THE NEW STATION

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 90, 12 October 1929, Page 10

THE NEW STATION

AT BUNNY STREET

CABINET'S DECISION

GENERAL PLANS STAND

-The Minister of Railways, the Hon. : W.-B. Taverner, has announced that Cabinet has approved the Bunny street site, for-the new railway "station, and the' previously announced plans for the lay-out of the Ejoods yards on the Thorndon reclamation. The Minister has also replied to the Mayor, Mr. G. A. Troup, stating that ho is not prepared to set up a Commission to consider Mr. ■■■-Troup '3 proposals for an .amendment of the station plans and the transferring of tho^ goods yards to a 'new. reclamation near Petone. The Minister yesterday forwarded the following reply to the propositions the Mayor set out in his letter sonic weeks ago:— "In further reply to your letter of ifth September in regard to the lay-out of the new railway yard at "Wellington, the location of the proposed station, and other matters incidental thereto, I desire to inform you that the proposals sub . mitted have redeived careful consideration. The request put forward by you that a Commission be set up composed of persons representing the Railway Department and the city of Wellington) with the < addition of the Government Town Planner, is not a proposal that I y could see my way to agree to, and I am therefore unable to recommend the Government to proceed along the lines requested by you. NEEDS OF DEPARTMENT ... -.- PARAMOUNT. "Before going on to. detailed matters, I would point .out that the existing scheme, which was formulated some years ago, has been developed in accordance with the general plan which had the approval of both the railway authorities and the city representatives, and a.large sum of money has been spent in carrying out that scheme and bringing it !to 'the point where it is now possible to utilise the provisionsrthat have been made. While I recognise that a'large and important scheme of the kind may be rightly regarded as more than a railway problem, to quote your own words, I think that'the requirements of the Department, unless they 'can be shown to definitely and seriously conflict with' other public interests, must be regarded as-of paramount importance, and therefore' the detailed statistics which you submitted in regard to the area of the city of Wellington and the flat land available for commercial purposes, must, in. the present instance, be subordinated to the requirements of the Railway Department: "-■" The desirability, however, of-raaking available for.commercial purposes as much of the area as possible has re'ceiv.ed my consideration. "''l find that the present existing Bcheme, without any modification, will in^ke provision for some eight acres of land on the bay-side of the lay-out, which will have an uninterrupted frontage to the new road by a depth of about 100 feet, anjl it is possible that a further area, wjll be made available near the junction of Thorndon quay and Hutt road. These areas will be useful business sites, and at present are considered the maximum areas that could well be made available for leasing. NOT A SOUND PROPOSITION. , ."Reverting now to your proposal that the Railway Department should provide only for a passenger yard and sufficient goods shed accommodation to meet local requirements at Wellington, and that the main goods and marshalling yard should be constructed on land to be reclaimed at Petone, and that the land that would have been occupied by the marshalling- yard facilities at Wellington should be made available for commercial purposes, I desire to say that the reports before me indicate that the proposition is not a sound, one. There ■would still" require to bo carried out a considerable amount or shunting work at i Wellington in connection with the . local traffic; all trains also from the Manawatu and the Wairarapa would require to be received into and dispatched; from the Wellington yajrd, which would operate as an exchange point between the two lines. To establish the marshalling yard at Petone would involve a very considerable capital expenditure as well as a substantial recurring cost, and this renders the proposal for the shifting of the marshalling yards to Petoneian unsound one from an -■ economic point of view. From a ■working point of view also the proposal does not commend itself to me. It would involve a good deal of duplication, of-handling of trucks as well as much additional vehicle mileage; and after weighing the matter carefully I have come to the conclusion that the advantages that might accrue to the city from the adoption of the proposal to shift the marshalling yard.to Petone would not be commensurate. with the .disadvantages that would be experienced by* the 'Railway Department, both from the economical point of view and from that of general efficiency and coil-yehient-working of the railways. "I am advised that the point raised by you was given careful consideration at the time the lay-out was decided upon. The desirability of making the maximum possible area available for commercial purposes was then fully realised. ' ' ROADS AND TRAM TRACKS. . '■'With'regard to the question raised by: you in relation to the lay-out of the roads and tramway tracks adjacent to the'6ite of the (new) railway station building to which you refer, and in regard to which you go on to say you understand there is a serious difference of opinion between the railway officers and the city's officers, I desire to say that as I understand the position the main question is the area that will be available in Bunny street, where the city desires to construct a balloon loop and tramway sidings, and in this connection I understand that our officers have got together and are in agreement - that sufficient land will be available when the present building line is setback in line with the front of the proposed new station building. "The report of the General Manager of Railways covering the notes of the interview which he had with you on Saturday last indicates that you raised come subsidiary questions in regard to which I desire to state as follows**— "Overhead bridge at Davis street: I no.te that you raised the question as to ■whether it was proposed to place an overhead bridge at Davis street. I desire to confirm what was stated to you by the General Manager—namely, that this bridge will be provided in connection with the works proposed to be carried out under the rearrangement of the railway facilities. "Overhead bridge from the proposed waterfront'road to the Hutt road: Provision will be made in the plan which will enable this work to be carried out at some time in the future. I am advised that the traffic at present does not justify this work being carried out immediately. ' The matter, however, can, of. course, be reviewed at some time in the future as the development of the traffic may seem to warrant. A START WITH GOODS SHEDS. "For .your information I would state that it.is intended to at once proceed with the erection of a modern goods shed as a part of the scheme decided upon. "I do not know that any good purpose would be served at the present

time by going into the whole question of city transport problems, to which you make reference, and which it was suggested in your letter might be referred to the Commission which you desired to be set up. In this connection I desire to assure you that I shall be happy at all times to collaborate with you in regard to transportation matters, and assist you insofar as railway transportation comes into the city's problems. I am convinced that the proposals which constitute the present scheme, and which the Government is preparing to develop without delay, are ones which will adequately serve the city of Wellington, and at the same time provide the Department with facilities in keeping with the requirements of an important metropolitan terminal."