QUESTION OF FINANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 November 1921, Page 4

QUESTION OF FINANCE.

HYDRO-ELECTRIC UNDERTAKING. ENGLISH FIRM’S OFFER. MORE DETAILS WANTED. The offer made by an English firm, and repeated in subsequent correspondence, to finance the New Plymouth hydro-electric undertaking was again before the Borough Council last night. The firm is Messrs. Summerson and Sons, Ltd., Darlington, England, who, it will be remembered, recently made an offer concerning the establishment of the ironsand industry here providing a guarantee of power could be given, but ;this the council was unable to do. The letter before the council last night was from Mr. Percy S. Leggatt, on behalf of the firm, and was dated September 21. It read:—

“I gather that the completed works to develop 9000 h.p. are now estimated to cost £492,600, inclusive of £88,600 expended on the original power station and works. This, I infer, to mean that your completed power scheme will cost £54.733 per horse-power, as againit the original £77.043 per horse-power. I am not clear as to how you arrive at the figure of £212,000 being required to complete the whole scheme to develop 9000 h.p. -Am I to understand you have raised £192,000 locally by loans? I think it will be in the best interests of your borough if you consolidate your finance in respect to its hydroelectric supply. lam prepared to provide you with the entire finance on the usual guarantees to consolidate your existent loans and to fumisK you with all the money required to complete the projected 9000 h.p., and a further 300 h.p. from the water sources mentioned in your consulting engineers’ letter of May 16 last. May I hope for a complete proposition embodying all the necessary facts and figures?” When the letter was read the Mayor (Mr. F. E. Wilson) said he was “tired of this gentleman” and was surprised that responsible people had been attacking the council for not taking Mr. Leggatt in its arms. The whole trouble, said the Mayor, was that Mr. Leggatt had riot made a concrete proposal, and the council knew nothing of what he proposed to do. The council was carrying on the work and he thought it should take up a definite stand with jthe firm and bring the matter to a conclusion, for it was useless to deal with such an offer when no details were available. He moved that the council could not see its way to negotiate with the firm.

Cr. J. Kibby seconded, but Cr. R, L. Parkin thought the matter should be deferred for a time, and eventually this was agreed to.