BIG CITY LOAN

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 268, 6 August 1920, Page 7

BIG CITY LOAN

WORKS TO COST £1,700,000

NEW TRAMWAY LINES HALF A MILLION FOR WATER DISCUSSION BY CITY COUNCIL .. .The long-promised schedule of the new municipal loan was brought 'forward by the Mayor (Mr. J. P.. Luke) at last niglifs meeting of the City Council. : "Without any preamble he.produced the schedule,-and proceeded to.read,the list, which was as follows : WATER SUPPLY. . . . _ £ .£ Orongorongo Tunnel ... 158,148 10 per cent, for engineer-' / ing and contingencies 15,8151379 cUains '21in,. castiron main from tunnel to Karori Reservoir , (casi-iron mains esti . mated at £25 per ton) 318,777 New tunnel at Waiwetu 30,000 522,738 PERMANENT PAVEMENTS. Clyde Quay Square . ■ ' Wakefield Street Victoria' Street , '"•Hunter Street. " ' ■ ' • Mercer Street Peatherston Street Liimbon, Quay' Square Thorndon Quay Also, including! New road, Brooklyn ~ ■ ' to Vogeltown ! Stormwater drainage and . foreshore improvements Island 13ay Improved access to Eosoneath TJoad to Khandallali Improvements to Evans Bay ftoad to Ivilbirnie Cambridge Terrace - i Widening Luxford Street Adelaide Road and ' Karori' Eoad 120,000 TRAMWAYS'. • New, track, via Victoria. ..' Street 30,000 . Duplication Thorndon ..Quay 10,000 Duplication existing lines Vivian Street, Island Bay, and Lyall Bay ..., 35,000, Car shed extension ...... 25,000 New workshop (Lyall - Bay) ..; ...J 35,000 . New cars."(24) 81,000 Extension of line to Ivaiwarra .„... 13,500 — 232,500 New electric power ■> station ■ 386,000 Oriental Bay sea-wall ■ . .• ■ (to Balena Bay) ...... 10,000 Public conveniences ... 32,000 Enclosure and plant,for Corporation Yard;.. 12,000 . Basin Eeserve, pavilion ...'and reserves ...; . 25,000 ' Thorndon Baths and . site .: , 15.000 Kelburn Tramway j 44,027 Extension to Northland ■ 37.385 .• t ' ' - " ' Grand total . 1.397,550 ITEMsIisCUSSED . . MAYOR EXPTiA JNS SOME TRAMWAY PROPOSALS. The Mayor, after reading the schedule, explained that tie proposed new tramline through the city would 'branch off the , Customhouse Quay, line at the A.M.?. corner, and would traverse Hunter Street, ■ Victoria and Wakefield Streets, and so ,link up with the..present line, at• Clyde Quay; He',said that tho manager had stated that this line w,as absolutely necessary, as, owing to Ilia buncbiinc up of the cars in Willis Street and at the -Manners Street earner, the speed of tho whole service was reduced. It was also " detrimental to the. rolling stock to bo . so frequently held up by stoppages. The new line—electric cars—to Kelburn would proceed by way of Upper Willis Street, Aro Street, llaroa Eoad, and through n short tunnel (at Mr. Putnam's property) on to Russell's store at ivorthland. To the total amount' of the proposed loan (i 11,397.550) there must.be added 10 pet cent, for iloafnge charges, Which was the usual charge to make. . Hataitai Tunnel, In reply to a question by Councillor T. Porsytn, the Mayor said that no provision was mado on the schedule for u tunnel to Hataitai, and he did not think that tho council should at this stage be asked to tathier file expenditure of an■other UiIGO.OOU for this tunnel. Ho was of opinion that such a, work could wait until tie conditions in reitard to labour and material were easier tlian : at the I present time. In his opinion: to spend .''.CIGO.OUO was not justified, and he did aor, support, it. Councillor Porsyth: Is thalt the esti- . niatoh : Tin.- Mayor said that the pre-war estimate for the work was .£BO,OOO, and li*> did;not think -that anyone would doubt : that the cost would ha' at least double the pre-war price. Everyone of the proposals oil the schedule represented essential works. It would be injudicious to put any fancy proposals on the schedule, and to add the cost of the tunnel would bo to increase the amount of the loan to c£1,500,000. That might jeopardise tho passingly the ratepayers of the loans for essential works. He; at all events, wps not' 'in favour of the tunnel \ cost being placed on the schedule. Other Points Raised, In reply to a further question the Mayor stated that the question of providing improved access to ltosemjath was being considered, and he hoped a scheme would be devised which would improve matters considerably. Councillor P. Eraser asked whether the committee had considered laying down a permanent surface' in Taranaki Street. The Mayor said that the work was not iucluded in the schedule, but if the ratepayers sanctioned the loan, the district would be relieved' of many charges for repairs and upkeep. This would enable a large sum of money to bo diverted to new works, and in . this connection Taranaki Street would not be lost sight of. Councillor E. A. Wriglit pointed out that there was nothing in the schedulo relative to a tramway to Melrose.

