Corner Prinsep & Wittenoom Streets
Bunbury Electrical Lighting Plant
Bunbury's nights became brighter in 1903 when Mayoress Newton Moore flicked the switch at the newly built Electrical Lighting Plant on the corner of Prinsep and Wittenoom Streets (now Centenary Gardens). Bunbury had electrical street lighting fourteen years before Perth (they used gas), one year after Boulder, but fourteen years (9 November 1888 to be precise) after Tamworth, NSW, the first Colonial town or city to see the light! (reference; reference; reference; reference)
1900 Initial thoughts
We can thank the progressive thinking of Bunbury Council and a persistent Mr Wall of Splatt, Wall & Co, who had installed electric lighting plants in Boulder and in 1902 was doing the same in Northam. Council’s attitude had changed from “it is too expensive” in 1900, when first approached by Mr Wall to, “if it’s good enough for Northam then Bunbury mustn’t be left in the dark!” (reference; reference).
An Electrical Light Committee was formed in May 1902 composed of Mayor Newton Moore and Councillors Carr and Copplestone and by September the Bunbury townsfolk had voted 194 to 38 in favour of the scheme to proceed (reference).
The proposal was:
Street lighting (and lighting to private residences at their expense) would be produced at the hour of sunset to 12.30am (except on a clear moonlight night, when it was not required) at a cost of 1s/unit less 2d/unit if account paid prior to the 15th of the month. If the company failed to provide lighting they would forfeit 2s 6d per lamp. Coverage of supply was to run from Racecourse, South Bunbury, to Lee’s Corner, Blackwood Road, (now Forrest Avenue) to Parade Hotel, White Road (now Austral Parade). Neither the Jetty nor the Railway Station were included (reference).
Tenders were called for the installation of an electrical lighting plant and the supply of light via 4 arc lamps and 45 incandescent lamps. The supply contract would run for eleven years from the date of installation with the option of an extension for a further five or ten years. During this time the Council would have the opportunity to purchase the plant at a pre-disclosed sum and run it themselves. The plant, to be centrally located on the corner of Prinsep and Wellington Streets, would have to be complete with cables, poles, wires and accessories with an output of no less than 50,000 watts, within nine months of the contract being signed. Rental cost of the site would be £1 per annum.
Of the four companies approached, two refused to submit tenders as the Council didn’t intend to purchase the plant within six months of completion (as was the norm with other municipal councils). One company provided costs but failed to submit the cost of labour for installation of machinery at the plant. This left one in the running, Splatt, Wall & Co (reference).
The contract with Splatt, Wall & Co was duly signed in November 1902 (reference).
1903 Grand opening of the Electrical Lighting Plant
In mid-January 1903 people gathered to celebrate the chimney stack of the plant being erected (reference).
Remarkably, construction of the plant was completed within six months from commencement and in April 1903 it opened.
The opening was a grand affair. Splatt and Wall supplied refreshments in the Drill Hall which was adorned with fairy lamps of all shades and colours. Mayoress Mrs Newton Moore (Isabella) turned on the switch to the delight of the gathered crowd.
The large group of ladies present “left the gentlemen to enjoy their cigars and deal with the toast list of the evening.”
Mayor Newton Moore proposed the toast "Success to the Electric Lighting Scheme of Bunbury".
At the time of the plant opening, Council was in negotiations with Splatt, Wall & Co to extend the lighting to the jetty, allowing night work to commence (reference).
The Bunbury Herald on 5th June 1903 wrote:
“With clean streets, electric lights, commodious private and public buildings, and picturesque surroundings, Bunbury is now one of the most desirable places in the State in which to live, as it is certainly one of the most sound and progressive towns in the Commonwealth.” (reference)
By October 1903 Splatt, Wall & Co had won the tender to supply lighting to the jetty and Bunbury Railway station. The company had the rights to private, municipal and government supply of lighting and now they would supply power to the electric winches on the jetty (reference).
1910 Bunbury Council purchased the Electrical Lighting Plant
The West Australian 21 December 1910 edition reported that Council had agreed to pay Splatt, Wall & Co £7374 to purchase the company’s rights, title and interests to the electric lighting station, plant and accessories and take over the running of the lighting plant.
Mayor F W Steere stated:
“Bunbury now had it’s own municipal electric light, water supply, sanitary service, stone crusher and it was hoped that soon it would have a bigger water scheme.” (reference)
Adverts were placed in newspapers countrywide for a mechanical & electrical engineer:
“Wanted Mechanical & Electrical Engineer to take charge of the Bunbury Municipal Electric Light and Power Station at a remuneration of £250 per annum.” (reference)
Less than six months after purchasing the plant, Bunbury Council spent a further £5000 renovating the site and equipment. It was suggested that due to these upgrades trackless trams could be installed. By 1913 it was the talk of the town, even the Council thought of obtaining a loan without the ratepayers approval, but eventually world events dominated and talk moved to other things (reference, reference).
1915 Chimney stack at the Electrical Lighting Plant blown over
In March 1915, the old chimney stack, which was in the process of being replaced, was blown over in a gale and resulted in industries who relied on electricity being unable to work. By day’s end, power was restored! (reference)
By 1918, sixteen years after work commenced in bringing electric street lights to Bunbury, a report in Sunday Times, 1 December 1918 stated Bunbury was:
“suffering from that burden of short-sighted municipalities - dear light.” Years ago it paid too much for the plant and most equipment has since been scrapped. “In short, the council is working off a dead-horse of debt.” Other municipalities were in a similar situation except for Kalgorlie who “has a first-class electric lighting plant and doesn’t owe a bean.” (reference)
1922 Suggested enlargement of Electrical Lighting Plant
The Electric Light Committee, still in existence nearly twenty years after its formation, decided in 1922 that the plant generators required upgrading due to the demand of this new fangled electricity, in particular if all the five cranes at the jetty were working simultaneously. The South Western Times in their 17 June 1922 edition sought out the thoughts of G J Baldock, engineer, on whether Bunbury needed to spend around £5,000 to achieve this, making the capital outlay for the plant at £22,000. In summary, he thought not (reference).
