5 . At the outset the chairman made it clear that the report was his own opinion in the matter, and did not in any way pledge the board. He was submitting it so that the policy of the board Yaaigtit be fully discussed and members Would have an opportunity to bring forward suggestions. Mr. E. Maxwell pointed out that taembers of the board had had no opportunity of perusing the report, which had just been brought down, and as [their opinions might differ on important points, he suggested that it might first be read in committee. The opinions of other members could then be incorporated and published simultaneously. It Was particularly advisable to have it read in committee if the policy as outlined by the chairman were not adopted by the board. The chairman objected to it being dealt with in committee. It was a platter-of public interest and he would pot read it in committee. He had been Very careful in the preparation of the Statement. In it there wag nothing that ■Would prejudice the board in public opinion. Mr. Cruickahank said he was inclined Jo agree with Mr. Maxwell, Th© etateynent was certainly overdue, as they had been promised it two months ago, but he recognised that from circuin•tances beyond the chairman's control Jt had been impossible to complete it. He, however, would like two or three days in which to peruse the report carefully bo he could express a considered Opinion. He felt now as though the report had been sprung on them before they had time to absorb the contents. The chairman said there was bo necessity to come to a decision at once. Mr. C. H. Burgess considered the report should first hare come before the finance committee. The Chairman said he had not presumed to interfere with this committee

Mr, Burgess said the committee had no knowledge of what was in the report. He had no objection to it being /ead, but he thought the committee should have met before the report cam® jx fore the open board. The ftairnian said he had adopted the same course as previous chairmen when new work was being discussed. Mr. D. J. Malone said he, as a member of the committee, was most anxious to have the full report on the finances. The ehairman had promised them it would be submitted and distributed among members in order to give them time to peruse it. Mr. Cruickshank said the report had teen handed tt> the Press before the piembers had read it. Mr J. H. Holm pointed out that the jeport was the chairman’s own, and not the board’s until it had been adopted. THE CHAIRMAN’S SUGGESTIONS

The report is:— la view of our having to give careful eonsideration to the determining of the immediate works policy of the board, J have endeavoured to prepare for your information detailed statements of the finances of the board relating to its general revenue and loans. I have Bought to make the position as clear as I possibly could as the issues involved in our deciding on a definite progressive programme suited to the needs of the province, and within the compass of its financial capability, are vitally, connected with the endowment and prosperity of Taranaki. In my judgment the eruicial issue that He must decide is, shall we at once proceed with the construction of the new Moturoa ferro-concrete wharf with the essential shed and mechanical equipment? That I consider to be the prime issue, and the decision we arrive at must inevitably influence our whole policy. first of all I would refer to the present berthage accommodation at the port. Tho Moturoa wharf now provides one berth for overseas ships, with ft depth of 33 feet at low water (spring tides) on the south eastern side and a berth for smaller overseas ships on the north-western side, available in emergency. The Newton King wharf has 1200 feet of berthing on the northwestern side dredged 33 feet low water spring tides and some 300 ft giving 25 feet low water spring tides. This latter is now being widened from 100 to 210 feet. We therefore, can provide now berthage for two of the largest Home liners and two that I might term secondary ships, with an emergency berth for Pacific Coast and inter-colonial boats. In lire event of the board deciding to continue the. Newton King wharf shorewards some 22a feet, we tnen would have berths for three of the largest ships trading to New Zealand, one secondary berth and the emergency berth. How long will this suffice to meet the requirements of our growing trade? On the answer we find our policy must largely depend. The coastal shipping (oust also be taken into account. STATE OF LOAN ACCOUNT. For a moment I will glance at the state of our loan account. The attach' ed sheet No. 1 shows that we have raised £156,000 of the £OOO,OOO authorised by the Act of 1924. There are Xiao bank advances bringing the amount up to about £lBO,OOO, leaving some £420,000 yet to be floated. The authorisations to date are: Breakwater extension to be completed to 800 feet, '£23,000; dredging for three years, £30,000; electric erane, £60'10; total, £59.000. We now have under construction the new tug dredger ’“Ngamotu,” £32 000. Inshore extension of the Newton King wharf, etc., £23,000; total, f £55,000. Adding these items together WO get £114,000. Including tho sum already expended we should have spent £224,000 or practically one-half of the £6OO 000

It is estimated that the cost of building the new Moturoa wharf will be. about £3OO; GGO, absorbing Urn whole of bhe 'balance of the £000,900 loan moneys. The transit ehed on the wharf wit): equipment will take in the vicinity of XiOOXWO, making the fully completed work to involve the spending of £400,000.

