Joint Chch demand to end tunnel toll

Press, 7 April 1978, Page 4

Joint Chch demand to end tunnel toll

A combined meeting of interested parties yesterday demanded the abolition of tolls on the ChristchurchLyttelton road tunnel. It decided to seek a meeting with the Minister of Finance (Mr Muldoon) and the Minister of Works and Development (Mr W. L. Young). The meeting, called by the Lyttelton Harbour Board and the Lyttelton Borough Cours cil, was unanimous in its condemnation of toll increases granted recently by Mr Muldoon. It agreed to form a deputation to press for the tunnel to be brought under the control of the National Roads I Board, placing it on the same : footing as any other public road and thus eliminating tolls. I At the suggestion of the ! president of the Canterbury Trades Council (Mr L. G. Morel) the meeting decided to try to get Mr Muldoon and Mr Young to meet the deputation at the tunnel. Mr Morel said that this would have much more psy-

•Ichological advantage than • having the deputation meet f.Mr Muldoon “on his home -(ground in Wellington.” At the meeting were repre- ■ sentatives of the Canterbury f;Trades Council, the Harbour I Board Employees' Union, the I Canterbury Manufacturers’ . Association, the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, the > Bureau of Exporters and ImI porters, the Canterbury Pro- . gress League, the Heathcote, . Waimairi, and Paparua ; county' councils, and the . Lyttelton branch of the Social Credit Political League. The Mayor of Christ- , church (Mr H. G. Hay) represented the Christchurch ( City Council. L Mr Morel said the Trades j Council felt that there was unanimous support for the ' abolition of tolls and in the normal democratic course of i I I

events there was no reasu why they should remain. The cause seemed to be a "bureaucratic pile-up.’’ Canterbury should take a leaf out of the unionists book: when words proved insufficient, positive and direct action had to be taken. The chairman of the meeting, Mr J. Brand, chairman of the Harbour Board, objected to demands bv the Lyttelton Social Credit branch that the Road Tunnel Authority be dismissed because it was not representing the interests of Canterbury “I cannot let that go,” he said. “These people have been elected to do a job and they have faithfully carried out what they were put there to do. It would be unfortunate to attack them here We are here to seek the abolition of tolls,”