STRONG PROTEST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 249, 21 October 1935, Page 9

STRONG PROTEST.

VICTORIA AVE. TRAMS.

SUGGESTED REMOVAL

BIATTER AGAIN DEFERRED.

Frequent comment and interjections from a deputation of upwards ■ of 30 residents of the Victoria Avenue district ■which waited on the Auckland Transport Board this morning caused , the chairman, Mr. H. G. E, Mason, to ask the members to maintain order and not make a demonstration. The deputation, led by Mr. Dawson Donaldson and Mr. A. L. Spence, voiced a strong protest against the suggestion that the tram tracks in Victoria Avenue be removed. The whole matter was eventually referred back to the board in committee. "We aro here to place before the board what we regard its a serious grievance," said Mr. Donaldson. "We feel that the threat to remove the trams from our district is unfair and a gross injustice. We appeal to ihe board to go into the matter fully, freely and fairly on its merits, and we only aek that the Victoria Avenue district should have the same treatment as any other. Even the question of 'Will it pay? , ie not the first consideration of the board. The first question to be considered is whether the service is fair and efficient."

Mr. Donaldson hoped that there would be no discrimination between Victoria Avenue and any other district. There was a strong feeling that the view was taken that all the large houses in Victoria Avenue were provided with motor care, but the workers in thoee houses were not. The trams had been in Victoria Avenue for 20 years, and there were men working in offices who had bought homes there because of the trams. Scores of homes would suffer if ' the trams were taken away. It would be an injustice to the people if they were forced to travel in crowded buses. "No Extensions Pay." "If the returns on the Victoria Avenue route are to be considered I would like to see them compared with the returns of the other extensions," said Mr. Donaldson. "Compare them with Meadowbank, Mount Eden, Dominion Road, Owairaka and Onehunga. I am told that more money is lost on the Owairaka extension than on any other and I am also told that none of the extensions pay." A Voice: There is no doubt about it. "I find that the total loss to the board on the whole route, and not from Eemuera post office down to the bottom of the avenue, is a book loss of only £1123," continued Mr. Donaldson. "Mr. Ford makes it clear that if the tracke are removed you will save only £182 a.year. The Victoria Avenue line has been starved for yeare as far as maintenance is concerned." Mr. J. Sayegh said figures quoted by Mr. Donaldson were not up to date and he suggested that the board supply the deptrtation with the latest figures and adjourn the matter in the meantime. 'There were criee of "No" from men end women members of the_ deputation.

Mr. Donaldson declared that thet most economical thing to do would be to allow the line to remain. Hβ did not think that the board would strike a cruel Wow at the district and ,'break faith -with so many people who had built homes there. It was conceivable that the problem would Dβ solved if an arrangement wae made whereby tramis ran to and from the Remuera post office through the day, supplemented by a through service for rush hours, -said Mr. Mason. "It's a sheep track as it is," a member of the'deputation called out. Buses Not Wanted. Mr. Mason: Would the people rather have a tram service of sorts than a bus service ? Mr. Donaldson: We do not like buses. Mr. Spence said that Victoria Avenue shopkeepers had asked him to present a "round robin" to the board, in which, they eaid the removal of the trams would be a serious blow. He estimated that out of his own small household the board got £ 20 a year without evening or Sunday travelling. There were still large estates to be cut up down the avenue and he believed that when 50 new households were established the hoard's difficulties would be overcome "When the board states definitely that the trams in Victoria Avenue are going to stay building will go on just as it is in other parts of Auckland, said Mr. Spence. "There is room for 300 or 400 more h.ouses when both sides of the avenue are built over." Mr. Spence suggested that there should be three through, trips to town in the morning, three to bring people home after work, and a trip to take residents to and from the theatres. Residents would be satisfied with those trips, together with a service up and down the avenue during the day. After the deputation had withdrawn Mr. Mason formally moved that the tram tracks in Victoria Avenue be removed and that the board take the necessary steps to do so. An amendment by Mr. J. A. C. Allurn that the whole question be referred back to the board in committee was carried.