WATER SCHEME

Waikato Times, Volume 114, Issue 19117, 30 November 1933, Page 7

WATER SCHEME

SUPPLY FROM WAIKATO FINANCE INFORMATION. MR GOODFELLOW’S EVIDENCE. WELLINGTON. Wednesday. Information on the proposals o financing the Waikato water scheme was sought when Mr W. Goodfellow and Mr W. N. Gray, two of the promoters of the proposed* company, ff evidence to-day before the _ Committee to which the House of: - presentatives has referred the Waikato Water Supply Company, Limited, Empowering Bill. . . , The- committee consisted of Me _ •• • S. G. Smith (chairman), W. A. B°dkln, A. E. Ansell, R. Semple and PFCMrr* Goodfellow said he was not aware that the soheme would involvany wasteful duplication. lfc was the only water supply scheme the oom pany had considered. The olt y ha had reports concerning other source and ho was satisfied the Waikato was Gbodfellow said it was proposed to register the company immediately the bill was passed with a share capital of £50,000. He had no knowledge of the ' financing of the com pany. An English group of financiers was finding Mr Fraser: Is the company he g floated to unload from the English company? ■ . . R 0 Mr Goodfellow: That is not so. We are simply an administrativQ Company. I have made inquici and. I know the money is there a available If the legislation goe th Ssos;sing the cost of the scheme, Mr 'Goodfellow said the Hume Steel Company tendered £603,000 to conSt the pipe line, with J fli+mtinn beds and reservoirs. in addition, 5 per cent had for engineering and 5 000 contingencies. The sum of £25,000 W a« allowed for compensation, £lO 000 So,Mens 5y “ » local bodies concerned and to farms en route. Exohanga Arrangement*. The intention was that the share capital of £50,000 should also be obtained in Britain and that the whole of the work should be financed from Britain, said Mr Goodfellow. Mr J. Stanton, Auokland city sohcltor: Has any arrangement De® made for obtaining that money while the present exchange rate stands as at 1 M; D Goodfellow: Not so far. The English people could arrange for tne money to he available through Australia in the event of. any, trouble in L °m‘l o Stanton. ,ls\it possible for you to tell us who are your principals in London? ~ _ Mr Goodfellow; No; we cannot disclose them.- , Questioned further, Mr Goodfellow said he could not say at what price the water was to be supplied to the Westfield companies, and, in any case, he would not say. He understood the price was to be Is to local bodies Mr J- Goidstine, Mayor of One Jhee Hill: What are you and your fellow promoters going to receive, seeing it .is all going to be financed from overseas? . , i Mr Goodfellow: A very natural question. When the proposal was made to me I said I would expect £4OO or £SOO a year remuneration. I understand there is £ISOO set apart 'for the directors. Mr Goidstine: Are you prepared to enter into an undertaking that you won’t take any shares in that com,.sr Goodfellow: Well, I will have Ito take a few shares to qualify, i Mr Goidstine: Apart from that, you arc not proposing to interest yourself? , ~ , Mr Goodfellow: I have made that quite clear already. Proposed Prices. Answering Mr E. 11. Northcroft, who appeared In support of the bill, Mr Goodfellow said £50,000 was the original share capital and further developments had not been decided on. The £BOO,OOO mentioned would be spent over about three years. Mr W. N. Gray said a maximum price of Is had been fixed, dropping to lOd a 1000 gallons when 5,000,000 a day was reached, and sid when 15,000,000 gallons was reached. Mr Gray said that trading companies at Westfield had been led to believe that they might obtain water at about 6d a 1000 gallons, and it was on that expectation that the companies’ - letters, approving of the soheme, were basedMr Fraser asked the promoters seriously to consider taking Parliament Into their confidence as to their London principals.

LOCAL BODIES. SUPPORTERS OF PROPOSAL. EVIDENCE TO COMMITTEE. CITY CHARGES ASSAILED. WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The Select Committee on the Waikato Water Supply Company, Limited, Empowering Bill held a further sitting to-day. •Mr E. H. Northcroft, who appeared in support of the bill, said the City Gounoil had been a trading concern in water for many years by supplying to outside public bodies, and it was also supplying water entirely as an industrial matter to large industries in the Otahuhu district, particularly the two large freezing companies there. These two concerns had a very unsatisfactory supply and largely pumped their own. The Auckland City Council bought water from Onehunga to sell to the Wostfleld Freezing Company. Westfield and Southdown were compelled to pump water on their own properties, because of the price objection of the City Council and charged by the City Council. It was not unfair to say that the Onehunga was not that of local bodies concerned with the interests of ratepayers, but of traders with a monopoly under which they charged exiContinued In next column.) 1

tortionato prices, which, they feared, would be interfered withBill of Utmost Importance. Letters were read from several companies at Otahuhu which together employed an average of 1100 men and required 2,000,000 gallons of water daily. They were prepared favourably to consider the Waikato as a source of supply, and considered it of the utmost importance to their companies that the bill should be passed. Mr 11. M. Rogcrson who appeared for a number of local bodies supporting tno bill, said the combined population of these bodies was 85,000, and their capital value was £25,000,000. The oily had made a huge profit out of its" waterworks, and the proportion of P'Oflt provided by local bodies was much in excess of that provided by the city’s own consumers. Right Behind tho Scheme. Mr Rogcrson commented on the fact that just on the eve of the promotion of this bill tire council had suddenly found it possible to reduce Its charge to is, just when the local bodies had the chance of getting out of their diflloulty. The city claimed that this bill would cost it £27,000 annually in loss of revenue, but, by rendering the Waitakere extension unnecessary, it would save Hie city £IB,OOO in interest and sinking fund. Mr VI. T. Clements, Mayor of Otahuhu, said as a local body, they were right behind Iho Waikato scheme, which offered them water at Is to begin with. Their experience of the City Council was that it asked is Od for water costing iOd, and required the borough to take double Ihc quantity it required. The committee will conlinuo Ls 1 sittings to-morrow morning.