ELECTRICITY FOR MORTEN

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24899, 12 June 1946, Page 8

ELECTRICITY FOR MORTEN

NO PROMISE OF EARLY SUPPLY

« MAXIMUM SERVICE TO GREATEST NUMBER” Because of the shortage of materials and labour and the imperative need to use the available materials and labour in such a way as to give the maximum service to the greatest number, electricity supply to the residents of the Morten settlement, on the hills between Mount Pleasant and Redcliffs, cannot be promised in the. immediate future, said the general manager of the Municipal Electricity Department (Mr E. Hitchcock) yesterday. He repeated the assurance given on several previous occasions that the reticulation would be carried out as soon as circumstances permitted. Mr Hitchcock was commenting on a letter from a correspondent, “WouldBe Consumer,” who wrote as follows:

“ ‘Consumer,’ writing oh . May 31, complains about the poorness of the electricity supply to .. Monck’s Spur. If ‘Consumer’ takes a very short walk up Monck’s Spur, and past only a few houses, he or she will enter a benighted district where the supply is worse; there is none, For more than 15 years, to obtain our share of electricity, we residents have sent deputations to the electricity authorities, the Municipal Electricity Department, the Public Works Department, councillors and members of Parliament, and at all times been active in presenting our case for consideration. From time to time over the last few years, however, we have heard rumours that the district, will be connected up; but as yet we have still to use kerosene and candles, which after all only give light and not heat for hot water services, radiators, iron points, etc. A reply from the authorities would be appreciated.” Mr Hitchcock quoted from a reply given by the electricity committee of the Christchurch City Council to Cr. W. L. King, who raised the question at a council meeting. The reply stated that the committee . was confronted with urgent needs in a number of directions. There was still great difficulty resulting from the shortage of labour and a number of items of equipment ►/were still in short supply. The department's work must be done in some logical order, with due regard to the - maximum service to the greatest number. “Where a given amount of work can benefit many hundreds of consumers its urgency is difficult to question,” the reply continued. “The committee in no way minimises the disappointment and inconvenience the Morten settlement residents are experiencing, and it desires to help them as soon as it can. It is, however, confronted with a pressing need for much more work than present resources can meet.”

Mr Hitchcock added that this area had been the department’s responsibility for only 14 months, and in that time circumstances had not permitted reticulation. It would be hard to justify, for instance, the use of a considerable number of poles, which were in very short siipply because of the restriction On their export from Australia, cable and transformers to take power to a handful of residences when the same materials used elsewhere would serve some hundreds.