HATAITAI "HERMITS"

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1048, 10 February 1911, Page 7

HATAITAI "HERMITS"

TUNNEL TALK, DEPUTATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL. A deputation of about oho hundred persons'; including a number of Indies, waited 1 upon tjio City Council at its mectirife last evening, in reference to various proposals respecting a now tunnel route through Mount .Victoria. Mr._ Leigh' Hunt, (president of tho'Hataitai llatepayers' Association) acted as spokesman., .■ Mr. Hunt, in speaking for the depute,-, tion, said it rcpresciltca Htitnitai, and •Hataitai alone. Its members,had como tjo ask for a better means of access to their suburb., At present they were 1 dependent almost entirely upon a tunnel con-, structcd for tramway purposes only. ,' ';' :; The Disabilities. " After reciting tho; disabilities, under which Hataitai laboured by reason of its prcsont isolated position, Mr. Hunt: remarked that tho greatest sufferers under these disabilities wero'lndics. Many ladies had practically become hermits at Hataitai becauso they did not chooso to face the dangors. and worries incidental to travailing by the trams, encumbered with •perambulators and children, etc.V Tho largo number of ladies who were present would, bear - him out in this statement. (Applause:) Hataitai residents had previously waited upon the council and had bceu promised that reports would.be'obtained first as to tho Mayor's schemo of widening tho present tunnel, and, secondly, upon the proposal to construct a second tunnol to'- accommodate road traffic. When the promised report at. length eamoto hand it was found that tho engineer* had practically ignored tho two proposals' about .which the Hataitai. pebplo had expected , a definite report, The engineer proposed a tunnel in an entirely ditforont direction, a tunnel which would, bo of very littlo uso to Hataitai,' arid, as'residents of that suburb thought, would bo foreign to their interest., Tho engineer's stated objection to the .proposals ro widening the present tunnel, or constructing'another close at hand, was the steep grade of one in twelvo in. Pino Street. Mr. Morton had sajd that to meet the requirements of vehicular traffic, it would bo necessary, to havo a grado of not more than one in 25. This tho deputation'quite agreed would bo a proper grade, but they contended it would 'not bo impossible to construct a N road on that grado by widening and grading Elizabeth Street, thenco along tho Town Belt to the cntrauco of the existing tunnel, it had been argued that to. mako tho improved approach n considerable-sum would havo to be expended in compensating private owners, as streets would havo to bo widened. These strcots, however, were, somo of themi, littlo better than slums, and tho, city'would gam by tho widening operations. ' ~' ; ."Travelling in a Circle."

At tho provious council meeting, Councillor i'letohcr. had suggested an approach from Riion Grove and a new tunnel. Tho deputation was • heartily in accord with tho views ho expressed on thatoccasion.' In this agitation for another tunnel thev hoped to receive tho hearty sympathy and. co-operation of tho Tr»mwdy Department, lor with tho > rapm.yincreasing: population of tho suburbs _tho Department would bavo ero long to face a problem in dealing with trntlic. Ine deputation, did not npprovo tho engineer s proposal of a tunnel with an approach starting from tho Basin Keservt. At present Hataitai pooplo going to and from their suburb travelled, half-way ,round a circle. Tho engineer asked them to endorse an expenditure of .£20,000 in order that they might travel'round a slightly smaller circle. .They wanted tho privilege of going in a straight lino at about half tho cost necessitated under tho. en-' I ginccr's scheme..'-.' , '." - -~ ; -:i'.: " A Present From,Hataitai,'. .

It might bo'said that othor suburbs had'to bo considered as well as Hataitni. but iii this matter Hataitni •deserved spo'cial consideration. Tho Hataitni Land .■Syndicate had contributed JIIO.OOO totwards the cost of tho present .tunnel, and tho city had saved thousands, of pounds by being enabled to lay its water mains through-tho tunnel. • Practically tho tunnel.cost the. city nothing It was. a present'. fromiHataitai. _. - Mr.: ; Morten s schenio made no provision for n. tramline. -Ho.also depended upon tho ■ Con : . stable Street route for tho traffic.' to-tho 6ilburbs beyond tho tunnel. , That route was three-quarters of a milo longer than through;a tunnel--, closes-to the,.present, one. -Before many years 20,000 people would: bo', living in tho suburbs, and. .they must look forward to tho • time when tho traffic would bo very- much, larger. ■• If the route advocated by; the : engineer was three-quarters'"©fa. mile longer, it would bo interesting, in deal-, ing ■ with a prospectivo population, to see. bow .many extra miles,would require to be run in a year. ■—■• ..',-■■.:

.The Mayor In Reply, TEe Mayor said ho was agreed that

the JBIO.OOO contributed by the Hataitai Smlicato towards tho tunnel had saved the ratepayers an" equivalent amount. lie would co further, and say it was Tcally contributed by the Hataitai ratepayers.- (Applause.) Tho council were unanimous that communication botw.eon

the district beyond the tinncl and tho city should be improved. .They must, howiver,'consider! the question of expenditure, and it may be that tho demands of the work were -beyond tho capacity of tho. council in its present condition. He would declare straight out that to him tlje report of Mr. Morton, involving an expenditure of .£70,000, was beytnd the capacity of tho Icouncil, and.could not bo considered. (Applause.)

■However, before the council could say "Yes" or "No" to the schemo sugßested by tho, deputation they must havo data to go upon. Mr. i Morton >would be asked f o.reports upon tho schomo as soon as possible. He, himself,'would also go over tho ground, and inquire thoroughly into tho matter! Certainly, 'as the population' was, trending: in that direction, and they .were going to spend a considerable sura at Lyall Bay, consideration would have to be iriven to the -lestion of increased traffio facilities. (Applause.)