SITTINGS RESUMED

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 214, 4 May 1932, Page 7

SITTINGS RESUMED

NO. 3 AUTHOR1TY APPLICATION FOR SUBURBAN SERVICE VOLUNTARILY AB ANDONED. WHAKATANE SERVICES. When the -No. 3 Anthority under the Transport Act resmned its sitting this mornlhg, Mr. W. A. Carter, aetihg for Mr. J. Cariquist, asked leave 'fr in th6 authority to withdraw his application for three services. I Dealing with the Whaka service, Mr. 'Carter said that his client would very mtlch like to carry on, but j deemed it iuipossible to do so in the ; pfeseht State of affairs. The Borough Council in the past had decided to [ gfant the license and believed that . the service 'was desirable. Many people had urged Mr. Cariquist to ckrr'y oh, but he could not see his Vra'y to do so. Candidly, the service /did ilot pay. In view of the circum^tances, he would like the authority "to fayourably consider refundihg Mr. Cariquist " his fees. He would also like to arrange for the service to carry on for a week or fortnight so that concession cards might be worlced out.

The Bus Company offered to honour all punched cards, so arrangements were made to cease immediately. Mr. Carter then formally withdrew the applications for F'airy Springs and Tikitere services. . ■ . . In accepting the withdrawals, the chairman antimated that the authority had no power to deal with a refund of fees. All administfativ'e work was in the hands of the department. Subur;ban Services. Reserved decision in connection with the application of the Rotorua Bus Company for its subufhan services from Sophi^ Street via Ranolf Street and Old Taupo Road was given. The authority granted the license subject to the conditions of the time-tahle and certain reductions in concession fares. Rotorua-Whakatane. Mr. M; H. Hampson, in presenting the application of the Rotorua M.otor Transport Co., Ltd., for a license for the Rotorua-Whakatane service, said he realised the onus upon him was to ■ prove under Section 26 that the service was necessary. He had, there- • fore, put in a statement showing passengers carried, population served, etc". The testimonials submitted were from such persons as the mayors of Whakatane and Opotiki, presidents of the Chambers of' Commerce in those two towns, and the town clerks. These were respresentative citizens of the . towns served. Mr. Wilson, representing the Railway Department, at this stage made a statement regarding the pplicy of the board in connection with the East Coast railway. It was impossible to say at present that the line would, or would not, be maintained, and he drew attention, to Section *20 o'f the Government Rajilways Amendment Act, 1931, which says:— ' "The Board, -on being sat'isfied that any railway or part of a railway can continue to be pperated only under conditions that will result in the net revenue' therefrom being insufficient to cover the worldng expenses thereof, , or on being satisfied that the continued operation of any railway or part of a railway is otherwise not in the" public interest, may cease to operate the same, and with the approval of the Governor-General in Counci] dispose of the land and all other property of the Crown in respect of such railway or part of a railway." "The Government Railways Board," he said, "views its responsibilities under this section of the Act very s'eriously and feels that there is cast upon it by the provisions of the section a. definite duty to close lines, the : .ofteration of "which is imposing too heavy a financial hurden on the Dominibn.' The financial results of the Taneatua line since it was opened raises.a prima facie case lor action und,er the section mentioned. " The Board, is, however, loath to take final action Until the people of the the Bay of Plenty district have had .an opportunity of arriving at a full realisation of the position and iiave ; taken such action as they think iit to give such business to the line as will enable the board to make a final : decision on the b^isis of the best that can be expec'ted from the district. With this end. in' view the boai'd on a" preliminary review some months ago decided to give the line a further trial and to make known to the people of the distript affected the procedure that the board had in mind. "The board has been advised that various public meetings have "been held in the district with a view to impfessing on the residents generally the necessity for them to give their business, both passenger and goods, to the' railway in order that the services shall be maintained and the matter now rests 'with the resi: dents. "If the hoard finds that a substantial majorjty of the people are prepared to support the railway to the best of their ability, the issue should hot' be very much in doubt, but if on the otjher hand the people are going to give a large portion of their business to othef means of transport, then it will become necessary for the board to review the position in terms of the section of the Act aiready ! referred to. i "The action that might be taken by ; . the licensing authority in connection with the application for licenses coming before it from time to time will uxidpuhtedly affect the position and must have an important hearing on the ques.tion of the retention or otherwise of the railway." Arrapgeinent Wjth Railways 1 Mr. F. A. Kusabs, a director of the K Mo.tor .Company, was examined at considerable jength by Mr. Gillies for 1 the Railway Departniont, who sought details of the number of passengers brougfit from Whakatane to connect with the train, but it was impossible to supply these. Alterations to co- : ordinhte with train services were also di'scussed. In reply to Mr. Hampson witness

said' "that the ear -ftom Whakatane at 9.55 a.m. gave plenty of time to catch the train. The arrangement with the Railway .Department and the R.M.: Company .^gave their company an unfair advdnfage over his. He had endeavoured tO get the same arrangement, but Mr. $jerling fiad stated that it was an e^clusive agreement. No notice had been given of any intention to enter into such a' contract. - Dealing With the utility of ' the service," he said they f ormed a link with the servic'e to and from Opotiki and Gisborne, and' carried mails and newspapers. A car left Gisborne at 10.30 a.m, and reached Rotorua at 7.15 p.m. The service was bnsed' on a timetable allowing for a speed of SfLaniles an hour. A service on alternate" 'd'ays might be1 - sufficient on the early mdr'ning and evening tuits, but quite insufficient for the mid-day service. Personally he would prefer to run his cai'S daily. At present ori the 50-50 arrangement with the R.M. they were losing as they carried more passengers ' than their competitors. He was pr.epared to co-operate if an arrangement Were made to carry each othef s pasSeiigers free. Mr. Gillies at this stage intitnated that his only desire was to ohtain coordination and the hearing of the application was adjoufned pending the hqaring of evidence in the case of •the R.M. Company.

R.M. Application A similar application on beh'alf of the R.M. Company, was made by Mr. E. Roe, who pointed out that his clients ran their service on alternative days with the previous applicants, K Motors, Limited. CoUnsel submitted similar ' re^f esentatioiis as to the necessity for the service/ and the ' service" "requirements, andWaid that he could add nothing in this respect, to the evidence aiready tendered. Mr. Roe also produced ^testimonials from the Mayors of Rotorua and Whakatane and the bhairmen of the respective Cpunty Councils, stating that they considered the applieaht' company's service. entirely satisf actory. The secretary of the- applicant company, Andrew Brawn, said- that his 'firm had aiready fieen granted licenses by the cent'ral' authority for two other trips which Were almost identical with the K Motors. Passengers carried had averaged approximately three per car. " ' Leo Gyril Ryan, manager of- the company, said " that the service. had been operating for about eight years. If had originally heen commenc.ed in prder to giye a train' connection from Rotorua to Whakatane. Following further evidence, the authority anno.unbed that it would adjourn to consider the questiOn of the agreement of the Railways Department and the possibility of coordinating the two services. When the Board resumed, it was decid.0d to defer the matter until this moriiing to give applicants further time tb discuss the position.