NEW STATION and Railway Yards

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 122, 9 June 1937, Page 6

NEW STATION and Railway Yards

HASTINGS SCHEMES DISCUSSED Removal to South-Eastern Part of Borough UNANIMOUS DECISION Sepresentations are to be mado to have the Minister of Eailways, ihe Hon. D. G. Sullivan, visit Hastings to discuss railway matters generally, but particularly the qaesttons of the construction of a sew Railway Station in Hastings and that of moving the railway yards to a site in the vicinity of Murdock and Tollemache roads. This was the unanimous decision of m special meeting of representatives of all interested local bodies and , organisations in the borough called by the Mayor, Mr. C. A. Maddison, and held in the Council Chambers last evening. There were actually 20 representatives present and the Mayor placed the .various proposals, together with the Hifiiculties confronting the town in its zapid growth and development, fully before the meeting. He outlined four distinet proposals, various times had been mooted, and the meeting was unanimously in favour of the. proposal that the new station ahd railway yards should be constrncted towards the south-eastern side of the borough. "This meeting is called to discuss probably one of the most important questions in xecent times, for it vitally eoncerns the development and progress of the town;" said the Mayor, "when giving a lead to the discussion. He recalled the negotiations made as far back as 1913 for the erection of a new railway station and for improved xaiL way conditions and services, but said that though representations had been wade all that time ago, nothing had been accomplished. In view of the present policy of the Government, and in "the light of certain statements made by some of tho Ministers, he firmly believed that if some definite and concrete proposal were placed before the Government now, something wonld be done. ' ' Thfere is no need for any apology to be made foT making our representations now," be said. "In 1923 this matter was discussed with the then Minister, the Rt. Hon. J. G, Coates, and he remaTked afc the time that outside the four main city eentres^ the most nrgent railway works that required doing were at Hawera and Hastings." Mx. Maddison dealt briefly with the earliest history of, the railway in Hastings, pointing out that the present site was chosen as the result of a gift of land by the late Mr. Hicks, in 1878. He mentioned that the Eailways Department and the Government had benefited -very considerably from the income that had been derived from property that had originally been given them. "Mr. Cullen has collaborated with me in this matter, and I am hoping that this meeting will come to some ■nanimous decision so that Mr. Cullen will be able to approach the Minister ©f Eailways and arrange with him to eome here and inspect the district and discuss with us our requirements, " said Mr. Maddison. Old Scheme Disastrous. Eeferring to the proposals made in 1913, Mr. Maddison said that the position* to-day was that these proposals still stood with the department. It was proposed that there should be a new station built about where the present railway sheds are situated, a little to the east of St. Aubyn street. The idea was to close St. Aubyn street, though K subway might be put there. "Personslly, I feel that it would be disastrous for Hastings to have St. Aubyn street elosed, for it would mean that there would be no vehicular crossing between Heretaunga street and the extension of Alexandra street, as is proposed under the old scheme and for wMeh the necessary land had been obtained." - Mr. Maddison exhibited maps which revealed that the main development of Hastings was towards the north side of Heretaunga street. In view of this, he contended, every consideration should be given to^the matter of the expeditious liandling and control of vehicular traffic. If St. Aubyn street were closed, it was inevitable that there would be tremendous congestion of traffic from the uorthern sidp of the town — the most tliickly populaled and the most highly developed portion. Problem of Traffic Control. "We are already experiencing great difficulties in the matter of traffic, and it as a problem that is giving the council grave concern," he said. "The time will .eome, maybe in a very t'ew years, when it might be necessary to introduce oue way traffic roads, us has been done in other ceutres. The time is coniing when Hastings and its urbau area will have a population of ovei 5U,G00, and it is essential that botla (Queen street and Avenue road bo opened up so as to ease the congestion of traffic on Heretaunga street and provide a nieans of arranging for oue way traffic." Mr Maddison said he understood thal it was not possible for the Eailwaj Department to deal with a full trair between Heretaunga street and St Aabyn street, without having the trau: overlapping, and when this oceurred ir Heretaunga street there was a hold-uj ©£ % vast amount of traffic, even if the bold-up was of *6hort duration. TJndej the 1913 proposals it was suggestec that theTe be one-way traffic to anc *J0ia the ^tatioa, and tio .council hat

