Slow communication for port progress

Press, 20 April 1979, Page 10

Slow communication for port progress

An apparent lack of corn-) tnunication between the Lyt-j telton Harbour Board and the Lyttelton Borough Council frustrated discussion this' week by the council on how it could best help port' development. The Mayor of Lyttelton j (Mr M. E. Foster) has been,' a consistent advocate of the theme, “Communication! brings about co-operation.” When asked by his fellow councillors about the coun-[ cil’s involvement with the proposed port development. Mr Foster said that he had heard nothing officially. “What I know is only what I have read and heard! and not from any commun-( ication from the Harbour! Board,” he said. A councillor criticised the!

| inability to communicate a; •i complaint to the board dur-i I ing the week-end about fish ■'cleaning at Diamond Har-' Jbour. J Cr P. Sheehan said that he! ■had heard of an incident’s; | being reported and being; i i fobbed off by the Harbour! ' Board. “I think that is j : I pretty poor for a local j II body,’” he said. i Cr G. Adams said he •| was concerned about the I trend of the meeting and the indications of an anti-Har-bour Board atmosphere. I Mr Foster’s own cbrnmu”-! ication effort was able to; dispel fears about fisningj I;vessels with infectious d : '-| 'eases being anchored off Diamond Harbour again in jthe future. I Cr Sheehan had raised the

(matter on behalf of Diamond; (Harbour residents, who want! [written assurances from the! Health Department and the I (Harbour Board that the) dsame anchorage used for a! . recent typhoid-infected vessel will not be used again. ; Mr Foster said that from' i discussions he had had with [ the Harbourmaster (Captain | J. A. Barbour) he doubted whether the same anchorage would be used again. He had also received a letter from the Health Depart-

■ ment about the matter. The • anchorage had been selected J previously because of ‘ requests bt the department I for the vessel to be within • reasonable distance of Lyti telton to enable medical [checks to be done. [ “Captain Barbour obviously agreed to this because some surveillance could be exercised from the signal tower over the use of toilet facilities provided by the Health Department,” said Mr Foster.