The Sun MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1914. TRAMWAY EXTENSIONS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 51, 6 April 1914, Page 6

The Sun MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1914. TRAMWAY EXTENSIONS.

Quick transit to the outlying suburbs is one of the most effective precautions that can be taken against the congestion of population in the heart of the city, and for this reason alone the residents of St Martins are to be congratulated on securing a street car service through their district to the foot of the Port Hills. The line cannot be expected to produce a surplus of receipts over expenditure for some years to come, but if the residents are content to be rated for the deficiency, that is their own affair, and we hope their progressiveness and their faith in the future of the district opened up by the line will be rewarded by an increase in the value of their properties. The area served by the new St Martins tram is eminently suited to the requirements of the man who grapples with the cost of living by raising garden produce, fruit growing, keeping poultry, etc. The frosts are not nearly so sharp as they are further out on the plains, and this means a good deal to the amateur gardener who is keen about getting vegetables and fruit early in the season. There is plenty of room for settlement all along the hillsides above St Martins, and the locality has an outlook that compares very favourably with the view to be obtained from Cashmere Hills. Before many years are past the builder and landscape gardener will no doubt transform the tussock-clab hillside into a picturesque suburb. Christchurch is fortunate in having so much room for expansion,, and although the city is steadily growing in all directions, the disposition to take advantage of the elevation afforded by the Hills is-growing, and there is undoubtedly a great future in front of the hill suburbs as residential areas. We would suggest to the residents both of St Martins and Cashmere Hills, that they ought not to rest content with having got their tramway services, but that they should take steps to advertise the attractions of the Hills, and do everything in their power to foster settlement. Unless something of the kind is done, they are likely to ; be paying rates to make up the losses on their tramway extensions for a good while to come. The tram lines have been laid down in advance of the actual present-day requirements of both districts, and it rests with the residents to try and boom their respective suburbs, and so create the traffic necessary to show a reasonable return on the initial expenditure.