MORE LAND

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 139, 1 March 1918, Page 9

MORE LAND

KAIWARRA BIGHT RECLAMATION

IMPORTANT CORRESPONDENCE THE HARBOUR BOARD'S IDEAS At Wednesday's meeting of the Wellington Harbour Board the chairman (11 r. O. E. Daniell), in referring to iho question of further mcluniiition works at Thorndon (Kaiwarra Bight), placed before members tho full correspondence which has so fw taken place between himself and the General Manager of Railways (Mr. E. H. Hik\y). It will be seen from the tenor of the letters ihat Mr. Hiiey's outlook is a Departmental one, and air. Daniell behoves that the interests of city, harbour, and railways would hn better served by rsgarding the problem nationally. TliisMvsjs made clear in an interview between Messrs.. Daniell and Hiloy in August last'. Followinc; that interview; Mr. Daniell .wrote:—

"Following up this question arid our conversation of. August 29, when Mr. M'Lean, Chief Engineer of Railways, explained that an important phase of tTie question to him was: 'Will tho Railway Department really want so muoh land within a peiiorl of years?' That to aid in solvirg this problem another' survey and plan, were being prepared,, his present .opinion boins: that a..partial reclamation and the. reinstating; of the Thorndon Esplanad" and Baths' at a point seaward would suit requirements for years to come. If that becomes the ultimate decision of the Railway Department, then it will have an important beariim on thedesign of port works to l'o carried out ;by the' Wellington Hnrbou,- Board, hence the Harbour Board's interest in the works. I take it that the basic facts .are that:—(l) The Railway -Department lias Parliamentary authority to reclaim some sixty-four acres in' aii area bounded by the Tlrorndon Esplanade and the railway on the landward side, joining tip to Harbour Board land recently reclaimed, and on tlir , seaward:side to'bo bounded by a wall continuing fronv Waterloo Breastwork to Kaiwarra.- This would leave the ■Esplanade in the middle of the railway yards-. (2) Yoyr proposals dispense with the railway to Te Aro Mind the--railwa'v'station there'. (3) Tho City Council require further land at Te Aro for' their stores arid plant. ' (4) The Harbour Board has lands .adjacent to hoth Thorndon and.Te Aro, "the proper utilisation of which will,bo'affected by liny; scheme : adopted. This, together with lieed for efficient wharf .access to the Dominion rajhvay 'system, is- tho reason why 1 again approach■ you- on the matter.

"May I say that I am,, as a citizen more interested in. the success of the ■whole scheme rather than in the part that becomes my duty as repY-esentiim l-ho-.-.Harbour, Board. Uiiefiy. I ask that the matter be dealt with on a broader than a- Departmental .- basi«. •That tbe tliree responsible ofncprs already appointed be asked to advise on the., broad p.utlvne of the ultjpintc' roqiiirenients of the. railway, port, and .city. That .it he assumed hy tlioro in their report that sectional interests, as between the city,, the raihyny, mid' the Harbour Board can and'will he equ'tiibly adjusted on the fact that the same nropriotors ,owri tbe whole interest. That the question shnl! inoludo: — Tho total" or partial reclamation a.t Thorndon. Slunild tlip Esplcnade londs be taken by tlie Railway Department and camnphsation , 'given to the oity in Jand.at To AroP Shotild the Te'Aro Btatipii site.be abandoned as a railway statfon? Sbould the streets from' Courteiiay Plaoe be; continued to the waterfront? '

