TRAMS TO OPOHO

Evening Star, Issue 18048, 16 August 1922, Page 10

TRAMS TO OPOHO

TO THB EDITOB, Sir, —Mr Ferguson's loiter in your issue j of last .evening, although somewhat j lengthy, waa in the main one of tho most sensible letters you have had in yoiu' columns on tliis much-discussed topic. But when Mr Ferguson suggests that tho tram for Opoho should branch oft tho Castle street line at or about the Albany street loop, I would respectfully point out to him that by advocating such he is partly defeating what I take to be his desire in. the interests of all concerned! —namely, that we should get to Opoho from the city for a 2d fare. The Gardena to Opoho route would cost us at least 3d each way, and would nSver pay. By Mr Ferguson’s suggested route (the second best route available) there could not bo less than three penny sections—'the first to Albany street loop, the second to, eay, the cemetery gate, and tho third to Opoho. As an Opoho resident I would not object to our being taxed by a 3dl faro for the two miles from the City to Opoho bv the direct route that would branch off for Pdichet Bay and Opoho at the station, and, then proceed via Harrow, Forth, and Eden streets—at least unfit such time as the_cerneterv gate to Opoho portion of snch route proved payable. I am convinced many other so far silent residents of Opoho would do likewise, because wo know that within two years at tho very most such direct route would pay, and pay handsomely. Another matter in reply to Mr Ferguson. He is wrong when he questions the building capacity of the unbuilt-on laud at Opoho. If Hie City Council was really alive to the interests of the citizens of Greater Dunedin it would immediately get a Bill through Parliament empowering it to purchase at present valuations all the large blocks of land at Opoho that are unbuilt on. It could pay for same by corporation debentures, paying, say, 5 per cent, interest, and redeemable in fifty years’ time, or longer if necessary. It could get the necessary power from Parliament, if it does not possess such power already, to build at least from 100 to 200 workers’ homes on such acquired land, for the land at Opoho referred to would hold anywhere from 200 to 500 homos, with a decent-sized section to each house

In conclusion, permit, me to ask whether the (both magnetic and hand) at present on our city electric trams would 1 be sufficient to prevent an accident on the routs tbat is apparently the pet scheme of Messrs H. P. Harvey and William Begg. The route from the Signal Hill road is a steep and dangerous one, fully as dangerous, I believe, Bfl the Wellington to Brooklyn route, where a car got away a few years ago, and a lady was killed.—l am, etc., G. 8. Thomson August 15.

TO THE EDITOE. Sir,—Your correspondent, Mr' R. Ferguson, offers no apology for “ butting in," but he should for not doing so at the proper time—viz., at the public meeting •held last week to discuss the question of -routes. Evidently he,prefers to shoot from safety. Your readers have, I hope, noticed that Mr Ferguson’s letter is mainly the expression of Mr Ferguson’s opinions based on mere “thinks,” and that ho shows an' utter ignorance of, or indifference to, facts. One fact he does mention, however, for he says: “It is not a matter for Opoho residents only, hut for the ratepayers genorally, as ’they have to pay.” Mr Ferguson is quite right there) hut all the same he is not logical in his Qonclusion, for he points out that if the oars come to Opoho from the station via Pelichet Bay it will only be a 2d fare all the way, while by the George street main trunk’ line there will be an extra penny fare from the Gardens Corner. I ask: Can a man be in his right, senses when he argues that it will pay the ratepayers generally—or shall wo say the council?—better to carry passengers to Opoho from Pelichet Bay for nothing than to cany them the shorter route from the Gardens for a penny? Mr Ferguson trusts, in his simplicity, that the City Council will weigh well his arguments in favor of the Pelichet Bay route. Does he. Rip Van Winkle-like, not know that the council has been weighing during the last fifteen or sixteen years such arguments as be has brought forward; also that after having estimates prepared for several different routes they nave wisely turned them all down excepting the one from Gardens Comer to Opoho? Mr Ferguson has gazed at Opoho from Duke street and Dalmore, and as a result “ thinks ” there are few houses there, that there, is little land left to be built on, and that at Opoho the tram line will come to a dead end. I live at Opoho, andi am in a position to say that Sir Ferguson is evidently ignorant of the facts of the case. He should not gaze from afar, but investigate on tho spot before forming bis opinions. Had Mr Ferguson attended the public meeting and aired his views there, he would have learned that the Opoho people want to bo carried to and from their homes and the business and shopping centres, and not through the hack streets to the railway station; and also they want their children to bo able to get home from school on wet days without wet through. One lady at the meeting said she had had to pay £3O last year to doctors because of her, children getting soaked to tho skin through lack of a car in rainy weather; and other equally forcible arguments were used in favor of tho route decided upon by the council. Surely Mr Ferguson ehould be able to appreciate the fact that tramways are as a rule run for the convenience of tho public they are intended to serve, and not to meet the whims and “ thinks” of people only indirectly interested. Tho Opoho residents have’ all along contributed to tho upkeep of all the other sections of the tramway system without getting their own requirements met, so they owe nothing to the ratepayers generally, and are entitled now to consideration. In conclusion, I would remark that, while Logan Park will no doubt prove a great attraction to the residents of tiro city, it will not, even when in years to como it is at its best, bo able to outdo in attractiveness or as a health resort the area of ground which encloses the upper Botanical Gardens and the 'recreation ground at sunny, high-and-dry Opoho.—l am, etc., 11, P. Harvey. August 15. 10 THE ZDITOB. Sir,—Although Mornington, Roslyn, and Kaikorai have ten times the population of Opoho, yet our od fare up barely pays working expenses. None.of their extensions pay expenses, although the terminus is well populated. There is no reason why any hill tram should be less than 3d up, and Opoho people would not pay it from the Gardens to Opoho summit. Why? Because every house is within half a milo of the Normanby tram. The cost of construction would bo prohibitive, and the uplifting of the track .within a feudays would materially damage the road for existing traffic., Not one penny must be spent upon such a mad Venture. At the cost of, say, £2OO a room, how many houses will be built in Opoho during the next twenty years? The City Council will not purchase any land up there at half the price now asked for it.—l am, etc., James Smith. August 15,