LOOK AT TE ARO! THE RAILWAY MOVEMENT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 30, 3 August 1912, Page 9

LOOK AT TE ARO! THE RAILWAY MOVEMENT

VIGOROUS MEN AT WORK, PACTS FOR THE PUBLIC. Backed by the Wellington Provincial Farmers' Union, the Citizens' League, the Miramar Borough Council, and 1 four Ratepayers' Associations, th© Te Aro Railway Improvement and Extension League feels that it can say with just caube: "Look at Te Aro! Think of To s Aro 1" The Post seeks to give the public all possible information for and against the Te Aro proposition, and is making a start with the case of the supporters, as expressed by two prominent movers (Messrs. Leigh Hunt and J. P. Luke). THE VOICE OF 35,000. It is claimed that the deputation •which recently interviewed the Minister of Railways (the Hon. W. H. Herries), I and presented a petition with over 7000 signatures (estimated to guarantee the j good-will of 35,000 people) in favour of 1 a better use of the Te Aro line for pasj senger and goods traffic, gave the opinion of commercial, residential, and i industrial Wellington. It is true that ' at a special meeting of the Chamber of Commerce Itheie was a majority (16 to 11) against the Te Aro line, and Mr. Hunt says that these sixteen men are the only "concrete opposition" to the j movement. ■ There may be others, but , they have not yet made any notable ' st-ir. A gibe and a sneer have been ut- ! tered against the petition, and Mr. '< Hunt's answer is very solid — a map of i .Wellington. A line drawn roughly from i the Town Hall via Cuba-street and Ghuznee-street to the south of Kelburne divided Greater Wellington into two sections which tell an impressive story of settlement. .It is calculated that on the north side of that line the houses total about 5000 against 11,000 on the Houth side, excluding Miramar, which has much Bat, land and gentle slopes for dwellings. On the north side steep hills and the sea- block further building operations, and the south, offers much, ground for residences. CARTAGE v. RAILAGE. " In most parts of the world the railway has been proved cheaper than the horse and cart for haulage, but Wellington has been ordered by the Governments of the past to rely largely on the- horse. The present rule of the Railway Department is that despite the lolling tide of settlement southward, and despite the existence of -the Te Aro line, all inward goods from the country must be unloaded at the extreme northern end of the town, the Thorndon {Station. Fruit and produce for the market quarter, just opposite, the Te Aro Station, has to be hauled by horse for a mile and a- half. A calculation made for the jear 1908 showed that about 50,000 packages (sacks of vegetables, cases of fruit, and so on) were taken 'by horse from the market to the Thorndon ♦Station, and about 200,000 came from Thorndon to the market by horse. This is only a slight indication, says Mr. Hunt, of the huge amount of inconvenient and costly cartage of goods inflicted on the City of Wellington by the Railway Department's failure to provide proper facilities at Te Aro, and to improve the service generally. With an intelligent use of the Te Aro line and station Wellington "would have an 'excellent distributing centre for foodstuffs, timber, and other goods. WANTED— A COMPREHENSIVE - PLAN. The first request is for a comprehensive report by men with town-planning vision. It is urged that the advancing lines of Wellington's growth southward should be carefully noted by the Government Tvhen studying the city's railway requirements. The league does pot ask for any huge expenditure forthwith, but contends -that the preparation of a complete plan is a necessary preliminary, and the woik can be done as opportunity offers. It "is held that the facilities desired at Te Aro can be given for a few thousand pounds, and can be fitted into the general plan. It will not be necessary to undo such work subsequently if it is done in accordance -with the league's recommendations. Whatever policyi the Government may adopt regarding the new station (again deferred), the league declares that improvements for Te Aro are urgently required, and that it would bo false economy to <the general taxpayers and utterly unjust to the Wellington public to fob them off. The* league's gaze also goes through Mount Victoria, and beholds a railway terminus on the other side to greatly benefit the 50,000 people to be housed on the flats and gentle inclines there within a measurable future. Thriving industries it also sees at the head of Evans Bay, and a dry dock in a natural basin on the west coast of that inlet, with the railway linked up. The league wishes the people and their representatives to see these things with far-ranging vision. TWENTY-SIX ACRES AT TE ARO. Including the present railway property and the reclamations of the City Corporation and the Harbour Board, there are 26 acres enclosing and including the dock site at To Aro, and the claims of this ground for a main railway station are strongly pressed. A difficulty is the bottle neck between Ballance - street and Brandon-street for such a vol•ume of traffic as a central station would have, bub the advocates of the Te Aro site claim that no formidable financial or engineering factor comes in. Mr. Luke submits that the difference iv value between the proposed site by Bunny-street and a similar area at Te Aro would go far towards the cost of an overhead double-track railway. There would also be ample room for expansion, and space for oil-fuel tanks and other conveniences which tfie city will need as time goss on. Other advantages' are that Te Aro could be an excellent radiating centre for the tramways, by reason of the broad highways at the junction of Clyde-quay and Courtenay-place, and <the station could b* comfortably linked up with the ferry service to and from Lyttelton. In the report of the Harbour Board for last year, the engineer, Mr. Marchbanks, re. marked: ''Later on it will probably be found advisable to construct a wharf to the cast of Taranaki-street Wharf. Should a Sydney ferry service be inaugurated, a wharf in this locality would provide a suitable berth for the steamers engaged in it, and could, if required, be used for the Lyttelton ferry service if tho mail trains were run to Te Aro station." MR. LUKE'S FINAL WORDS. "We have arrived," said Mr. Luke, finally, "at a point in the history of our city that any steps taken in reference to railway improvements must be a part of a plan that will fit in with the requirements and growth not only of the city as it exists to-day, but of the large suburban area lying to the south of the city. None of us can estimate the immense possibilities for this city and adjacent districts. We are only in our infancy, and the gieat strides that our municipal and Harbour Boaid authorities have made in connection with public utilities mutt not bo neutralised by :i lack oi progress) ven ess on th» part of the Government in dealing -with the railyny seru^es to the uty. Tb,e larg^ ex-

pecditurc in duplicating the Hutt line can bo more fully justified when it is continued right tip to To Aio. Anything short of this wjll be evidence that the authorities do not realise the responsibilities resting on them."