ROSENEATH TRAMWAY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 29, 3 August 1923, Page 8

ROSENEATH TRAMWAY

AN OPPOSITION MOVE

PETITION TO BE PRESENTED.

As a rule, when a City Council or any other governing body embarks upon a work which, will give • residents of any particular locality an easier means of access to their homes, those residents wax enthusiastic as to the virtues of the kindly body which so well attends to their wishes and requirements, and that is so, oj course, with many Roseneath residents as regards the inclined tramway scheme to run up to Crescent road, but there are other residents in that district who consider that the proposed tramway will not tjmly serve as it should, and, in thus falling short—to their minds—will be an expensive business for the city as a whole, and of no great value to any but a comparatively few ratepayers. Accordingly, a petition has been drawn up, and is now being circulated for signature. It runs as follows: —

"We, the undersigned resident* of Roseneath, do hereby desire to enter an emphatic protest against the proposed scheme of the City Council to provide a means of access to Roseneath by way of an inclined tramway, to a point situated in Crescent road, Roseneath. . "We are of the opinion that the scheme aa outlined in the Press is both undesirable and unsuitable for the district, catering as it does for a comparatively small number of residents, and with overhead charges that must result in a financial loss being passed on to the ratepayers of the city. "We therefore pray that your council will reconsider the present proposal, and give us a means of access to the district that will benefit the residents of the whole of the Roseneath district, and thereby bring about the relief that all residents have been looking forward to for some considerable time past." Those who oppose the construction of the tramway hold that only the middle of the three fairly distinct residential levels of Roseneath can be served by the tram, and while they do not wish to deprive people living in "that middle section from the benefits of the scheme, they consider that the benefits to the comparatively few ratepayers in that immediate locality should not weigh unduly when the interests of the whole of Wellington are concerned. In other words, they maintain that the tram will not pay, and that while a few ratepayers will enjoy a benefit, particularly in wet weather, the city as a whole will not enjoy the prospect of making good working losses, wet weather and fine weather. They express doubts as to whether those Roseneath residents whose homes are on the higher levels will trouble to take the new car part-way up the hill when that will probably mean that they must ride further, round the bay to get to the starting-place of the new tramway, and when they do reach the top of the line they will still have to make detours quite as long as they now make to reach their homes. To the lower-level residents, the originators of the petition movement maintain, the lift will be of no benefit whatever.

- It is stated that the petition is being widely signed by residents of Roseneath. In the meantime, a start has been made by the council in the preliminary clearing work of scrub and gorse on the hillsides, and it is proposed to continue with the work on the old quarry face work shortly.