NEW HOSPITAL LOAN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 48, 1 March 1946, Page 5

NEW HOSPITAL LOAN

COUNTY COUNCIL DISCUSSION SECOND HAND BOILER SUGGESTED

Advising the decision of the Whakatane Hospital Board to raise a new loan of £2500 for the purpose of installing a 34 h.p. boiler at the hospital, the secretary, Mr F. Prideaux, wrote the County Council last Tuesday seeking its support.

At present the hospital is served by two 14.9 h.p. boilers, it was stated, which can at full capacity cope with present requirements. With the growth of the hospital the installation of further steam producing plant would in any case have been necessary at an early date, but the position had been converted into one of urgency by one of the existing boilers having been condemned.

Planning For Future

The position could possibly have been met simply by replacing the condemned boiler with one of similar size at an . estimated cost of £I4OO. This course however was not approved by the Department of Health and, in view of the certain need for a larger boiler at an early date, would have been most uneconomic. Moreover such work would be classed as Maintenance Expenditure and it would have been necessary to make provision for the full cost thereof in the Board’s Estimates for 1946/47. The Hospital Board had after full consideration of the situation decided in favour of the present course of action as being the best from two points of view viz. (a) the installation of the larger boiler will meet all requirements for some years to come and will fit in with any further development which may prove necessary in the future and (b) the burden on the ratepayers will be spread over a period of years. If anything comes of the recommendations of the Local Government Committee, it is even possible that the ratepayers will not be required to find more than their proportion of the first year’s interest and sinking fund instalment.

Second-hand Article Suggested The question of securing a secondhand boiler to save the cost was discussed at some length Crs Hunter, McCracken and the Chairman considering that this aspect should be fully explored before the ratepayers were pledged to the loan. The County Engineer (Mr C. H. Brebner) stated that whilst in Wellington recently, he had noticed the demolition of buildings formerly used for military purposes and the contents were disposed of by the War Assets Realisation Board. There was. as a result great quantities of first-class plant on hand and he thought it highly probable that boilers were available.

The chairman suggested that this information could be passed on to the Board which could report back as to its finding.

Cr McGougan’s Stand Cr McGougan strongly opposed any holding up of the loan. The boiler, he said, was most urgently needed and any delay would have a drastic effect. He assured the council that the Board had done all in its power to discover the availability of a second-hand boiler. On the motion of Cr McCracken, it was decided to reply to the effect that the Board should contact the War Assets Realisation Board with a view to obtaining a sound secondhand boiler but that if this was completely unobtainable it had no objection to the purchase of the new article.