THE EAST COAST RAILWAY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19568, 15 August 1933, Page 9

THE EAST COAST RAILWAY

CONDITIONS OF SALE STATEMENT BY MR COATES By Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, August 14. The conditions under which the Government is prepared to hand over the land and permanent works of the uncompleted East Coast railway line Between Napier and Gisborne, if a company could be formed to undertake the completion of part of the whole of it and its running, have been supplied to Mr H. M. Campbell, member for Hawke's Bay, and Mr K. S. Williams, member for the Bay of Plenty, in communications they have received from the acting-Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates. It is pointed out by Mr Coates that the decision of Parliament with reference to the abandonment of the line precludes the Government from incurring any further financial responsibility. It is estimated that £1,800,000 will be required to pay the salvage value on the portion completed, equip it with suitable rolling stock and provide for adequate maintenance and any losses likely to be incurred in the conduct of the line for a period of five years from its opening. In the event of a company being formed, the Government prefers that the shareholders should be resident in the district through which the line passes. If these and other stipulations are complied with, the Government is prepared to recommend to Parliament approval of the handing over of the line or a section of it upon a number of specified conditions. Stipulations Laid Down. These provide for a 21 years’ lease and also set out the time allowed for the completion of the various sections, the profits the company is allowed to earn on its capital and other requirements it would be necessary for the company to fulfil. Mr Coates says that of the £1,800,000 estimated to be required, the Government is of the opinion that at least one-quarter should be found by capital subscribed before the commencement of the work; that one-quarter should be in the form of uncalled capital in shares held by persons whose credit is sound and who can transfer them only to like persons; other half may be raised by loan, but the Government must have submitted to it the terms of any prospectus and other application for such loan, which must make full disclosure of the whole of the circumstances in which the construction of the line was abandoned and is being recommenced. The Government desires to avoid being put in the position of having creditors, particularly foreign creditors, coming to itat a later date and stating that they had been induced to advance the money necessary to finance the completion of the line without being fully acquainted with the circumstances in which it had been abandoned and construction resumed.

MEETING AT WAIROA FURTHER REPRESENTATIONS TO BE MADE. By Telegraph—Press Association WAIROA, August 14. The most representative meeting in the history of Wairoa was held to-day to consider a memorandum received from the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, concerning the Napier-Gisborne railway. Those present included Messrs K. S. Williams, D. W. Coleman, W. E. Barnard and H. M. Campbell, members of Parliament, also the . Mayors of Hastings, Napier, Wairoa and Gisborne, and 200 others. After a Jong discussion, it was unanimously decided to tot up a committee to secure definite facts and figures to place before the Government, when it is hoped to make the district’s right to railway facilities unassailable. Finance for the investigation is also to be arranged and later, the deliberations of the committee are to be placed before the Government showing the necessity for completing the line, and definite revenue returns when the line is completed. When satisfactory terms are granted from the Government, the committee is to arrange for the necessary finance, to complete the line.