Timaru Harbour Works For Meat And Fish

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31082, 10 June 1966, Page 6

Timaru Harbour Works For Meat And Fish

(from Our Own Reporter)

TIMARU, June 9. The Timaru Harbour Board Loan Bill (1966) seeks authority to raise a loan of £700,000 for a number of harbour works. Proposals for meat storage have been supported by the freezing companies.

Completion of a new harbour for fishing boats and of ancillary works, £140,000. Purchase of tug, £130,000.

Purchase of leasehold land and provision for construction of workshop

buildings, £30,000. Provision for waterfront cool stores and ancillary equipment, £350,000. Cost of raising the loan and contingency fund, £50,000.

The board requires authority to build waterfront storage for frozen meat and three units, each with a capacity of 100,000 carcases, are required.

The stores would be built to the requirements of the industry and leased on a noprofit, no-loss basis to the South Canterbury Co-op. Cool Stores, Ltd., which would operate the stores under contract to the industry. Instead of the original proposal to build conventional type cool storage connected by conveyor system with the meat loaders, it is now proposed that the stores suitable for handling palletised meat be built. ONE HANDLING

Carcase or cartoned meat would be loaded on to pallets on arrival in the store involving one handling of the meat. The pallets of meat would be stored pending shipment. They would be loaded on to special tractors for transporting the 300 feet to the meat loaders.

The pallets would be unloaded and the meat transferred to the conveyor system.

It is hoped that eventually freezing works could adapt themselves to the loading of the pallets from their blast freezers and so eliminate a further handling.

The pallet store would be able to accommodate containers should specialised container ships be built for the New Zealand trade. At a meeting of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, Ltd., New Zealand Refrigerating Company Ltd., Waitaki Farmers’ Freezing Company Ltd., and the South Canterbury Co-op. Cool Stores, Ltd., convened by the board on May 30, all parties confirmed their support for these proposals. Besides this support from the freezing industry, the board has received indications of support from the railways which can see more economic use of its costly refrigerated rolling stock. AGREEMENTS Before seeking the sanction of the Local Authorities Loans Board for the raising of a loan for waterfront storage of frozen meat, the board will have the agreements with the South Canterbury Co-op. Cool Stores, Ltd., and the freezing works interested in the proposal, completed. Besides the increase in revenue of £3495, the improved fishing boat harbour facilities will provide for greater landings of fish which will produce further income. Timaru at present lands the second largest tonnage of wet fish for New Zealand ports and has a potential for greatly increased tonnages. Shipping companies are building longer vessels for the New Zealand trade and require the board to provide the services of a tug if they are to use the port. The new phosphate trade which begins in 1967 also intends using vessels of more than 600 ft.

The annual charges on a loan of £700,000 at 5| per cent for 25 years, with equal half-

yearly payments of interest and principaL would be:

Fishing boat' harbour, tug, workshop, £300,000—£22,224. Waterfront storage for frozen meat and contingencies—£4oo,ooo—£29,633. This would be financed as follows: Additional income, fishing boat harbour —£3495. Excess income over expenditure, tug—£2ooo. Excess income over expenditure, waterfront storage—£29,633. From general harbour fund revenue—£l6,729. Total—£sl,Bs7.

On present trade, after taking into account these additional loan charges, the excess of income over expenditure in the general harbour fund should be between £25,000 and £30,000 a year. This is considered by the board to be a safe margin, particularly as the board is only levying a harbour rate of £50,000 when it has authority to collect i,n excess of £BO,OOO, and by the end of this financial year reserves will be in excess of £50,000.

Also there have only been minor adjustments to charges under the board’s by-laws since 1958.