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trading undertaking of any local governing authority, we do not express any opinion at this stage on the question whether the electricity supply in the Christchurch metropolitan area should be under the control of the City Council or a Power Board. While dealing with the question of electricity supply we desire to refer briefly to the unsatisfactory state of the finances of the Banks Peninsula and Malvern Electricpower Boards, which adjoin the Springs-Ellesmere District, and are at no great distance from the Christchurch City from the point of view of the supply of electricity. A preliminary investigation into all factual aspects relating to these two Boards and the Springs-Ellesmere Board was undertaken by the Commission's Investigating Officer prior to the opening of the Christchurch metropolitan inquiry. While the SpringsEllesmere Electric-power Board is financially sound at the present time, it could become unfinancial if even minor adjustments of its boundaries were ever made. Both the Banks Peninsula and Malvern Boards have in past years made a rate levy to meet their deficiencies, and at the time the inquiry was undertaken the Malvern Board was continuing a rate levy for that purpose. We are of the opinion that an amalgamation of these two districts with the Springs-Ellesmere District will not solve their difficulties, as it appears from an examination of the character of their loads that amalgamation of the two unfinancial Boards with the Springs-Ellesmere, which is financially sound at present, may result in the creation of a large unfinancial Board. We consider that the Christchurch City Council has a responsibility in relation to the rural areas, and without entering into details at this juncture, as we did not have sufficient evidence at the inquiry to warrant a definite conclusion, there appears to be little doubt that the only solution of the problem of electricity supply between the Rakaia and Waimakariri Rivers is the administration of the whole area by one authority. In view of our lack of jurisdiction over the trading undertakings of local governing authorities, we do not express any opinion at this juncture as to whether the authority should be a Power Board or the Christchurch City Council. The question is referred to at this stage without attempting a solution, in order to bring to public notice a problem which will have to be solved in the very near future. Suffice it to say that the examination of the electricity supply position in the Dominion which we have been able to make so far indicates that there is a strong case for the undertaking of a thorough review of electric supply districts throughout the Dominion. A wide variation in charges, due, among other things, to the character of the load and the distribution to consumers, suggests that, possibly by a regrouping of the districts so as to provide in each authority's area a balanced load comprising both urban and rural, the charges throughout New Zealand could be made more uniform. The rural, and particularly the back-country, consumer is entitled to support from the urban consumer, although to some degree that support is already given by the provision of subsidies for rural reticulation. We consider, however, that by some measure of regrouping further assistance would undoubtedly be available. (2) Lyttelton Borough : Mount Herbert County The Borough of Lyttelton comprises an area of some 2,534 acres, of which 2,184 acres are on the northern side of the harbour and 350 acres on the southern side—the Diamond Harbour Settlement. The rating in the borough is on the annual-value system, but as many of the amenities are not available in Diamond Harbour, the rateable values in that settlement are reduced by 25 per cent. Statistics in regard to the population of the borough indicate that from 1936 to 1947 the population increased by 106 persons, but since 1911 up to the last-named year there was a reduction of approximately 700. The Council made a proposal during the course of the Christchurch metropolitan inquiry that its district should be extended by including the areas on the northern side of the Harbour —Rapaki and Governor's Bay—and on the southern side of the harbour the Church Bay and Charteris Bay areas and an unformed road on the fringes of the