LIGHTING AND ELECTRICITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1934, Page 4

LIGHTING AND ELECTRICITY.

It is pleasing to see a revival in interest in the New Plymouth Retailers’ Association, and in particular the movement by the retailers to secure better lighting for Devon Street. Special lighting for Christmas, with emphasis on the lighting of the footpaths, was the particular matter discussed by the retailers, but the matter should not be allowed to rest there. In recent times the lighting of the business area of New Plymouth has not been a credit to the town, owing partly to the fact that through the pressure of the economic position a number of shopkeepers have felt obliged to discontinue participation in the community lighting scheme. The matter has been brought up from time to time, and recently the borough electrical engineer investigated the position with a view to recommending improvements. Though street lighting is to a certain extent a community responsibility the retailers in a street like Devon Street are the ones who principally benefit from special lighting, and it is in their own interests not to lag behind the times in this matter. Incidental to the problem, of course, is the price charged by the authority for electricity. Quite apart from street lighting the cost of electric power is an economic factor of tremendous importance, and the time has arrived when the New Plymouth Borough Council should go carefully into this matter. By greatly cheapening the cost It may be possible to promote a large number of new enterprises, particularly secondary industries. This is a wide question, and ia rather beyond the compass of the particular matter under review.