THE RACECOURSE.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160725, 11 August 1920, Page 8

THE RACECOURSE.

The reply of the General Manager of Railways to the deputation from Wanganui which waited upon him yesterday should end once and for all the controversy concerning the Racecourse as a site for the railway station. Mr McVilly stated that all the proposed sites had already been carefully and 3 ex--4 haustively inquired into by his officers, and they had come to tli© conclusion that the only site that would be satisfactory to the Department and would at the same time give the people of Wanganui an adequate and satisfactory railway service for a considerable time to come was the Racecourse site. From the Department’s point of view Wanganui Bast would be easy of selection, hut as this would probably involve the removal of the Eastown workshops, in addition to the duplication of the railway line, the proposal, as Mr McVilly rightly pointed out, would be strongly resented by the people of Wanganui. Ih the face of the General Manager s statement, it is sheer of time and energy further pursuing the controversy. His advice to the local bodies of Wanganui to make up their minds at once should be

accepted. Once the station site iS'’ fixed, the Department will be in a position to definitely arrange with the Harbour Board for the necessary land on the foreshore for the erection of another goods shed, and the local bodies interested can then concentrate their attention on other important problems which require solution. One of the greatest failings of our local body administration in Wanganui is the lamentable waste of time in discussing matters of great public importance before finality is readied. It was procrastination such as this on the part of the Wanganui County Council which put the local bodies to an expense of many thousands of pounds for protecting the river bank at Taylorviile, whereas had the work been undertaken years ago, it could have been done for a fraction of its actual cost and much valuable foreshore would have been saved. Procrastination on the part of successive Harbour Boards in failing to purchase adequate plant—larger cranes and labour-saving machinery —ls responsible for the costly work of securing stone from the up-river quarries; and unless active step« are taken now to obtain etono from another source, the extension of the river and outer harbour Walls will be further delayed. The hold-up of our tram service to-day is directly due to the failure of the Borough Council to take the advice of its tramway engineer and order a stand-by plant; and to a like cauaa —procrastination—may be attributed Wanganui’s backwardness in tho matter of securing a hydro-electrir, supply, while other districts hav© their schemes well in hand. The lessons of tho past should provide reliable guidance for the future, and it Is sincerely to be hoped in the interests of all concerned, that finality will bo reached at once with respect to the Racecourse, so that the necessary legislation may be introduced this session.