TRAMWAY BOARD POLICY

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25735, 22 February 1949, Page 4

TRAMWAY BOARD POLICY

Committee Has Not Met Yet EXPERT ADVICE SUGGESTED There was lively discussion at a meeting of the Christchurch Tramway Board yesterday when Mr C. C. Holland asked the chairman (Mr G. Man-, ning) if the policy committee of the board, set up a month ago, had met yet Mr Manning said the committee had not yet met, but would do so as soon as possible. The board had so much on its hands that it had not been possible for a committee meeting to be called. , “I am very disappointed. Here s a month gone and nothing done by the policy committee,” said Mr Holland. “This board has a well-known policy, the policy of dithering and waiting for the findings of the Local Bodies Commission. “It is rumoured round the town that unofficial approaches to members of the Christchurch City Council have been made by members of this board, he said, “to see if the council was willing to take over the functions of this board.” It was quite plain to the public of Christchurch and all those interested in the activities of the Local Bodies Commission that the City Council should be asked to take over the board’s work, said Mr Manning. “It is my experience of the lethargy of commissions that. we shall have trolley-buses running along our routes long before any decision is made,” said Mr R. T. Newman. “There will be a meeting of the policy committee, but we can’t do these things at the rush.”

Mr T. H. Butterfield: As a city councillor may I say that I have never heard of unofficial approaches being made by members of this board to the City Council.

Expert Report Suggested ‘‘l accept your assurances,” said Mr H. A. C. North, “but I wish to move that an outside expert be appointed to examine the proposals contained in the report of the previous board and those contained in the Manning report.” It was not his report, said Mr Manning, but the report of the Labour Party. “I do not want you to be facetious. Mr North,” he said. He was not deliberately facetious, said Mr North. The report was popularly known as the Manning report. “It seems to me that this matter of the future public transport policy is too important to become the football of local body politics,” Mr North said. “I see in the newspapers that two gentlemen from the Old Country ace going to Sydney to report on the public transport system there. We must have the best for Christchurch, for we are administering a big business and we should do our best.” Mr Manning: I would remind you that this board decided to set up a policy committee at its last meeting. Now you are contradicting it. “We must have the best scheme for Christchurch and costs are justified if we can persuade the people of Christchurch that we have a scheme that is as nearly perfect as human ingenuity can make it.” said Mr North. The board had two persons in its employ who were from Great Britain, so why should the board concern itself with other opinions? asked Mr Butterfield. Outside expert opinions were not worth listening to when the. board had the opinions of its own officers. If the council took over the board’s work there would be one mode of transport and the system of management would be better. The losses, too, would hardly be greater than they were at present. Labour Party Policy

“Do these two experts that are going to Sydney have a bias towards buses or trams?” asked Mr N. R. Forbes. “I understand that in Melbourne and Pretoria they are scrapping their buses and reverting to trams. If that is so this board, so far as its future policy is concerned, must tread warily. There must be unbiased expert opinions.” “To me these experts don’t get anywhere.” said Mr Jones. “My policy is my party’s policy—rightly or wrongly” After several interjections, Mr Jones said: “Five of us here are pledged to this policy”—the policy of trolley-buses. “The whole thing is a matter of electricity against foreign fuel, and’ the policy of the party is to live within the country.” said Mr Newman. There must be Diesel buses, of course; it will not be possible for all the smaller routes to be electrically reticulated. “We feel confident that with a fare reduction we will succeed without an expert. The policy committee working with the general manager will solve the question.”

“I agree with Mr North that we need an expert opinion,” said Mr W. S. Mac Gibbon. “We have two policies: the old one which was arrived at after long investigation, and your policy which we have not yet seen.” “This sort of discussion is becoming a commonplace and I decided to let it have another good airing,” said Mr Manning. “The policy of the old board was rejected by the Labour Party and by a greater party than the Labour Party—the citizens of Christchurch. Ari expert cannot alter the geography of Christchurch.”

"We have the experts. We brought them out from England,” said Mr F. L. Brandt. “We have the brains and we have the ability. The only thing we lack is lhe money.” He agreed, said Mr North, but the* advice of an expert employed by the board had not been taken on a previous occasion when a loan was suggested. “I regret that Mr Jones stands for the policy of the Labour Party right or wrong. It was a very similar attitude to Mr Jones’s that encouraged dictatorships in the past. I won t weary you with all the things that the Labour Party has done wrong. If I did that I’d be here until 10 o’clock.” “They’ve never done anything wrong,” said Mr Jones. It was decided by six votes to three that the question of seeking expert opinion be left to the policy committee.