ITEMS CRITICISED.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2180, 19 June 1914, Page 8

ITEMS CRITICISED.

.• m 'GREATER ■■ WELLINGTON - •:—■'■■;- :■.- •< •Tb'e^follpArilig'letterdealing with the: city'loan' proriosals ; ; ]i'as been 'addressed'! 'to'"th'6"Mayor 1 by 'the/Greater 'WelJihg-' ton Town Planning arid Municipal Elec-' tors! -Association':—.: ,;'..',i;T ~-..;• "My/executive have'.carefully considered tho various items of the-'"' loan scJJgfluleySti'fl' herewith submit its bpin,i, ioiis J /tliefebi/;.for"yoUi','ebusi.dcratioii.-.. ~<" ";"'"., Cobstable' Street Extensiort.' •'■ :: if/Wo- ■ afe-of-tho opinion-that motorbuses,., whichS would fulfil <all the requirements, .of this connection between. Newtowiihaiid Kilbirhie'! .'and' being far kss/"costly,'botli' in. initial'outlay and subs'eci'uoht'"i'uniiing,' 'shouicf take ■•■•: the place of the present proposal for tramway extension. Buses could run on both Wsll'PS'oA. and. Crawford Roads, and-thus be of'greater service -.than one single line" of tramway.' ■"' We "fail to sco that this connection will, so; far as .egular daily traffic is concerned, re-lieve-to 'any'appreciable : extent the • existing direct route between the city and Kilbirnic, Lyall Bay> Seatoun, and Miramar. The' Constable Street Touto is nearly thrccrquartors of a milo longer: than the'present' one, and passengers. » will naturally prefer the shorter journey even if both through fares are the same. It is surely a bad business proposition for tho city to endeavour to force traffic over the longer route. If, however, the tramway connection is ' decided upon, then wo are decidedly of 'the opinion that-it should be laid in ; Crawford' Road, and not Wellington Road, as-is being urged in some quar-' tors. • Kllbirnle Tunnel. ' "Wo are strongly of opinion that the City Council will commit a grave error of judgment 'if. !it docs not .include amongst the items on the loan schedule provision for a main highway for vehicular traffic by means of a tunnel to the city's rapidly-developing areas lying to the east of Mount Victoria ridge.' Practically all the present councillors prior to election admitted the necessity tor the work, and wo consider that the engineer should at once be instructed to prepare a scheme (avoiding.the collcgo grounds entirely), and an opportunity trivon to tho citizens to vote on the iinportfiU't'iccondmic work. Delay will, only mean-larger payments in compensation and needless hardship and expense to both residents' and city's traders. iTho. lyork is inevitable in tho near future, and aio.good-result canac-. crue from further delay;-'' To overcome the objection that-by constructing thiswork now, Miramar Borough will escape contributing to its cost, we suggest that the fair proportion which should :be paid by that borough be decided upon, and capitalised, and made to form part of the'/.terms .oiu-whlch-., amalgamation! • will ultimately bo,-, based. ...'.,..., ~",

i , . .' • ;,, "We agree with the engineer's suggestion excepting the provision for blocking Thorndou Quay from Davis Street; to tho Hutt'Road. , This we consider is by no means an urgent work. We recommend that Featherston Street, from the Post Office to Lambton Quay, should be included in lieu of that portion of,,Thojndpn,,Qiia£..,, ~ . ~ .. ~.., Oriental Bay. "We strongly urge that this remaining portion'of the' original foreshore near the city-should he preserved. To abolish itf'wdtlld be doing a great injustice to many citizens whoso children must, necessarily frequent the locality, owing to"the"'expehse of travelling to the niorfvtlistant'Watering-places. -We recomm'erid that thd-roadway., and seawall bo improved, and the ' Harbour Board's dredge be utilised to cover the beach with suitablo slioll and sand. Any attempt to reclaim this Bay would, Ware confident, provoke a sform of op■?osilion;from residents in all parts of v;e cit.yii--^--•■'-'- ----- ■'■- - •-■ 1 The --Other. Items, ( "The items office accommodation, -Island Bay Esplanade, Brooklyn Road,

! Vogcltown Road, baths at Kilbiniio, baths at Ballina Bay aro approved 01.

''In regard to Central Park, we eonsider there is no urgent necessity to pencl £13,000 in pushing forward the completion of this work, and hope to see this item deleted.

"Kilbirnio Reserve, £19,000.—Recognising that the existing'right'to reclaim this area will expire in the near future, wo are in favour of the- proposed expenditure. We suggest, however., that the frontage to Kilhirnic Crescent and Seatoim Road should be leased as a set-off against the cost of tho Park.

"Ocean Bathing-house, Lyall Bay, £3000; swimming bath, Island Bay, £3500.—We contend that the. suggested votes for both these items is far in excess of the requirements, and suggest that both amounts be cut down by onehalf.

'•Brooklyn Baths.—We do not consider this work is justified at tho present time. .

"Roseneath Road. —We favour the construction of this road as .an urgent work to facilitate the proposed • motorbus service, and give reasonable access to the high levels. "In conclusion, we would point out that the association and its execut'.vo aro representatives' of the city as ' a whole, and in considering tho aboro question, no parochial elements _h,ive boon permitted to influence the decisions arrived at, and consequently have no liesitation in requesting that the fullest consideration be given to its decisions."