We have spent already upon works not anticipated when the lean was authorised some £54,900, made up as follows: Extension of Newton King wharf, 400 feet, £40,090; dredging connected therewith, about £6000; wind screens, etc., £2980; electric crane, £9900. The increasing business of the port compelled the doing of these works. We ar® now contemplating the further new expenditure of about £55,000 —-tug dredger "Ngamotu,” £32,000; inshore extension of the Newton King wharf, £23,900. Should this be proceeded with, we shall use not less than £119,000 on works not provided for in the original proposals. That being the ease it is certain that we will have to obtain the consent of Parliament and the ratepayers to borrow an additional ®»m of £150,000 to complete fib® echeaie of harbour development. PROSPECT OF MORE TRADE. At the completion our full loan indebtedness would b® £1,3'50,000, with an annual charge of £72,000 for interest and siaking fund®, an increase of £27,000. To meet this the general income of out port would have to increase at the rate of £4590 per annum for the ensuing five years. A reference to sheet 5 will show that far the last five years our average increase has been a little over £2OOO each year. With the completion of the StratfordMain Trunk railway and the shipping ei tlie whole of -our exports through the ocean port of the province, there should be no great difficulty in doubling the annual profit. The difficult years will be the years of construction when we are spending at the rate of £100,090 a year, increasing our annual payments by £6OOO and receiving little or no return from it. I am strongly adverse to striking a rate over th® harbour district, for reasons I have repeatedly given and would urge with all possible emphasis, that we so frame our policy that any necessity for this be most certainly avoided. I purpose dealing mere fully with this phase'in introducing this report. I unhesitatingly stand by the completion of the breakwater to the original 800 feet.' The need for protection giving net only safety, but a reasonable margin of safety, is paramount. We have again and again assured the shipping companies we would cany on this job until our objective is reached, and in my judgment prudence as well as honouring our promises demand its continuance to the finish. The work is costly; th® remaining 143 feet will cost over £20,000, every foot means spending £l2O or more. To go beyond the 800 feet would, I hold, be too costly, as we are even now at th® end of the mole in 30 feet of water at low water spring tides and th® increasing depth renders a further extension out of the question. The solution will, I believe, be found in the suggestions made some years ago regarding Mikotalii as a base with tho recovering of what was termed by the late Mr. F. A. Carrington as the "lost 14 acres.” INSHORE WHARF EXTENSION. The question of the inshore extension of the Newton King wharf calls for pur earnest and thoughtful consideration. The advantage of a further 225 feet of well sheltered berthage Ws impressed itself on the board for some years past. How to secure it at a fair cost has been the problem. Our engineer, Mr. Lowson, has evolved a proposal with which you are well cognisant and is worthy of oar best consideration. It is desirable that we have as much sheltered area within the harbour as possible, further, we must consider the position during the erection of' the new wharf .when for about twelve months the overseas berth- cn the -present wharf will be rendered useless, material help to meet this difficulty, can (to afforded, here. The drawbacks are that it will be rafter costly, the 525 feet new berthage will cost roughly £l9O per foot for one face ionly. The extra dr-edging will occupy the dredger for six months and hold back tire commencement of operations on the Moturoa wharf for a like time. The dredging will cost at least £10,900, but at the same time it will be a fine piece of work in relation to the new wharf, and the waterfront will be n-reatly improved also. I am of opinion that we should at once proceed wift this work, endeavouring to work in such a manner as will best work in with whatever we may decide in doing regarding lJic new wharf. Summarising the whole matter I have reached th® following eonclusioM:— _ (a) That wo should take steps to call for ■tenders for tho new Moturoa wharf,, only leaving the transit shed and its equipment for a separate contract. (b) That wo should proceed 'with the inshore extension of the Newton King wharf. J . (c) That the completion of the breakwater to 800 feet be steadily continued. (d) That the Farituiu’s work._ in dredging be planned so as to co-ordin-ate as far as possible with the necessities of the several works. Coming finally to the matter of the board’s finances as affecting the immediate present, the annual ineremc- 1 of income has been about £2500 while the expenditure, including the amounts transferred from time to time. fo._meet interest and sinking toad payments has absorbed tho whole of Lals and more. Th® excess of expenditure has been about £lOOO for each of the five years. I estimate th© increased income for the year ending September 30, 1928, fit £1500; to this must be added the additional sum of £lO,OBO from the new harbour improvement vote. I estimate th® . iacoms for the year at . £57,000, an' 1 the outgoings at £55,090, including £37,000 transfer to interest account, leaving cue general working expenses of the port at £lB,OOO. With reasonable prudence and care this should suffice. 1 suggest that the board Bet up a special committee to make a close investigation of our annual expenditure with a view to seeing what, if any economies, can be effected. , . The chairman pointed out that the. financial position would be improved considerably by the fact that there would be no maintenance on the Moturoa wharf. During ths past five years this had cost £15,272 and in 1922 it had cost £BO9O. He stressed the point that the difficult years would ue the years of eonstruction, when- they were spending £190,000 per annum and receiving no revenue for the wharf. Allowing for ths time for preparing specifications, etc., calling and accepting tenders and for the contractor to start work, it would probably be some time in September or October, 1929, before they would be eniled upon to make- -any paymJmi. The