pnrchased the necessary property to give effect to this part of the general scheme. "I feel that the closing up of St. Aubyn street an.d the doing away with all erossings between Heretaunga street and the new crossing which it is proposed should be made at Alexandra street, xequires very serious consideration in the light of the increased population, and the still further development, growth and progress of the town," he said. Mention was made by Mr Maddison of the intention of the Government to spend' £300,000 on the elimination of dangerous railway crossings in those places where there was a population of less than 6000. He contended that though Hastings had a greater population than 6000, it was most deserving of consideration. "There are actually seven railway crossings in tho borough," he said. "At one of them, the St. Aubyn street crossing, there are eeven sets of lines. I believe that this is unique and unparalleled in New Zealand. Then again there have been' accidents at practically every one of ihose seven crossings. This aspect alone is one that should be given very serious * consideration by the authorities." Pour Definite Proposals. Mr Maddison then went on to say that he had given the^ matter very careful consideration, and to his mind there were at least four proposals that could be considered by the meeting. They were: — A: Building a new railway station on the site of the present one. E: Building a new station on the site proposed in the 1913 scheme — i.e., north-east of St. Aubyn street. C: Move the railway accommodations outside the horough and have a single line traversing the town. D: Take the station and incidental buildings, together with the whole line, outside the horough and place them at . Stortford Lodge. Dealing with the proposals in order, he said he felt sure that , all would agree that a new station was urgentiy required, and that it should be erected on some other site to the present one. He had already given his reason for objectdng to the 1913 proposal, and as regards the third suggestion,- that of moving the station outside the borough and fiaving a single line through the town, he had at iirst thought that in the vicinity of Erederick street would be a good locality, but in view of the development of the town an that direetion he now favoured somewhero between Tollemache and Murdock roads. In this locality there was no densely populated area; indeed, there was plenty of vacant area, and after all it was barely more than a mile from the clock tower. "I eee no need for the station to be in the centre of the town," he said. "The environment always gets drab round the station, and the idea of moving the station from the centre to a locality such as Tollemache road and so leaving only one line through the town rather appeals to me." He pointed out that there were only three passenger trains and certainly not more than a dozen other trains passing through, so that it might be possible to sink the line going through the town and so eliminate all the dangerous crossings. "This would also give an ogportunity for the opening up of Queen street and Avenue road for settlement, provide an area for the parking of cars and taxis and relieving the centre of the town of some of its present traffic problems and difficulties," he said. "The suggestion of taking the whole thing out of the town and ruhning tho line round through Stortford Lodge is also one that is well worthy of consideration. Income Would Meet Costs. "Eeally 1 do not think that in the a-ggregate that the cost will be so very much," he said. "It has to be remembered that by moving the station away to the boundary' of the borough property in the centre of the town will be opened up and released for building upon. The income from this, I feel certain, would more than pay the interest and sinking fund on the money required to pay for the reconstruction of the railway station and yards. "I think that now is the .opportune time to get something done," he added. "But we must go to the Minister and present to him a united front. If we do that I feel that we will get something done." Mr E. L. Cullen, H.l-\, considered the Tollemache road proposal a good oue. He made mention of the fact that it was proposed to earry put a deviation scheme at Palmerston North, and hc considered that in view of this the claims of Hastings for consideration were fully justified. He said that if the undexground projiosal, or the shiftmg of the station a little to3 the north of the present site, were gone on with, there would still be the crossing proOiems and congestion . of traffic; Tliere was, however, to be taken into eousideration the fact that certain commereial undertaldngs had established their premises in the vicinity of the present site. The Mayor: We have to consider the general good of the borough. I see no reasou wliy those lirms could uot be served by sideliues. Mr E. E. bmitb suggested that il might be possible to have overhead lines trom Murdock road through the town and so allow all crossings to be eliminated. i "The overhead permanent way is uxi i siglitly," rcplied the Mayor. "I believe i that in tho big cities where they have been eonstrueted they are eudeavouriug • to do away with them now." i Mr Smitli: I believe thero is a i tendehcy towards tube raihvays. [ "Don't Sacrifico Old Scheiue." Mr W. Hart, who was Mayor at the - time the 1913 proposals were put forward, said that the idea then was to i have the new station completed in nine ■ years, However, the war broke out i shortly afterwards and nothing had i been done since. "At that time we ) thought we were planning for 20 years s ahead, but I now see that even that r length of time ahead was not suffil cient," he said with a smile. "I say l to you how: Don't serap the old L isehema • poy l until you hav© a new

