THE RAILWAY RECLAMATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5743, 14 April 1880, Page 5

THE RAILWAY RECLAMATION.

At II o'clook yesterday forenoon, Mr. D. H. McKenzie (chairman of the Harbour Board), accompanied by Mr. Brigham (Secretary of the Board), waited, by appointment, on the Hon. Mr. Oliver, Minister of Publio Works, at tho Minister's room, Supreme Court buildings. The deputation was introduced to Mr. Oliver by the Hon. Mr. Whitaker. Mr. MoKenzie said that he came with reference to .the railway reclamation. Complaints were made that the work, when in progress, had not been carried out iu a proper manner. The material had been allowed to tilt into the harbour, becaus* 110 bre«s'.work had been constructed, so that the greater portion of the stuff which had been filled in by the la to contractor had found its way into deep water, and silted up the harbour. The water at the wharf had shoaled five feet since 1876, and this, he believed, was principally owing to the reclamation. The Board saw that tenders | were now called for proceeding the work, and would like to know if provision waa mide for retaining the filling, so as to prevent it silting the harbour. While tie proposals for this work were go ng on, and while the work itself was iu progress they had a good of correspondence with the late Government. The Board had agreed on certain plans, but there never, waa any agreement with the Government" as to ■ how the work was to be done, or what the Board was to receive as an equivalent for the space that would be occnpied by the railway station. The portion whioh was now being filled in was a part of the property which was pledged for the Boa'd's loans, and the Board' did not wish to be in any worse position than they were before. In the meantime they had lost the water frontage and the rents. There had never been any arrangement except with Messrs. Conyers and Lawson, who had been sent to report. The Hon. Mr. Oliver did not think that Messrs. Conyers and Lawson had any authority to arrange anything regarding this matter. Mr. McKenzie said that their report had been ignored by Mr. Macaudrew, so that at present the Board had no agreement at all; and. instead of waiting till tha work was finished, they would like to understand what po*ition the Board would be iu before it was commenced. The Hon. Mr. Oliver said that Messrs. Conyers and Lawson conld not possibly report oii engineering work. They were not engineers—at all events, not civil engineers— and be could not understand their being asked to report on anything connected with the rec amation, except how it would work in for carrying on the railway traffic. If they went into the question further than this it was outside their functions, and a work of supererogation on their parts. Mr. Brigham produced the plan and a copy of Messrs. Conyer and Lawson's report, which had been sent to the Board, from which he read several extracts. The Hon, Mr. Oliver said that they had better leave out of the question any report or a>rangement proposed by Messrs. Conyers and Larson. They could not be recognise 1 outside their own department. What did the Bi-ard desire? Ttie Government bad no wish to deprive the Board of any of its endowments, and would grant an equivalent for any portion taken for railway purposes The present railway station had, he believed, been thd property of the Board. The Hon. Mr. Whitaker said he recolleoted the arrangement regarding that. The Board gave it up upon getting Fort Britomart from the Government as an equivalent, bnt this had no reference to the reclamation now going on, or what the Board required. Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Brighau then pointed out to the Hon. Mr. Oliver what tbe Board required. They wanted Quay-street outside the railway station 85 feet wide, and a fnrther depth of 100 feet for allotments inside the street. They also wanted a frontage along the present railway station. The positions were delineated on the plan. The Hon. Mr. Oliver said he could hold ont no hopes that the Government would give the frontage outside the railway station, because, for the economic working of a railway station in a large city like Auckland ampld room was required, so he could hold out no hope in this respect; bnt in regard to tho present reclamation, that was a question which was not yet settled. The department was inviting tenders, which wouM be received up to the 26th. Was it not possible to lessen the area to be reclaimed, an.i so lessen the expense. The department was aware that Dempsey could not carry on his contract at the price at which he had taken it. The seawall would require to be five feet deeper than he had estimated. If the gonds station was allowed to remain where it wa>, and the line was brought round by a ourve to the.corner of Customhouse-street and Breakwater Road (indicating the point on the plan), and the reclamation narrowed to four chains instead of eight, it would, he thought, meet the objects of the Board, and be more advantageous. Mr. McKenzie said if he was to express his own opinion, he was opposed to this reclamation from tho first, but the Board was of a different opinion, and the work was carried on without any arrangement being entered iuto between the Board and the Government. The Hon. Mr. Whitaker suggested that the Board should take out an injunction against the Government. He thought there was BOthing they could desire more. The Hon. Mr. Oliver said the Board complained that the harbour was being silted up hy the material which had been filled iu for rec'amation. Careful moorings had been made by the department, and they found that beyond a certain aroa there was not a trace of this stuff having been carried. It had not been diffused beyond the area intended for reclamation. . If it had been fonnd by the department that it was in any way injuring the harbour they would have t«ken steps to prevent it. The report of the Ha hour Board's own engineer confirmed, he believed, the report of the department's engineers, and according to Mr. McKenzie's own statement the silting had been going on for years, so that it could not all be attributed to tbis cause. Mr. McKenzie said the harbourmaster was a better authority than the engineers, and he reported that the harbour was being sd'ed up by the stuff from the reclamation. T&u Hon. Mr. Oliver said he had seen the plan showing how far this material had been washed, and the harbour did not suffer, or if it did it was to an inappreciable extent. The line to which thiß material extended was very marked. The Government would be glad to settle the matter in the interests of the greatest number, and he would like to get the opinion of the Harbour Board and the mercantile interest on the proposal to keep the goods station where it wa-*, and bring the passenger station to the place he indicated, shifting the road a little to give more room. The reclamation need not then be so large. If he (Mr. McKenzie) put these views before the Harbour Board, and let him know their opinion before he went, or afterward*, he would be happy to meet their views as far as possible. He would like to get an expression of opinion, but, as an outsider, he might say that he was rather surprised st the demand (to have the railway

tation brought to Queen-street), and thought what he proposed would be much more advantageous to the city and harbour. The Government bad no desire to lessen the value of the Harbour Board endowments. Mr. McKenzie said he would lay the proposal before the Board, and after thanking the Hon. Minister the deputation withdrew.

ROADS NORTH OF AUCKLAND. Messrs. R. Graham, C. G. Qaiok, and R. I C. Greenwood attended aa a deputation to the Hon. Minister of Publio Works in regard to roads and other works north, of Auckland. The clerk in waiting, however, informed tho d-jpmatioti that the Hon. Mr. Oliver vraa too ill to receive deputations that day. He was in the hands of the doctor, and would not be in the office at all, only that he had made &Q appointment to meet the Chairman of tho Harbour Board. If, however, the deputation would state the nature of their business in writing, Mr. Oliver would fix a time to meet them. Mr. Graham said they might leave the petitions which they had come to present. They were as follows:—A petition for a coach road from Mahurangi to the North Shore ; a petition for bridges and road from North Shore to YVaiwera ; a petition for a road from Wainui; and two petitions for a wharf at Waiwera,