The Mayor said that the committee did not'propose to add to the schedulo It was already fully loaded. I£ the council put a "fancy programme" before the ratepayers it was bound to be turned down. Councillor Forsyth said that the list was a very generous one, and lie found no fault' with any of the items. He, however, desired to see the Haioitaj tunnel included in tho schedule. He moved that an estimate be prepared for this work, and bracketed in the loan pro(Kisals with the Kelburn extension. Ttcsidents on tile western hills could at pre sent drive into tho city by a fairly direel route, whicli facility was denied to the residents on the' eastern slopes of Mount Victoria. If the city was going to do anv good it must take a step forward, and to this end the proposals should commend themselves to the ratepayers. He considered that the ratepayers should be given an opportunity of sanctioning the Hataitai tunnel. Councillor C. 8., Norwood, in seconding tho motion, said that the loan proposals were on a conservative basis. He pointed out that a considerable portion of the loan was ear-marked for trading concerns, and these—lie referred particularly to tramways—would pay their own way. and relieve the ratepayers of the burden of meeting the interest charges. This would reduce the amount on which interest would have to be paid by the ratepayers to a little over .£700,000. Tho 11atnitai tunnel was an absolutely essential work. Supported on All Sides. Councillor L. M'Kenzie supported the proposals. As to tho proposed new tunsol ho was of tho opinion that an embargo would bo placed on th* goheqi&-

if sanctioned by tho ratepayers—as the routo to bo traversed would cut through tho-Wellington College grounds and pass rruite closo to the proposed now girls' college. Somo better method should be devised of providing additional means of communication between the city and Hataitai.

Councillor M. P. Luckie . said there must be somo additional means of communication between tho city and tho other side" of the hill. He thought that the council could go ns far as to commit itself to the principle of a better means of access, and providing up to .£200,000 for tho work. How did. they suppose that the peoplo of Hataitai were going 'to .vote'for the other proposals when the thing nearest their hearts was omitted? The least they could do was to give the publio the ■ opportunity of voting on the issue. That was why lie was prepared to vote for the motion.

Councillor J. Hutchison said he was not looking -:at it from the standpoint of the Hataitai people, but as providing better access to tho eastern suburbs for the whole of the people of Wellington. He considered that the proposed now arterial road to Newtown and Berliarapore, which had been reported on by the engineer, was just as important as a new tunnel to Hataitai. He thought that road, and also the tramway to Vogeltown, should be included in the schedule of the loan. ,

Councillor I'Vaser pointed out they were being treated to the spectacle of the chairmen of the various committees (all members' of the Finance Committee) advocating a work which been omitted.

Councillor Forsyth: The. tunnel was left out, pending tlie result of this after tioon's conference.

Councillor I'raser said that generally the schedule oply included works that were very much needed. He was pleased to see the amount for conveniences. Tho ratepayers must pass that amount, and if'they did not tlie.council mu6t go on with' them. Councillor Bennett said that, generally speaking, the Finanoe Committee had tabled a very fair schedule. At the same time, he considered that the works should be grouped according to their urgency. He objected to the proposal relative to the Kelburn tramway, as the proposed route would not ease Kelburn in tho slightest, and he regretted that somo proposal had not been brought down that would assist the residents of this locality. . The route suggested was too circuitous. 'He favoured connecting Kelburn with tho city b.v means of a cable ca~ service from Willis Street to Mount (Street ' Tunnel Proposal Included.

At this stage the Mayor put Councillor Forsyth's motion to include .£150,000 for the construction of a new tunnel to Hataitai. It was passed without a dissentient vote, the' Mayor declining to record lih vote against the proposal. Councillor SfiorlanJ moved that an amount bo included lor the continuation of tlie tramway from the "7so gates to the top of the hill (.about forty-four chains). This was seconded, and.passed without a dissentient vote.. Councillor Chapman asked tho council to approach the ratepayers urging tho acceptancoi of the whole or fKo proposals on tlie schedule. Councillor Luckie urged that some provision should be made for the erection of hot salt water baths and Turkish baths for tho city, as an adjunct to the Te Aro baths. • , . After a short discussion the amount allocated &>" baths was increased from ,£15.000 to -£25.000. in order to m;.ke the prevision suggested by Councillor Luckie. The schedule as amended was then adopted. With the addition of the tunnel and baths schemes, along with, the 10 per cent, (where not already provided for in tlia schedule), the total amount of the proposals to be placed before the nxeVayers will bo approximately £1, <00,000.

How-the Pol! Will be Takon. It should be explained that a separate "Yes—No" vote will be required from the ratepayers in respect to each item or group of items that are brought out to totals. For Instance, there will be onlv one "Yes" or "No" for tlie amount reciuired for. "Water Supply, and so witu "Permanent Pavements, Tramways." Prom "New i Electric Power Statioh*' downwards, each issue .will .require a sepavate vote. J 1