The Constant Suitor

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 187, 28 October 1927, Page 8

The Constant Suitor

TRAMWAYS COMMITTEE’S WOOING

Another Proposal to Ratepayers

NEVER lose heart” appears to be the Auckland City Council’s cheerful watchword concerning tramway extensions. • Its last proposal was rejected by 833 votes, the most severe rebuff to which any municipal loan in Auckland history has been subjected, but now the Tramways C ommittee is back with another proposition involving MiSO.OOO less than the half million sought at the unsuccessful August poll.

'J'HE ambitious proposals submitted to the ratepayers in August included several extensions which have heen dropped from the latest schedule. Provision for the Quay Street, railway station and Stanley Street loops is retained, and the connection between Patteson and Gaunt Streets, in Freeman’s Bay, is still desired. The committee has for the moment abandoned the proposal to relieve Queen Street congestion by constructing a line along Albert Street —a project which would have deprived the city of its most populous car park,

and thus aggravated one problem while solving another. The Mount Eden, Dominion Road and Edendale Road extensions to Mount Albert Road have also been jettisoned. It is not improbable that these expensive projects were largely responsible for the rejection of the last loan. They may have been the irritant which led city ratepayers to vote solidly against the proposals. RATEPAYERS alert Ratepayers these days seem to be more alert than of yore, and there is evidence, in the rejection of two such propositions as the Civic Square scheme and the last tramway loan, that they subject civic projects to a careful scrutiny not formerly conceded. On August 17, when the halfmillion tramway loan was defeated, over 34 per cent, of the ratepayers voted, an exceptionally large propor-

tion, though at first glance it may ap- j pear insignificant. This percentage was one reflection of the interest ■ aroused, and another was the applause which greeted the announce- j ment of the results at most polling- 1 booths. If the council endorses the proposals j made by the Tramways Committee and agrees to another loan poll. ; it is likely that corresponding interest . will again 'be shown. Their examina- j tion of the schedule, however, may j show the ratepayers that the latest j proposals are less objectionable. The only vital tramway extensions that have been retained are those to Remuera and Point Chevalier, while a new one, to Avondale, has been added. The first two have a claim on public support because they would have materialised long ago had loan mone> sanctioned for the purpose not been adroitlv diverted toward the purchase j of buses. All three extensions have recently been sought by residents and rate Olivers in petitions to the council. Point. Chevalier forwarded a petition signed by 637 ratepayers and 331 residents, while on the document from Avondale were 1,106 names. MOUNT ROSKILL’S CHOICE As on the last occasion, the committee wants its proposals to be approved or rejected, as fate wills it. on a block vote, a system that seems to place all the proposals at the mercy of the capricious body of ratepayers who, living in districts already adequately served, have no interest in the proposition. Impelled to reject one clause, they must thus cast a vote which rejects the lot. To-morrow, Mount Roskill ratepayers are deciding whether or not they want to link up their destinies with those of Auckland City, and if they agree to do so, and subsequently decide that a tramway extension should be part of the bargain, a clause allowing the other ratepayers to determine the case will be inserted in the loan schedule. Avondale’s proposed extension is. of course, a direct result of the amalgamation of Avondale with the city. An agitation for trams was begun as soon as the amalgamation had been effected, and the populous nature of the district, plus the fact that the racecourse will mean big business, has led the Tramways Committee to endorse the request. Built along the specially-prepared New North Road, the Avondale extension will cost just under £90,000. To take the trams to Point Chevalier will cost £140,000, and to meet the needs of outer Remuera another £35,000 will have to be spent. Thirty-three new cars, according to the committee, are also required, and their cost is grouped under sundries totalling £154,000. These sums form the salient items in the new loan schedule of £420,000.