BOROUGH REQUIREMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7710, 12 January 1905, Page 2

BOROUGH REQUIREMENTS.

DEPUTATION TO THE MINISTER FOR RAILWAYS. (In Wednesday morning a deputation from the Borough Council waited 0 n Sir Joseph Ward at the Mayor's room in the liorougih Chaiiiibers, with reference to several local matters of importance. There were present : His Worship the Mayor (Mr R. , Cock), and Crs. Ahier, Brown, Cliff, Eraser, Medley and Wool!. Mr E. M. Smith, M.IH.R.. introduced the deputation. The Major acted as spokesman. RAILWAY DEVIATION. The first matter brought forward was that of the suggested railway | deviation. I The Mayor, in opening, reminded the Minister that some correspondence had passed with the department this subject, and said the deputation wished to put the matter before tho Minister personally. First, :tho council put before the Government a scheme for getting rid of the railway crossing at the main street. Mr CocE then entered into details of the scheme as laid before Mr Mcjlntosh, district engineer, at the interview with him some weeks ago. IHe pointed out that the land available ,by the Government in consequence of the alteration would be very valuable, and with the money the council offered to the department would go a long way to compensate'for the expense. Tho land at jDevon Street was worth from £l5O to £2OO a foot. The department would also have the land on both [sides of tho line to the Henui. The counjcil had also endeavoured to get an entrance from Gill Street into ! Brougham Street, but had not been successful in dealing with private | owners, and it had been suggested to .the Railway Department that it alI low access from Brougham Street to Molesworth Street, Tot his way of I thinking it was a simple job, If the line eventually went round the cliffs 'there would be no crossing. This. | was an important road for the borough. Tho railway goods shod stands opposite Molesworth Street, and if the concession were granted it would relieve tho heavy congested traffic round Currie Street. , The town had been making fairly rapid strides during the past year or two. The streets were narrow and were I very crowded, especially on market days, and the council wished 'to relieve the pressure.

Another question was the provid- | ing of a marine parade along the sea front, The borough wished to continue the esplanade all round. The Mayor said the Gover ll ment had taken away one of the most profitable resorts of tho town, as it had encroachpd so far that the beach is only available at low tido. If a 20ft walk could rbo given it would be a great convenience to; the |>borough.

Another matter referred to was that of overhead bridges at Eliot, Cover, and llobson Streets. The people at llobson Street had no acjeess, and the bridge was wanted so that they could get into the town direct. Tho authorities usually replied that there was not sufficient | money available, but the Government, when making provision for the I land, promised that the road would be continued to the beach. The ! council would give Woolcoombo Terrace without payment for the proposed deviation. It would also •give something like £2OOO to assist ithc Government to build a wall to protect tho terrace.

Sir Joseph : What is the estimated cost of the deviation ?

| The Mayor said he did not know. I Then there was the bridging of the jlluatoki River. It would not cost .much to bridge between tho walls, | and seeing the 'borough would get a the council would doubtless Jie willing to do something towards | it. The Mayor finished by pointing out that numerous nccidents have .taken place at the crossing.