first year’s interest came out -of loan money, so that st meant that it would be 1930 or 1931 before the Boarii would be called upon to pay interest, and if his calculations were correct they would have the increased revenue of 1928, 1929 and 1939 to meet the first year’s interest, payable out of revenue, so that it would to in 1932 and 1933 that the position would to more difficult unless there was increased trade. If they went beyond the finance that was provided they would be under the necessity of levying a rate, which would meet with opposition and would not be advisable. SHED ACCOMMODATION. To put the position clearly the chairman said they must decide what to do in regard to the shed, Personally, he did not think they would have any difficulty in securing legislative authority to raise a loan for shed accommodation. There were other items such as the dredge (£32,000) and they must give careful consideration to all expenditure. He believed they could look forward to a steady though not a phenomenal increase in trade at the port. There was less revenue from imports due to the lesser quantity of Australian coal now used, and to the fact that the benzina was now eomhig mostly in bulk. There wae also a falling off in tho passengertax due to the opening up of the Main North Road, but the exports were showing an increase that would balance the loss. Ho considered that there was every prospect of considerably increased trade when the Stratford-Main Trunk line was put through. Mr. Bellringer stressed the point that if they went on with the scheme 19321933 would be the most difficult years. He had expressed only his personal views and did not commit any member of tho board.