"It will be easy to see difficulties in the way, ]iut the matter .is of n«tional importance, and T am convinced that Mes,st§. MjLean. Morton, aiid'.Mnrehbanks are so fully acquainted with the facts, and capable, of taking a comprehensive view, that if asked, they could, within a week. a|;"ree as to an outline which, would ultimately be acceptable, as a-basis on which' the. three authors ties interested could proceed. My own riew is that by reason of tho peculiar hatureof tbe, \vork, the Tljorndon reclamation cquld be most economically done in co-operation with tlie Railway Department and the Harbour Board, and that the full area should be. reclaimed, each party contributing, say, £20,000 per year, and thus, without 6tress, most of tbe area would he available for tbe several needs of the two bodies fo; the increased trado then to be. done. O? course, it must be agreed in war time labour will not be available*, btit. tho ueccssary preliminary'work'will'take many months, henco I submit tlie need for earnest consideration at tho bands of those responsible. It appeared t<) me that the attitude of your Chief Engineer 6liowed some an.iiety. lest he, by accepting a op-opcatiyo scheme such as [ outlined, might commit his Department to a method of procedure whereby Some other executive body would henefit at the expense of the railways [ hope that my surmise- is wrong, but may become a weakness, as it would surely be if it resulted in a failure on tho part of. the tlireo administrative bodies'to work together in this case. You oan be assured of the hearty co-operation of the Wellington Harbour Board in- tho consideration of the scheme, and I hope in Ihe ultimate currying out of the works." Amqnded pia.ns for New Railway Station. Mr. Hiley's reply, dated October L'[), 1917, was as lollows:— "Sir,—Adverting to . your • letter of 26th iiltiijig, with reference to the general question of harbour reclamation in Wellington, I have the honour to inform you tlmt.tho Department's chief engineer has, at the present time, under consideration and preparation amended plana for the Wellington rail- ' way station and depot, having regard h> Uto suggested extension of the Thnrndoii icplanijitiou area further seaward. It (loos, not iipjioar thai there io any goncl object to ;lie attained by further coiifweiu'es between tlm nngiiir cors of tin! Department, tho board and I ho city, until these plans are completed and have been considered by myself .and officers, and I propjiso to oqmiminicntp with you again with a View to arranging a conference when the matter is sufficiently far advanced for the Department to be in a position.t<> formulate, a scheme. If, however, in tho meantime you find yourself in a position to snbmit definite proposals in connection with the larger .reclamation scheme, outlining an agree., nie'nt under which the several interests nf the City Council, your Harbour Board, and tlie (government railways will 1)0 equitably conserved, I shall ■glad to give your proposals most careful and sympathetic consideration." Greater Scheme Urged. Mr. iDauiell replied on December 7 as follows:— "On receipt of youre dated October 29, being disappointed in your attitude, I deferred answering, but tlie matter is of such importance and the relation of tho proposed work to the reclamation and harbour works already executed by my board is so intimate that I must revert to the matter. On the question of tho lesser reclamation, which you appear to favour as I presume a purely Railway Department work as opposed to the lprgor scheme which I urge should be jointly underit is fair.to assume that the trade of the port of Wellington will in tho.next twenty years grow .in equal rates to that, say, of the last twenty years. That being so, I feel strongly that any project that will enable the handling of produce- and merchandise

between the oversea vessels and the railway system of the Dominion to he moro expeditimisly and economically done is of primary importance, and I believe that this can beat he obtained in Wellington by constructing a. joint reclamation,' whore ample railway connections could be given to jnrjjo steamers berthed close to the railway yards, and whereby sufficient land for future development could ha secured. I trust that you will bo able to agree that the greater rchenie of reclamation should be undertaken. Following up your suggestion that I may he able to submit definite proposals, I offer the following as a basis of an agreement between the Railway department and tlio board, but with the reservation that it must be subject to review and approval by the hoard as a.whole:— ' "(1) That the Railway Department and the Harbour Board agree to construct a reclamation from the Waterloo Quay extension of the board's lands towards Kaiwarra on a line or lines to be mutually agreed upon; that the land available after the Thorndon Esplanade has been abolished, amounting to approximately 74 acres, be divided for administrative purposes—say, two-thirds for railway requirements and one-third tor Harbour Board. "(2) That a concrete wall in front of the area occupied by the board bo built at the joint cost of the Railway Department and the hoard. "(3) That the cost of constructing drains, culverts, and waterways for storm water be borne by the Department and the board in proportion *o the length passing through the respective blocks of land. "(4) That the actual cost of reclamation be proportioned in accordance'with the amount required to fill each area. "(5) That the City Corporation _he compensated for the loss of the Esplanade by giving them an area of the board's land at Tβ Aro, adjoining their yard,-of'equal value to the Esplanade. "(6) That the boartl. receive from tlio Railway Department such compensation as may he- agreed upon for the loss of the 'To Aro land, in the shape of other land-available, such as part of the Te Aro'Railway Station site. "I would submit that the above proposals furnish the basis, for an equitable agreement -which if carried out would bb for the benefit of the whole community. If/ however you cannot Bee your way to agree to the proposals made, the board, having m view the responsibility ' cast on it to provide shipping facilities and accommodation for goods received or delivered at Wellington, will be compelled to proceed with the development of the harbour on lines already laid down, and which would for financial leasons debar them for many years from embarking on a joint scheme for the greater reclamation at Thorndon." ' An' animated discussion followed _ the chairman's introduction of the subject. His action was unanimously endorsed, and members resented the manner m which Mr. Hiley was assuming full authority when the board and Uty Council were vitally interested. It was pointed out that the dredge was lying idle, and that it could bo miikinu tlu> 64 acres of flat land "so urgently needed by the city. The local members of Parliament', were prompted to hestir themselves, to a truer realisation of the importance of the reclamation to Wellington/and Mr. Fletoher who moved that Mr. Daniell be thanked for what he- had done,, spoke of- the _ smaller scheme-as one likely to be. a botch, and that -the board were in a position to go ahead with the work as soon as the railway authorities (the reclaiming authorities) came along to meet them.