STREET LIGHTING CHARGES

Chronicle (Levin), 27 June 1946, Page 4

STREET LIGHTING CHARGES

BQARB MAKES REDUCTION A report bn ' street lighting charges, prepared by the manag-ing-secretary (Mr, R. A^ Frederiksonh and the engineer • 5(Mr. J. F. Bryce) was presented to the Horownenua Elecuic Power Board at a meeting on Tuesday. The report read (inter alia) a,s fpllows:— "The various street lighting installations eomprise 289 in the three boroughs and 106 in the counties, a total of 395. Of these, 350 lanips were installed prior to .1930, so that the major portion of t^e original capital cost has been repaid. On the other hand, the co$t of installing new lamps on to-day.'s costs would be £22 compared with the average of £13. Where an addi.tional lamp is installed on an existing circuit the cost would be £10. "As all the board's consumers receive a direct benefit from the street lighting installation&, we ieel that this is a service which should be provided for the constituent local bodies with a minimum profit to. th'e board, and accordingly recommend that the present charge of £3 17s 6d, leSs 20 per cent., be reduced to £3 per lamp. Jn order to maintain a uniform annual charge per lamp, we recommend that the board consider the advisability of charging the local authority with a portion of the installa,tion costs, where those costs exeeed the current average cost of £22 per lamp. "With regard to the Levin Borough Council's request for a reduction/n charges on account of reduced service, we would mention that -the reduction in hours is brought about under the provisiops of the Emergency Regulations, 1939, under which the board is not called on to make any reductions. , However, as the service has been restricted we feel that some reduction is justified, and recommend a special rebate of one shilling per lamp on the series street lights, and five shillings per lamp on the mercury vapour lamps per quarter, when rationing is necessary." The recommendations of the report were' adopted by the board,