| Cr. Fraser maintained that the deputation was not asking anything .unreasonable. Were their request granted it would mean that the town would prosper i* u r and away .beyond what it had done in the past. Owing to the block by the railway and the want of a street across the railing, near the sea, the whole traffic was thrown upon one street ; consequently the wear and tear was enoimoiiß, and apart from that the disabilicies were'very great indeed. In reply Sir Joseph Ward said he would be very glad to go over the ground with the deputation and view the site. Ho would early take the opportunity of placing before members of the deputation the true position, I so that the dilliculties of administering a large department, such as the railway, could be! understood. In some respects disabilities are inevitable. First of all, they must rccognisu that we are a young and growing country. For our age we have ,a large railway service, which was originally laid down with narrow gauge light rails and with conse-. quently light rolling stock. This had been altered three times in the history of tho railway : first the light rails, then the heavy, and afterwards again to still heavier. This cost £20,000,000. The expansion of traffic necessitating these alterations was going on still, and was a very good thing for the colony as a whole. It would require two millions sterling to meet tho requirements of the traffic. They had to look forward for many years' gradual improvements. The total capital for expenditure on railways was £350,000, but the fastidious critics would say it was too large a sum to expend. If there was a growth of traffic arrangements must lie made to elect it. .Sir Joseph Ward then said that the necessitous works must be first provided for. The argument about the line running through the town japplied to every important town ' in the colony. lie mentioned In|vcrcargill, lHufl, Punedin, Welling*ton and Napier in support. When j a main track went on to a seaport, , unless the station was placed away from the town, the same trouble was bound to crop up, for the town) was sure to grow. The refusal to alter such cases was not because they did not wunt to meet local requirements, but because there were 2500 miles of railway open and many miles soon to be made over to the department, and unless the department went in for large borrowed sums they could not meet daily demands made upon the resources of the colony. The powerful financial problem stood out with the Government as it did with private indivK duals. However, he would he glad to view the position, and in time he would be glad to look into the proposal regarding the marine parade. Regarding the bridge, he suid that where danger exists it was the duty of the department to remove it. There was always a certain amount of danger upon a railway track. If the danger is of a very ojoute form then it is the duty of the department to remove it if possible. Vpon the question generally he was very anxious to do anything in his power to help any enterprising community to improve their town. The railway l service was an enormous one, and was far beyond the most sanguine anticipations of the levelheaded people of the colony. Everything had been done to meet the rapidly expanding trallic of the past live years, ami some day the colony would wake tip l 0 the fuel, that these can be met more fully only by, gaining the department more money. Crs. Wood and Aider spoke on the necessity for some action being taken. Alter the interview Sir Joseph visited the site of live proposed road with the councillors, ami then said he would get plans prepared ami lay the matter before the Cabinet. As regards the deviation that was simply a question of money. RAILAGE TO THE BREAKWATER. The Mayor, Tn referring to the railage charges between here and the breakwater, said there was great complaint of the excessiveness of the changes, both for passengers and goods. If the townspeople wanted a little fun at the breakwater they were charged full fares. The 'buses could run in opposition to the trains at rcd.upcd rates. lie could not say whether the line was a profitable one, for the returns were included in those of the New Plymouth-Napier section. The charges were felt here because the town had 'to compete with other parts of the district, as Pa tea and Wanganui. Cr. Fraser, speaking as n member of the Chamber of Commerce, spoke of the splendid service provided generally, but pointed out that several

anomalies existed, of which the breakwater rate was one. The charge from the breakwater to town was 75 per cent, of the cost of carriage from Invercargill to the port. The freight from Dunedin wus 10s per ton, while the railage, including 2» wharfage, was 0s (id. It was cheaper for merchants to rail goods to Inglewood and then back to New Plymouth, than direct from the wharf.

O. Ahier quoted figures lo show that on timber the charge from the breakwater was equal to that from Wailara. It could be carted from the former plan; at !!d per JtMM'eet, whereas the railway charged Bd.

.Sir Joseph Ward said that as Mill- I ister for Kuilways he was only 100 : glad lo obtain the oi>inions of busi- , ness men. It was by criticism uloiie that improvements were made. tie would look into the mallei' to see if ' any improvements c o uld be made, lie i would like to tell them, however, that there was no difference in the j system here and between pons und towns in other parts of the colony. ' Referring to the question of mea- i suroment against weight, the Minis- , ter said tlie department had to take the ship's measurement until I the goods reached a goods shed. The I trouble was that everybody asked I for reduction in charges. On tin- i general principle thut the railways , should carry at the lowest possible ' charges he wus at one with the dc- I putution. It was intended to experiment wilh motor carriages for ! the railways, and four were being got ready now. He would like to see how the charges could be reduced by that means. These charges, however, were general throughout the colony. The good section had to pay for the bad. lie was particularly pleased to hear such good opinions of the railway ollicers hcru. He would carefully go into ihe matters placed before him. HEW POST OFFICE. The Mayor then brought under the Minister's notice the need for improved accommodation at the post oflice. Jn his opinion the Factories Act would not allow a private employer to work so many people in so small a room as was the case at the post odice. 'J'he sum of £4OOO had been placed on the estimates, and the work should be placed in hand. Mr E. M. Smith spoke on the urgency of the mutter. Sir .Joseph Ward promised" that the building would bo gone on with without delay. The delay was not quite the fault of the Government, for the work would have been put in hand had it not been for the division of local opinion as to the best site. lie hud told the member for the district that the building would bo erected on the present site. When the Cabinet met in Wellington next week he would be only too glad to get the matter carried DUtj