THE TRAMWAYS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 273, 17 November 1922, Page 8

THE TRAMWAYS.

EXTENSIONS WANTED. MT. EDEX AXD MT. ROSKILL. I The City Council decided a fortnight , 'ago that "the next tramway extension | undertaken should be to Edendale. pro- j J ! vided that the Kinesland overhead j' i bridjre be first erected by tlie Railway J I Department, and last night it was ; j I decided ou the recommendation of thej Electricity and Tramways Committee ' that further consideration of ti'.ie pro-j' posed extension to Point Chevalier^ ] should be deferred to a later date. j .Deputations were received by couiicil-j^ regarding extensions desired by the Mt. Helen Council and the Mt. Ro=kiU Road . j Board. 11 Tho Mayor of Mount Eden. Mr. J. W. Ij Shackelford, stated that Mount Eden |, bad been promised an extension by thej: old Tramways' Company as far back as |, 1813. There was a considerable popula-ji j tion beyond the present termiuue of the ( , j Mount Eden Road, including many cityl, i ratepayers, who would find an extension |] | much more convenient than the Epsom:, j service. Beyond the Dominion Road • | terminus there were 1200 people whom , the Edendale extension would not serve. . | The Mount Eden and Dominion Road • ! lines v-ere among the best paying routes i and extensions to these would pay from i j the start. Mr. Taslev urged on behalf of Mount ' Roskill that the half-mile gap between! | that district and Dominion Road ter- j miniw lie filled by tramway extension. | This would soon pay the council as large i j areas of land would then be subdivided j and built on. l It was contended by Cr. ti. R. Hutchinson that, in the opinion of experts, no extension would pay in the first year ! or two. and they could not, in any case. j undertake to bear the cost of more than ! one extension at a time. I Mr. Shackelford maintained that lack of tram communication was hindering the progress of the districts referred to. The Mount Eden and Dominion roads were now ready, but it would take some time to prepare the Edendale Road for I tramway extension. I The Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson, assured I the deputation that the council had a . serious sense of its responsibilities in the ! matter of tramway extensions. What; Mr. .Shackelford had referred to as a , promise was really only an expression of opinion by tbe old Tramway Company ag ; to what should be done. The council !• had first to decide on tche best extension, j' Practically the whole of the £125,0001 iswie of the £1,250,000 loan would be '! absorbed by the cost of the Great Sout> I • Road and "the Edendale extensions. The j Edendale extension had only been I decided on after the fullest consideration ' and consultation with the council's ex- j pert, Mr. Ford, the tramways' manager,] ; who was utterly without bias in the matter. Edendale had first claim and could not he set aside, and. under the ' conditions laid down, it must go on after the completion of the Great South Roa/1 line next October. The Council, would then have to decide as to further i extensions and go to the ratepayers for ' a further loan for any new work. He ' did not think there was any prospect of the present council seeking another loan for tramways, especially as it ihad not. ' spent the existing loan. Tlie council had quite an open mind as regarded ! further extensions, and would approach ] the matter on facts and figures, with full regard to its obligations. The repre- • dentations of the deputation would receive full and fair consideration, but ' it could not hope for extensions in the , next few months. j