1923 Suggested relocation of the Electrical Lighting Plant
The following year saw talk about moving the plant to a more suitable position as being located within the busy town had its downfalls. Moving it to the estuary would allow the use of water for condensation purposes, but also close to rail for bringing in coal from Collie. Running costs would be cheaper, enticing more industries into Bunbury and their workforce having a better lifestyle than that of Perth with the introduction of electricity and domestic appliances into homes.
“It would be cheaper for a poor man to cook his breakfast with electricity than with a fire…..”
It was agreed to outlay £50 on a report about a more suitable site for the plant (reference)
In 1924, people living in the vicinity of the town’s plant were complaining of vibrations and wondering whether this would undermine building foundations. However it was concluded that engines just needed a “tweak” in order for these issues to be rectified (reference).
Supply of coal from Collie was put to the test in late 1925 when a strike occurred at the Collie mines by their drivers and engineers. Due to the lack of coal storage facilities at the Prinsep Street site, the plant had to burn wood, highlighting the issue of obtaining a secure fuel source to supply constant electricity (reference).
1924 Suggested South West Power Scheme supply from Collie
Ideas were abound in 1924 for a Collie-based electricity supply for the South West of WA. The British government had offered reduced-cost engines for this purpose for a period of five years (reference).
But ideas were slow in advancing. In 1926 it was thought that Bunbury and Collie Councils in conjunction with the Collie mines, operating as Amalgamated Collieries (consisting of Co-Operative, Cardiff, Collie Burn, Proprietary and Westralia mines) would be able to establish the power plant (reference, reference).
By 1927, this scheme was deadlocked as Bunbury Council wanted electricity supply at the same cost as Collie Council was being charged. Hon E Rose’s speech in WA Parliament detailed that Amalgamated Collieries required a twelve year fixed price for small coal thereby stopping any competition on coal supply and he suggested a State Government run utility would be better suited than a private one, in gaining cheap electricity (reference, reference).
Yet again, nothing transpired until February 1928 when an amended Amalgamated Collieries private venture was put on the table. Bunbury could get its electricity, but would have to pay for the poles and wires from the new Collie plant which was being established primarily to supply cheap electricity to operate its mines. Bunbury Council were opposed to this idea as confirmation of electricity costs couldn’t be determined (reference).
The lack of progress over the past four years in getting this new venture off the ground had frustrated Bunbury Council and in mid 1928 they decided to go ahead and call for tenders for a new power station in Bunbury. The Bunbury Electric Lighting Act was amended in State Parliament to allow for tenders to be sought, using a new fuel source of crude oil instead of coal due to high freight expenses and for Council to increase its loan (reference).
But at the last minute, another proposal was sent to the Council, this time by the Collie Power Company, who offered to supply poles and cables from Collie to Bunbury within two years. Regardless of this, Bunbury Council had received thirteen tenders for the new Bunbury Power House and they decided to go it alone (reference, reference).
In late November 1928, Harris, Scarfe and Sandovers Ltd were awarded the tender to build a new Power House situated near the Bunbury Railway Station, alongside the estuary (today, this is the site next to the Rowing Club). The tender for crude oil engines at the new plant was awarded to British company Rushton-Hornsby (reference).
1930 Bunbury’s new Power House opens
By early March 1930, the new Power House was operational. At a cost of £18,000 (of which £16,000 was borrowed) the plant housed three diesel engines, which the West Australian declared to be the largest crude oil plant in the State. Seven people were employed, consisting of three drivers, three linesmen and a junior (reference).
There was a downfall to the new plant. Bunbury had lost its whistle! Each day at the old plant in Prinsep Street, a whistle sounded morning, noon and night, giving the townsfolk an idea of the time. Shopkeepers knew when to shut shop for lunch, but now that had gone, along with the smoke and noise that had been a part of the town for twenty seven years (reference).
In an interview with the South Western Tribune on 12 September 1931, Cr Higgins declared the new Power House a success in its first year of operation in producing cheaper electricity than the old plant and despite the amount of debt that Council went into, their first year’s revenue was £6,400 compared to the £3,800 accumulated over the twenty seven years at the old site. Crude oil was purchased from Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), shipped to Fremantle and by rail to Bunbury. The electricity produced was direct current and supplied within the town boundaries including the jetty (reference).
1932 Old Prinsep Street site
In 1932 the old site engines were advertised for sale and calls were made for the area to be beautified (reference).
On 22 April 1936, as part of the Centenary celebrations taking place in Bunbury, WA Governor Sir James Mitchell planted a sapling, on the cleared site, that had been grown from a tree from his childhood home in Bunbury. Together with Mayoress Verschuer who also planted a tree commenced the establishment of Centenary Gardens (reference, reference).
1945 State Electricity Commission purchased Bunbury Power House
Twenty years after it was first discussed, the South West Power Scheme was back, but this time the WA state government was involved. In 1945 the State Electricity Commission Act was passed which centralised electricity production at Collie and Bunbury for the South West, under the auspices of the State Electricity Commission (SEC). As a result, local power stations were bought out by the government and Bunbury received £45,821 for the estuary plant (reference, reference).
As part of the new scheme, Collie Power Station was taken over and extended and Bunbury Power Station #3, at the Turkey Point site became operational in 1954 (reference).