Mr. W, C. dements considered that a special meeting of the board should be called to discuss th® matter after members had had an opportunity of studying the figures submitted. Mr. J. R. Cruickshank remarked that dredging to th® extent of £lO,OOO would to involved by the inshore extension of the Newton King wharf, making the cost of that work £33,000 instead of £23,000. Th® chairman explained that it would not entail an extra £19,000 expenditure during the period, as it would merely mean transferring the operations ot t’.ia dredge to another place for six months and thus extending tto three year®’ programme by that time. One pleasant feature, trie chairman continued, was the increasing direct trade. In 1923 the shipping companies brought 30,000 tone direct, or about 25 per cent, of the total imports. This had increased in I >27 to 59,393 tons out of a total of 143,199 tons. Th® saving in this direct importation to the province amounted to at least_£7o,ooo. Exports similarly showed a bls increase. Wells said that as a natural eorrollary the mor® the imports of fertilisers increase so would the exports of produce increase. COST GF RAISING LOAN. Replying to Mr. Holm, the chairman said that it depended on the state of the market at th® time, but it would probably cost £12,000 to raise the £BOO,000. Replying to Mr. D. J. Malone, the chairman said he thought they could easily build the wharf themselves well within the engineer’® estimate, Mr, Clemente considered that all the work could, be carried out with the loan money available, but tho chairman thought an extra £150,000 would bo required. Points to consider, .to added, were whether they should go ahead with the work and call tenders, relying on raising the additional money required, ar postpone some of the work and. then raise .£150,000 to erect the shed® when the wharf was completed. Mr. Cruicksbank was . opposed to embarking on any. big. work without first arranging all their finance. Mr. J. H. Holm said that if - they adopted the scheme outlined by Mr. Lawson lhere would be no immediate hurry to carry out Use inshore extension of the Newton King wharf, Mr. Malone said that the beard had £300,900 available, and it seemed to him that it was wiser to evolve a scheme to expend' that amount in the new wharf, which they could complete when trade warranted. He had some fear of expending £400,000, because he did nov think they would have a very big increase in revenue during the next ten years, and it would therefore bo wiseto conserve their.revenue. This was'a time when they had to move with caution and, while prepared to make reason able provision for increase, in -trade generally,' he was of opinion that a scheme as auggCßted would be well within the scope of ths board. e Th® chairman: That would tot provide shed accommodation.

Mr. Malone eaid he thought it would, because, if the wharf were curtailed it would be possible to curtail' the shed accommodation. Mr. Maxwell did not think the board wae competent to deal with the report till each member had gone into it fully -and realised what it involved. Members would advance superficial proposals that would seem to overcome the peculiar situation in which the board was placed, but after careful considera--tion they might reverse these decisions. The main question that underlay the whole position was whether the board was going to carry out its pledge to the business people of New ’ Plymouth, the Railway Department ami the ratepayer® to provide a shed at the wharf so that cargo could be sorted there and taken delivery of. Had tho Railway Department not been given to understand that the board was providing eueh accommodation it would itself have been forced to provide it, either by extending the Shed at the station or by a new layout elsewhere. The board must in justice to all carry out its pledge. The question to decide was whether to build the wharf and later raise funds to buirf the shed or at. once go to the ratepayens for authority to raise the extra loan and build the wharf and shed. If they built a shed three-quarter® the sire of the original proposal they could not give the service necessary for sorting, etc. He was satisfied they must have the fullsized shed. They should go straight to the ratepayers for. the necessary authority and take the public into their confidence. They had nothing to fear for eriticisim of their past actions, as they had good warranty fof. the expenditure of the money. They ahould go candidly and boldly and’ ask for authority to borrow the whole £150,000 and go ahead. The only other alternative was to build the wharf completely and then obtain authority to build tho rhed, It would be nothing short of disastrous if "they

were to break their promise to provide accommodation so that ail cargo could to handled and public lorries take their cargo to and from the wharf. Mr. Clement concurred, and thought that with th® lower prices ruling for labour and material the work could oe carried out in the vicinity of £50,000' less than the estimated -cost. Despite this the chairman considered another £lOO,OOO would meed to be raised. Mr* Holm favoured building the fullsized wharf and shed, but asked how much the equipment would cost. The engineer: £60,000. The chairman said that it might to gradually equipped. Mr. Cruiekehank pointed out that there would to a difficulty to overcome in that one wharf would have a ®hed and the other would have none. It mig-ht be economic to cart from the wharf to the ehed. The chairman said there would be three overseas berths at the new wharf and the Newton King wharf could be used for cargo such as slag, etc., that -was unloaded into trucks. Mr. Hohn favoured erecting the wharf and shed and equipping it later. Mr. Maxwell said that if they did not proceed with the inshore berth at the Newton King wharf or the dredge tug, and equipped the shed later, they might just squeeze through on their present loan money. The chairman agreed that they need only put in one or two cranes in the shed for a start. Mr. Wells Baid that they must decide on a definite policy and carry it out. This was not an opportune time to approach the ratepayers for money, as they were opposed to paying rates, having enough to pay now. He moved that the matter of the board’s policy in regard to tho works to be carried out be gone into at a special meeting to to told on April 2. Thia was seconded by Mr. W. C. Clement and carried unanimously.