WHARFAGE CHARGES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5047, 3 November 1926, Page 2

WHARFAGE CHARGES.

HIGH STORAGE COST AT TURUA. HARBOUR BOARD CRITICISED. Some months ago the Thames Valley Electric Power Board indented some synchronous one; of which is to be erected at Turua shortly. Thinking that. heavy charges would be saved, the board took delivery on arrival at Auckland from overseas .and had one of the shipped direct to Turua. Owing to the difficulty of transporting the; heavy piece of machinery over the Turua Town Board’s roads, and also to the fact that the stand and building to house it were not completed, the. condenser. was stored in a shed on the Turua wharf, which is undqr the jurisdiction of the Thames Harbour Board.

At the Power Board’s October meeting an account was received from the Harbour Board for wharfage and storage charges. At that meeting the Power Board considered that the changes were too, high, and the; matter was referred to the chairman and manager to go into with the Te Aroha representative on the Harbour Board, with a view to having a reduction made.

At yesterday's meeting of tlie Power Board letter was received frpm the Thames Harbour Board in reply to the board’s complaint. The letter stated that the matter had been considered by the Harbour Bdard, and that .the charges, levied were in accordance with the by-laws, by which the board was bound, and it regretted that it was not legally possible to make any re;du,ctiotn in the amount. The board also desired to point out that although the charge; might be considered high in respect to ordinary goods, the heavy and bulky nature of the machinery in question constituted the maximum load which should be imposed on the wharf structure, in addition tip which it was so disposed op the floor of the shed as to interfere with the efficient and ready handling of general cargo from door to door. Under the circumstances it was considered that the charge madJ (£32 6s 6d), which Covered four months.’ storage, was a fair otae u and the board ha,d no wish to encourage the storage Tor long periods of loads calculated to overstrain the Turua wharf.

The chairman (Mr F. M. Strange) said he still thought the charge was excessive, and greatly in excess of charges, at Auckland. It looked as if Thames charges were becoming so heavy as to be of no use to the board. He moved that ths engineer and manager be instructed to prepare a report relative to the charges imposed by the Auckland and Thames boards fo>r the purpose of comparison.

In seconding the resolution, Mr F. E. Flatt that the board was not prepared to buy the Turua wharf outright. In his opinion the charge w r as out of all proportion. He suggested that the engineer and manager, when preparing the report, might consider the advisability of engaging scowls for the purpose of transporting poles and machinery as far as possible up the Wajhou and Piako rivers.

The chairman intimated that poles from Australia could be transhipped at Auckland into railway trucks and, after paying the additional charges levied on imported timbers, could be landed cheaper by rail at Kopu thaji by paying thq charges levied by the Thames Harbmir Board when a ves.sel proceeded straight to Kopu from Newcastle.