HUTT ROAD FEES

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 192, 9 May 1924, Page 6

HUTT ROAD FEES

MOTORISTS’’ CLAIM FOR REDUCTION THE MAYOR’S COMMENT “ALMOST SUICIDAL”. The Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright), who is also chairman of the Hutt •- Road Board, commented strongly yesterday on the claims of motorists for a reduction in the Hutt Road fees. “I notice,” he said, “that at a recent meeting of the Wellington Automobile Club, the matter of readjusting the Hutt Road fees for motorists was raised by Mr. Wilson, of the Wairarapa, and that subsequentlv a resolution proposing to urge a reduction of the fees was carried. I would like to say in connection with that matter, and as one very much interested in the road question, that when the new Hutt Road Bill was before Parliament (tho Bill which gave the right to impose levies) every motor vehicle owner whom we could get hold of was asked to express his view on the idea of getting such a road and the proposed means of paying for it, and not one consulted was against it. Indeed, everyone concerned urged us to go on with the Bill, saying that they were only too willing and glad to pay the very moderate fees proposed. When the Bill was committed to the Local Bill Committee, any objectors to the measure were invited to step forward and give their views in opposition to the Bill, but there were no objectors. On that account the Bill was passed by the House without any difficulty. Now. after the road has been made and is proving most satisfactory to all its users, we have this opposition to the principle of the Act from the very people who urged its enactment, and whose interests, more than any one elses, it proposes to conserve. “I well remember one motorist pointing out at the time that by such a road being provided he would save the fee over and over again in petrol consumption, tire cost, and wear and tear on the car generally, and it was feasible to conclude that such would be the case when the condition of the old road and that of the new were compared. One man who uses the ’Tutt Road daily for six days out of the week all tho year round, told me personally that he can get 21 miles to the gallon of petrol out of his car on the new road, as compared with 18 nvles on, the old macadam road—a saving of one-seventh. Surelv that counts for something! That is in addition to what he saves on tires and wear and tear.

“It anpears to me that the motorists should be the last, people to object to the fees levied for specially prepared roads as no one benefits bv them other than themselves. It is impossible to conceive of ratepayers, the majority of whom do not own cars, voting for special expenditure on roads which are only going to benefit motorists. They simply won’t do it. and there is no reason whv they should.

“As.it happens, it seems as though there is going to be a surplus in fees over and above the amount needed for interest and sinking fund (2 per cent.) on the £50.000 loan. Motorists in considering this should remember that at the time the Bill was passed the fees charged did not in the total represent any appreciable surplus, but since then the number of motorists has increased, and consequently more revenue is derivable under the provisions of the Act. But all the same, I must confess that I cannot see any virtue in the proposal to decrease the tax. I submit that motorists, by agreeing to such a .proposal, are adopting a very short-sighted policy in their own interests. If 30s. a year is going to give them 20 or 30 miles instead of five miles of good road, why should they seek to check , such good road progress? Tho present idea is to go in for an extended road policy in and about Wellington, • which in the saving of petrol and tires must be of great and almost immediate benefit to every car owner.

“Let me say this. I had a conversation the other day with the Alayor of San Francisco (Air. Rolph), who told mo of a great speedway stretching out from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and when I asked him who paid for it he replied: ‘AA’hy, who should pay for it? The motorists paid for every inch of it.’ Not onlv does such a road as the Hutt Road track actually save money for the motorist, but it adds so much to one’s comfort in travelling that it seems to me almost suicidal for the motorists to say they do not wish to pay this moderate fee. Bv saying as much they are saying: AV© don’t want any more good roads.’ T know if I were a motorist I would want bitumen tracks over all the roads, and would certainly be only too glad to get them at a cost of 30s. a year.”