THAT RECLAMATION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 215, 30 May 1918, Page 8

THAT RECLAMATION

RAILWAY DEPARTMENT'S ATTITUDE NEEDS OF THE PORT DISCUSSION BY HARBOUR BOARD Uore 'wharfage accommodation is required by the Wellington. Harbour Hoard for tlio better handling of coal at the port of Wellington, ami one of rhe schemw tho board has had in iinml is that this extra accommodation ,-ould be provided if tho TiiO£udou reclamation were proceeded with. Tho i-fliurmaii of the board recently wrote U; the Minister of Marine (tho Hon. T. Al. Wlllord) on tlio subject, and Mr. Wilford's reply was Jx.'l'oru the board ni. its meeting last night. Sir. Wilford's letter ran as follows;— "With reference to your letter of 12th ultimo on tho subject of the more efficient dispatch of coal and cargo boats by giving better facilities for coaling at the various ports, I have to state that it has been suggested that- as regards this port the Chief Engineer of Works and Railways should meet tho llnginocr-m-Chief, your board's engineer, and tlio City Engineer, to confer and jointly report m<:— "(1) Tlio advisability of proceeding willi the greater reclamation scheme at Thornuoii. or "(2; Tho advisability of perilling facilities for unloading and bunkering coai at Thorndon reclamation. "In connection with this I am advised by tho Minister of Hallways that the General Manager has instructed 31 r. M'Lean, Chief Engineer of Working ltail«ays, to arrange to attend a conference and join with tho other engineers in r«liortlng, it being understood that Mr. M'Lean has no power to commit the I'aliway Department in any way in the matter, and so_ far as that department is concerned, the repoic and recohimendalrons of the engineers will hot necessarily be concurred in."

An Unnecessary Wall, Tii3 chairman, referring to the letter, taid that this matter had been held up for a number of years, and he was afraid from tho tonor oi the letter that under Ur. Hiley's administration of the Kailway Department very Jit tic progress could be expected. Members would know that a particular area of the spaco to be reclaimed—sumo forty acres— in-an vested iti tlio Kaihvny Department. Tho idea of this Department was to reclaim u part only of the area, and tho object flf tho board was to "reclaim the whole forty acres, and "inako a job ot it" for the port. The attitude of the Department seemed to bo that it was their nffuir, and not tho business of the board. This very guarded reply from tho Department was indicative of tho attitude of tho Department. Mr. Fletcher: They are tired of it. The chairman: I consider that it is our business to take a very direct interest in this matter. I personally am not satisfied with the attitude of tho Kailway Department. Mr. Cobbe: How does the Pail way Department proposo to retain a small portion?

The chairman: They propose to build a lighter wall to take in half tho land. . . . Our idea is that tho whole matter be settled at onco for the benefit of the wholo community and one iob made of it. Mr. Cohen: Will the method they adopt compromise the larger scheme? Will their scheme become a part of the larger scheme? The chairman: Ultimately. Mr. Cohen: Will the method of construction be in accord with what we have been advised will be necessary for the larger 6cheme? Tho chairman: They aro putting there what will ultimately be an unnecessary wall Mr. Daniell said that he had hoped that the recommendations of these engineers would be treated as the recommendations of business men. ' ) Sincerity of Department. Mr. Cohen said that he did not coneider the letter as being necessarily a nullification of the whole idea. Had all means been exhausted of bringing tho matter before the proper authorities? The chairman said that sinco 1903 the Railway Department had authority for the reclamation of the whole area. The board had no authority. The question for the Department was whether it was worth whilo now to spend so much money on the reclamation. The board wished to co-operate with the Department in order to get wharfage accommodation.

Mr. Fletcher said that ho hud doubts as to the sii;ceri;y of the Railway Department in I'igi'J to this rsulatniuiijii. He did not u-ii-t'vi- that they wevo sincere. They had v.ei the money to do the work, otherwise they would have, done it years ago. He did not believe the , meeting of engineers would advance tho matter one etej.. -Mr. J. G. Cobbo eaid that this mast recent declaration of the attitude of the Department ma.de it clear that the Department were not prepared to go on with the work. The matter was ono of Uiß greatest importance to the city of Wellington. There was an area of Ct acres which could very easilv bo reclaimed. The Railway Department's scheme would involve double expense. The board should take the matter up with the Wellington City Council and the Wellington members of Parliament. Ho was sure that tho board would get ready support, and perhaps something might happen. "Somehow," he said, "the Railway Department seems to be the most out-of-date Department we have in connection with the whole administration of the country, and unless some driving power be introduced I I'eel sure nothing will be done. What an asest it would bs to this city to have CI acres of fiat land added to it! Meanwhile we have a. dredge lying idlo hero which could bo put to this good use. Talk about efficiency in government! Here is a thing that "will be of the greatest possible benefit to' the city, and it is blocked at every stage."

No Money. Mr. K. A. Wright said that he thought the citizens of Wellington were fully alivo to the need for tho reclamation, and a new railway station. They had done their best to impress this on all Ministers. It was impossible to tako a Minister by the throat and make him do it, but short of that they had done everything they could. He believed that tho railway people wanted more space, but the trouble was that there was no money. Probably the order had gone out that no money v was to be spent in this of any other direction at present. Mr. Cobbo: Why don't they say so? Mr. Wright: "1 daresay they will say so if there is auothor deputation." He urged that tho City Council and other bodies .should he invited to join with tho board in approaching the Minister again. Mr. .T. G. Harkuesj also thought there was no need to despair about the matter, and ho thought the City Council and tho Chamber of Commerce would bo l only too glad to join with the board in approaching the Government again. The chairman said that there was no cx6uso at all for the plea that there was no money. It would bo one or two years befce tho preliminaries could be got through, and his object was to have this work done now in order that they would lie ready to go on when money should bo available. The chairman promised to bring the matter before the board at some later meeting.