BOROUGH TRAMWAYS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 183, 12 January 1915, Page 3

BOROUGH TRAMWAYS.

PROPOSED CCKTAILMKXT. WEST EXD RESIDENTS ALARMED. DEPUTATION TO TIE: MAYOR. I ' A large and reprcscntat'., e deputation of West End residents waited on His Worship the Mayor yesterday relative to tile Town Clerk's letter, read at ilie last meeting of the Council, concerning the tramway scheme, and the advisability of considering a deletion of part of the route for the present for financial reasons Mr H. (Joodacre, who acted as spokesman, after apologising for the absence of Mr S. W. Shaw, said that, in accordance with a suggestion made by the Mayor, the views of the deputation had been put ill writing, and lie called on Mr E. P. Webster to read the following memorandum:— "Your Worship,—At a representative meeting of ratepayers resident in the western portion of the borough, convened to consider a letter from the Town Clerk to the Council, suggesting that the contractors for the construction of tlie tramways be instructed to leave the see-1 tion in Devon Street AVest from Egmont! Street to Morley StV.'et until after all] the other works should be completed, wo j were requested to lay before you its: views upon a matter which it considered I to vitally all'eet its interests. "We therefore respectfully ask your Worship to place before your council certain aspects of the question. In the lirst place, the western portion of the borough, including' Westown, came into Creator Xew Plymouth under the definite promise of i'le enjoyment of a tram service to Morlev Street by way ol D'-von Street and eventually from there to Westmvn. Further, ratepayers \vei\- asked to vote for the whole of the fi.iiiiway scheme as originally laid before them, and to alter that scheme at this stage would be to break faith with them. Our committee wish to emphatically protest against the Town Clerk's reason for the work in question being delayed, viz., shortage of money, and respectfully suggests that the Council use its powers to obtain sufficient fnmls to complete the whole scheme simultaneously, rather than delay an im'portant part of it. Its importance ean-j not be minimised in view of what mayi be described as the extraordinary growth ■ f the suburb of Westown during tko last few months. The delay of the construction of the Devon Street West portion of the tramways would entail a | considerable loss ol revenue to the Borough. '"We embody in this letter some of the meeting's reasons for its protest, in ! deference to a suggestion emanating [ from your Worship, and propose to hand I it to you when a deputation from the residents in the western portion of the Borougli wait upon you in the course of a few days. We would like, however, to respectfully ask your Worship to j believe that the reasons given above are ! not exhaustive, and to request you to place before your Council any otlier ob- , jections that may be urged by ratepayers who will act as spokesmen to such deputation,

We arc, Sir, "Your obedient servants, "STANLEY W. SHAW, "Chairman. •'E. P. WEBSTER, "Secretary." Mr Coodacre reminded the Mayor that] the chief factor inducing the West End! ratepayers to join the Borough was the' tramway scheme. He recognised that al] the work could not be done at once : and that it was not for the deputation to dictate to the Council as to ways and means. The duty of carrying out' the tramways scheme rested' on the Council, but he pointed out that some of those who had come into the Borough were now paying double the amount of rates that they paid prior to the merger. T lie proposal to curtail the scheme was a very bad one being unprogrcssive and breaking faith with the ratepayers. He hoped that the suggestion of 'the Town Clerk would not be entertained. Mr. Medley remarked that the matter hit the West End very hard, particularly the suburb of Westown, where settlement was progressing rapidly 011 the faith of the tramway scheme. He considered the Council would certainlv gain revenue by working the scheme as , originally laid down. The West End people had very strong views on the matter.

The Mayor said that, personally, he was glad to have an expression of opinion from the deputation as a guide for the Council in considering any curtailment of the scheme, a course it had not yet taken. The estimates of cost of the scheme had been submitted by Mr I (lack two years before the tenders were called, and prices had risen materially, with the result that to carry out the whole scheme the Council would have to call up the 10 per cent, additional allowed by law, and thus obtain an extra. £5500. On present appearances that course seemed inevitable, for. in addition to the extra cost of material as originally estimated and that provided for in the tenders, the borough 1.. i to allow the contractor over t'-ino extra freight, owing to the war—a course that had been taken by other public bodies What action, the Council would take concerning the scheme he was unable to say until the tenders for the car-shed were opened that night. The estimates for this work had jumped up £2OO already. The town clerk pointed out that the rise was more than C2OO, as the price included £7OO for land.

Continuing, tlio Mayor -aid ilint if it was found necessary to curtail the work, tlicy could rely on tlio Council to givo tlio matter tlx: fullest- consideration. Personally, lie would like to see 110 part curtailed. There was a rwjrjjcs. tion that tile Breakwater Mid slionid be ciu'tailod, lint lie looked upon this end as one of the host reveime-prodiiciiiL' ends of the line for currying people out there, and especially the public, who would doubtless u-,,. t'.itrams when l;< 1 illyi' to tiie wharf in pi'<'ference to the train, as dcuie ai Onehnn.aa. On tlio other hand. there was a certain amount- of frnllic to the Kit/my end that would be of <rvent assistance, namely, people ;_'otnir to the rille ranue, pdf link':, show grounds, and saleyards. who would use the trains .is lout; as iliev could .set a reasonable di-daaec the \V;(iv ahe de> llai. With the additional 10 jn r e'ni. tl'iy were entilled i(i raise he hopi d Ihty would <j\-\ through all ri:d:t If tie. c rould imi do this they would eoiue to the iai*\ ers. : r what ;>ii;di|. he required to e.an- ; phde the -ysfmi. IIV looked oirward to i 11 !( ' i.e-Wiou with complete i-onIl« ; The I rouble WilS flue flnl. it) JDIV nivj'leet \ liy past or CoiMed-. hut to the ' world-wide iuerea-e iu t!i«* cn-i of ma- ; t rials inn! fi• i • ihf i » .-live fin- proposii i.-n I Mas pi|( to till- i';tt \ ! t was «jUr.e ] ,v "iu'»ture to assume that any ;-ort. of : the would he en I out. Kiel every " elV'H'i. would he made (o a\ eM tin-". The \ town eh'rk had very properly put, Cm: : pM'di iutl before ("he (~\>nnwl. , The (own elerk explained that he ■- un-rely felt th«* Coum-d was uearln.L.' its • limit, rmd it was hU duty to prevent them incurring any e\tra liability. 1 "Mr. rJnodnere returned thank* for the i courteous hearing and the doI putafion withdrew.