TOLL GATES.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 April 1921, Page 6

TOLL GATES.

THEIR ERECTION OPPOSED THE EXAMPLE OF TARANAKI ‘ The toll gate system was further discussed on Wednesday night by the Wellington Automobile Club. Dr. C. Prendergast Knight presided over a moderate attendance of members, who were called together to receive a report from Mr. L. Ashcroft Edwards with regard to the. t<>;i gates in Taranaki. Mr. Edwards reviewed the position in an exhaustive report and concluded by stating that the evidence collected by him Indicated:—“That the goqd roads of Taranaki are primarily due to a better conception by the Taranaki local bodies of the needs of present day not, generally speaking, to revenue derived from toll gates; that the toll gate system is viewed in Taranaki afl obsolete, objectionable, and, at best, ■> temporary expedient; that some rational form of Government control df arterial roads would meet with universal approval, provided an equitable allocation of funds for road construction and upkeep were made to the various local bodies concerned; that the details ot any such proposed Government scheme must be submitted to a conference ol local bodies, for their investigation and approval, before being put into opera* tion.” VIEWS ON THE TOLL GATES. At the present t'ime there were sevetf toll gates in Taranaki, and he investfe three most important. Mr, 'Edwards’ observations on these gates were as fallow: — Puniho Toll Gate.—Tax for twoseater car, 3s. This gate is situated approximately eighteen miles from Plymouth. This road is plain maca> dam and' tar-sealed macadam (mainly tar-sealed). The whole road is, in excellent condition, and was constructed entirely out of loan money. . The net annual revenue from this gate is £6OO. The cost of maintenance of tar-sealed road is about .flflO per mile, and of plain macadam about £3OO per mile. Taking the whole eighteen miles as tarsealed, the annual maintenance charge would be £2OBO, so that the revenue from the Puniho toll gate would not provide the annual maintenance cost by at least £BBO. leaving out of consideration the provision of interest and sinking fund on the original loan. Waippkn Toll Gate.—Tax on twoseater car. 2s Gd. Thia gate is on the main road between Stratford and Inglewood. In 1918 it was erected by Government permission, provided the proceeds were spent on constructing a tarsealed road. It was stipulated that when such road was completed the gate was to be removed. This stretch of road is probably the worst main road in Taranaki, and at the present is only partially tar-sealed.,- It has taken five years under the toll-gate system to bring it to its present partially-con-structed stgte, and it is estimated that it will take another two years to complete. The net annual revenue fro® this main road gate is £2338. It is held by authorities that if this road had been constructed out of loan money the work would have been completed long ago. Toll Gate between Eltham and Opunake.—Tax on two-seater car, Is Gd. This is situated on a macadam tarsealed road, which was constructed entirely out of loan money. The proceeds of this gate more t’han pay for the maintenance of the road. The toll is lowetf than elsewhere, due to the large number of big motor-wagons which ply con«< tinually between the factories and raih way. Mr. S. George Nathan asked was it not their j first duty to see that their own roads were in something like order f Why go away from home to investigate the question of roads? The roads in the City of Wellington were worse than the roads in any other city in the Dominion, and he would like the members to drop consideration of the toll-gate system until such time as their efforts secured an improvement to the local roads. NOT OPEN MINDED. The report of Mr. Edwards was strongly condemned by Mr. W. Stuart Wilson, who expressed the opinion that Mr. Edwards had gone to Taranaki with hia mind fully made up against the toll gate system, and had prepared his report accordingly. The report, as a whole, indicated that Mr. Edwards had only been looking for objections to the system; Mr. Edwards was entirely wrong when he stated that the best roads in Taranaki were made out of loan moneys, and that the people there were opposed to the toll gate system. The question should be deferred at present. and the members should study the policy of the Good Roads Association. Mr. J. A. Taylor joined issue with Mr. Wilson in his condemnation of the report; the club, however, was greatly indebted to Mr. Edwards, who, no doubt, had to back up his statements. They would be unwise to support the toll gate system, and he had much pleasure in moving a motion—“ That thia club w averse to the erection of toll gates.” Mr. C. M. Banks agreed with all the remarks of Mr. Taylor. Mr Nathan said his opinion had undergone a change since the last meeting. Tn view of the report, he was satisfied that toll gates were no good, and thb community would be better without them. Mr. Wilson said he was not averse ttt the motion, and would not vote against it; in fact, he would not vote at all. He wanted motorists to take a greater interest in securing good roads. ’Thd mere passing of resolutions was no A PRACTICAL SCHEME. Tn reply, Mr. Edwards agreed witX Mr. Wilson that it was perfectly useless gathering information and passing resolutions without taking some other definite action. A practical schfcmd was essential. Tf they were to combine with other public bodies to the end he had indicated they would have mosfi of the counties in the Dominion them rf As there was no further the motion was putjand carried. /'