Car ship still in debate

Press, 16 August 1976, Page 8

Car ship still in debate

PA Wanganu No early decision is likelj on the application by Cai Haulaways (N.Z.), Ltd to th< No. 6 Transport Licensinj Authority for 16 additiona vehicle authorities to earn cars to and from a car fern sailing from Wanganui t< Tirnaru. Dunedin, and Nel son. The authority (Mr B. C Campbell) said at the end o the hearing on Friday tha he did not know when h< would be able to deliver hi reserved decision. He appreciated the import ance and urgency of th matter to the applicant com pany, but his commitment were extremely heavy. The hearing ended with i final charge and counter charge in the summings-up. The Railways Departmen counsel (Mr P. H. Grocott submitted that Haulaway; was threatening the author ity, "virtually holding a gur to his head,” in its insistence that the shipping service would not be estab lished if the road licencei were not granted. Mr W. M. B. Thompson chairman of directors ol

ji I Haulaways, who appeared for the company, charged ly I that while the Railways irj might have established a >e I theoretical ability to handle ; igjthe freight, its actual peral I formance was far short of ■y this. •y In his summing up, Mr :o Grocott described as! il-i'groundless” the assertion by! Haulaways that it needed to C. control the cars while on of|land and that the Railways! at I could not be relied upon to! lejprovide the desired service, is | The department hadj ■shown that it could handle a; 1- similar cargo, containers, as I tie, required by the company, n-, The train services and ts I waggons were available for I the cars which would have a to be carried. ir- The Railways had been[ blamed for the demise of the! nt'Unit Shipping Company. It t)|had been said that the de-i ,s-partmen t could not cope,]; r- and even sabotage had not in been ruled out. The depart-; t-iment was deeply concerned'! r-iat these charges and had] o-1 gone to some pains to rebutt i is [them. The sea link could be in-1 introduced and be successful if i if'the cars were carried by|i

rail. It was an open threat to say that if the vehicle authorities were not granted, Wanganui would not get the ship. The motor assembly companies clearly wanted an alternative means of transport, but they had given no [firm commitment to send ve- ! hides by the road-sea link if jit was established, he said. ; The more freight was I carried by rail, the lower the j tonne-kilometre rate would 'be. This was clearly in the national interest.

Mr B. G. Bougen, for the I Ministry of Transport, expressed concern at the unrestricted nature of the application. There was no need to set down vehicles at Palmerston North or Foxton. 'lf the application was [granted, if should be for i authorities to carry vehicles only to Wanganui, and by the most direct route.

Mr Thompson said the ; proposed service was clearly iin the public interest. I The Railways could 'effectively oppose the establishment of a rival shipping I service, even though it was at pains to say that it was jnot doing so, he said.