TRAMS TO AVONDALE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 846, 14 December 1929, Page 6

TRAMS TO AVONDALE

QUESTION OF TUNNEL UNDER CITY STILL NO FINALITY Whether the Local Government Loans Board will sanction the loan asked by the Transport Board for the extension of trams to Avondale now appears to depend on whether the Government intends to proceed with the Morningside tunnel scheme. A statement to this effect was received by the secretary of the Transport Board yesterday in a communication from Mr. R. E. Hayes, Secretary to the Treasury. He wrote: “At a meeting on December 11, the Local Government Loans Board deferred consideration of a loan for tram extensions until its next meeting in order to give the members of your board an opportunity to attend. The main point at issue is the question whether a railway tunnel will in the future be constructed direct to the northern suburbs of the city, in which case the proposed extension of the tramways would mean a duplication of the transport services. You will be notified of the date of the next meeting in due course.” The Transport Board's original plan was to borrow £58,000 for the Avondale extension but the Loans Board declined to approve the item until the Government came to a decision on the Morningside tunnel plan and on the proposed electrification of the north suburban railway. Matters stood at that until the end of last month when 1,590 residents of Avondale and Mount Albert petitioned the Transport Board for the immediate extension of the tramlines. The transport authorities then approached the Loans Board with a view to the removal of the ban, the reply being as stated.