scheme. I don't suggest that the Stortford Lodge scheme would be practicable, but the idea of shifting the station down to Murdock road mignt be all right." Mr Hart favoured having the Minister inspect the locality at Murdock and Tollemache roads, but dn the meantime he urged that the present areas held for the establishment of a new station and yards be not saerifieed without some other delinite proposal in view. He was also of the opinion that it would not be advisablo to touch the underground scheme. "You will lia've the Ngaruroro to deal- with if you do," he warned. The opimon that it was not desirable that the station should be far away from tho centre of the town was •voiceu by Mr H. W. C. Baird, president of tho Hastings Chamber of Commerce. Ho mentioned that the cemetery and the Memonai Hospital were two matters that would have to be taken into consideration regarding the btortford Lodge proposal. "The suggestion regarding Murdock road "seems to he an oxcellent one," he added. Eeferring to the line running i through the town> Mr A. I. Eainbow, president of the Hastings and District' Progress League, suggested that it might be possible to have a cutting made instead of an overhead or underground construc|ional work. Station is Businessman's Place. Mr J. P. Cassidy, stationmaster, said, in reference to the Stortford Lodge proposal, that this would entail increased costs to the business people in cartage. . There was also the passenger traffic to be considered. "There is no question that there is a need for a new station," he said. "The question is: Where should it be situated. After all it should be recognised that the railway station is the businessman's place." "Certainly the Tollemache road proposal seems a feasible idea," said Mr H. G. Harvey. "I think that it is likely to meet with. the wishes of the business people. There might be certain great difficulties in taking the station away to S.tortford Lodge, but the Tollemache road idea seems to me a better proposition altogether. ' ' Mr Eainbow: And leave a single line through Hastings? Mr Harvey: Yes. Mr L.' J. Harvey sa4d that it would be no, great difficult matter to move the station, but to move the permanent way was a different question and a difficult one. 'For that reason he also favoured the Tollemache road scheme. "I think it should be very favourably considered," he said. " All the same I do not think that we should miss the opportunity of having a new station erected, even if it ds on the present site." Mr P. Loach. considered that the question of whether or not the lines should be diverted out of the borough should be left to the departmental ongineers to decide. He pointed out that in New Plymouth the line had been. sunk into the ground, and it was possible that a similar scheme might be successfnlly carried out in Hastings. Diversion Towards Havelock. Mrs S. Jones: Is there any reason why the line should not be diverted round Hastings on the Havelock North side? * Mr Maddison: Some of the land is pretty low along that route. Other parts, too, would not give the same solid foundation. "The Eailway and Public Works officials are practical men and they will know what is the best," said Mr Hart. "What we want to do is to ask for something reasonable. If we do that, then I think we will get a reasonable scheme. ' ' Mr Eainbow considered that tae meeting should make it plain in view of the advancement of Hastings since the 1913 plans were proposed, that those plans wero not now considered practicable, and to point out to the Minister that the town had sinco outgrown those proposals; and further, that if they were not given effect to, there would continue to be congestion of traffic and the same difficulties and problems as were now confronting the town. Mr Maddison then moved that the meeting considered that it was most desirable that a new railway station be erected in Hastings; and that representations be made to the Minister that he consider the establishment of the new station and the incidental buildings in the vicinity of Tollemache road and that the line through. Hastings be sunk underground so eliminating all crossings ; and further, that a committee be appointed to investigate this proposal as wel] as that of tho Stortford Lodge suggestion. Mr A. F. Eedgrave considered that it would be more advisable to ask the

Minister to appomt an engineer to confer with the committee and investigate the various proposals and any other scheme that he (the engineer) might suggest, and submit a report to the Minister. "We could point out to the Minister, when making this request, the difficulties that have ardsen, and after the engineer has made his report we could then have a conference with the Minister to discuss ways and. rneans of giving effect to any proposal approved by the engineer," he said. Other members, however, were of the opinion that the best procedure would be to have the Minister visit the town and consider the various proposals. "We are agreed on three things at any rate," said Mr Smith. "First, we all want a new station; second, we all want it away from the centre of the town; and third, we all agree that a committee should be set up to consider the whole matter." After a brief further discussion, at was decided that representations be made to the Minister to visit the town and inspect railway matters generally here, and that it be pointed out to him that while the meeting was entirely in favour of a new station being erected, it considered that the present plan of moving the site to just beyond St. Aubyn street was not desirable in view of the development of the town, and favoured the selection of the site for the station in the vicinity of Tollemache road. The following committee was then set up to confer with the. Minister and also to investigate and prepare the proposals to be submitted: — The Mayor, Messrs E. L. Cullen, M.P., H. W. C. Baird, A. I. Eainbow and A. F. Eedgrave. Mr Cullen is to endeavour to arrange for the Minister of Eailways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, to visit the district and confer with tlie committee.