WANGANUI'S TRAM DILEMMA

Chronicle (Levin), 16 October 1947, Page 5

WANGANUI'S TRAM DILEMMA

WANGANUi, Oct'Mo. So great have becoihe the loS^eS ,incurred in the running of the Wanganui city tram ahd bus services that d^eCtion of the public is of opifiion that private enterprise should b'e pefmitted to take the services" out oi' the contrcii of municipal management. Matters reaehed a head last night when a meeting of the City Couhcn decided to submit a referendum to all the electors aslcing whether they are in favour of private or munieipal eontrol. This decision, which, judging i-rom resolutibns passed by various bodies 111 the city, will test out a belief of the Labour Party that private enterprise should not be permitted to eontrol a munieipal sefvi'Ce, was arr'ived at largely because one definite offer Canie nefore the council to run a proposed new bus service to Wanganui East and Aramoho. For several months now the City Council has been in. a dilemma regarding passenger transport. Faced with losses running into mfiAy thousandis of pounds a year, and also with heavy costs in increased wages and shofter hours brought about by reeeftt 'decisions regarding New Zealand tramWp-ys gener'ally, the council was forced To do something. It raised fares 25 per (JBi.'t., with the a'pproval "of the Stabilisatiok Commission and the Price Tribuhal, and I shortened sections. For some time it has been evidenf too that uhless thte existing tfamways service is replaced 5a hiajor capital'outlay will have to be faced. Early this year the matter Was put t'o the ratfc'payers, and they rejected a propos'ai to install trolley buses, and that rejection added considerably to the council '3 worry. , • : In spite Of opposition by Labour Party councillors, led by the Mayor (the Hon. W. J. Rogers), and by varn ous Labour Party bodies in the city, councillors representing the Citizens' Party ha^e pressed for some approach to private enterprise to take over the municipal trahsport system. Considerable controversy has developed routld the matter, but the council finally agreed to put out feelers. As a result Mr. L. A. Crichton has eome forward. with a defmite proposal to run the Wanganui East and Aramoho propoSed bus services. Electors in Wanganui are now to be asked whether they favour private enterprise, and it looks as though the coming local body elections, so far ai Wanganui is eoneerned, will revolve round t,hat ofteii-heard contehtion that private enterprise can suceeed whfere State or local body has failed. The results will be wgtched with interest in other centres, too.