PROMPT 'YES' OR 'NO' TO STATION PROPOSALS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 144, 6 July 1937, Page 8

PROMPT 'YES' OR 'NO' TO STATION PROPOSALS

Minister's Promise MAYOR SUGGESTS NEW SITE Total Reconstruction & Land Purchase Involved MOVE TO THE NORTH "We won't put you off for another 25 years. When we have made up our minds regarding your proposal, or some altemative scheme, 'we will let you know one way or the other. We will let you know where you are jvst as reasonably soon- as we can. . And i can say that I start off * with considerable sympathy for you because of the long delay; because of the reconstruction and progress of your town; and because of the development of the business of this province.. All of these factors make me more than usually sympathetic with you in your desires." With these. words the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, Minister of RSailways, concluded his reply to the representations made by vaxious organisations and. local bodies for; the er.irtion of a new railway station in Hastings. The scheme, put forward was ,for the acquisition of a small .area of land about a quarter of a* m'ile to the north of tlie site*. originally proposed in 19 L3 for the new station, on the Napier* "side" of St. Aubyn' street./.'Our purpose. in meeting you is to place beioro you the uns.atisfactory conditions not only of tho Railway Station. b,uilding, hut also of railway matters generally, and. toi- urge .upon you .the need for immediately proceeding with th.e .er ection of a new. station building and the re-adjustment of .the lay-out of railway aecommodation, which we believe are urgently required in " the .. interests . and development of Hastings and also in the interests of the department," said .the. Mayor,' Mr G. A. Maddison, when dntroducing the representatives of the Hastings Borough Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Retailers' Association, ' the Hastings and Distriet Progress League and other oiganisation*. Mr Maddison traversed . briefly tlie history of . railway mattets in the borough, and pointed out that as the result of gifts to the Government the department occupied a proper'ty of at least £100,000 unimproved value and a further block of an unimproved value of not less than £40,000, which he understood W.as bringing in a net annual income of less than- £200u. It was safe to aesume that the land given as-a free gift to the .nation was. valued today at no less than about £150, 000t "Disgrace to Department." He went on to say that the members of the dqputation, in collaboratioii witb the stationmaster, Mr J. P. .CaBSidy, had recently made an inspection of . the station and had formed certain definite opinions, which were enumerated in a memorandum - -to be > handed to the Minister. "There is no doubt at ali that the buildings generally are in an unsatisi'aetory condition for railway purposes," he said, "and it'is indubitably the worst publie building or business building iu the whole of Hastings. It is a. disgrace to your department and an eye-sore to the townspeople; and it crentes a most unfavourable impression upon the visitor, coming, into town." Mr Maddison pointed out that the present station was erected 49 years ago. He realised, that the cost of the work proposed- woul.d be considerable but submitted that the expenditure was fully warranted". Hastings showed the greatest population' increase, apart from Lower Hutt, in New Zealand, and the urban area showed an increase of 31 per cent. To-day ' Hastings was serving an immediate- population of approximately 25,000 and was ,the centre of one of the greatest primary-producing districts in the world. A perusal of the railway returns also indicated the h-igh position which Hastings held in comparison with business done at various other stations in New Zealand. Mr Maddison said that the only plan before the department was that dated 1913 ' and which provided for the moving of the station to north of St. Aubyn street. To give effect to this, he said, would mean closing that stroot and would greatly inconvenience the townspeople, for ,iit would lead to congestion of traffic. .. . "What our town urgently needs at tho present time is the opening-up of Queen street .and Avenue. road, as well as the" retention' of ' St. Aubyn street, as cross streets," said Mr Maddison. "Consequently, we respectfully suhmit that at 'is absolutely essential that the proposed station should be erected slightly north ward of the proposed site so that the three I have named can b« made through streets. * "For the purposes of ordinary railway services, we recommend that -the department proceed with the purchase of further propertlea westward of the land now owned hy it, between §L Aubyn street and Wattie's Canneries, . hut nofi taking in the sections fadng King street," s?id Mr Maddison. ' •' We understand that this area would then provide more railway accommodation than the department now has between St. Aubyn street and Heretaunga street and Also would releass for lease, or for sale, the major portion of the land between those respective streets; and the income from the leasing, or outright sale. should eventually go a long wav towards pajdng the annual charges on the cost of the. new railway station and the acquirement of other properta.es, and the recon- . • Btruction of further shunting facilities." .... .

also as many of the crossings as possible should be elimin* ated. He, also' mentioned that there were at present over 600 men registered as unemployed ht Hastings,' and the proposals outlined, if adoptedf would not only provide a national asset, but would provide scqpe for the eiaployment of a big number of men. "My committee has bad under consideration several other schemes for tha rearrangement of the railway Bfirvice for this distriet, including the practicability and wisdom of diverting the railway outside the borough boundary," he said in conclusion, ' ' but : we have •come to the conclusion that the recom- • mendation made in- this" report is the best one', and thfi least cOstly; and we desire that you give this matter your -usual earnest, and we hope you* favourable, consideration.1' Many Factors involved . Replying to tlie representations, the Minister said that apparently for some 25 years the matter had been brought forward in one form or unother and that at one stage the. town bad been within striking distal: c of , aebieving the realisation of its'hopes; but.nothing had. been done. Under the circum.stances it was hardly to be • expected ■ that he should give any thing very definite at this stage, There was one , strdng factor in the fepresentations, and- that was that there was soni© definite proposition put' forward as to what the tovyn and distriet thought should b« done. : * "We can examine that" proposition, make up our minda, see what the likely cost will be, and. if it. commends itsplf toithe Governmeiit and its' e*pertSj , then— -.well, that. is that"*' he said with a smile. /'On the, other hand t • the proposals look , to • me to-. cal! for • sliifting - the ' site of the Station, which will mean almost complete reor- , gffriisation : and ) the purchase of new property. Bdth these two things make a job very costly. In fafct, nothittg i« m'Ore costly. Anything with a contrtbution" of about - 100 per cent.1 of reconstriiction is a matter that requifea to Be looked at very 'closely. , ''However, with the propositioh tliat you have' put iorward as a starting. point ' we can tell you what we think dbout it, and if we cannot agree. then possibly we can put forward some altemative •proposal to you," ha said. "I know that Hawke's Bay is goiiig | ahead — that is proved by* the development of railway business,- which has eubgtantially • increased— but we aava got to weigh up the claihib of the Various ; districts and must" work aecordihg to .a- programme. . • • "I have not yet, made a thorough personal investigation,. but I will do-so to make niy own mind clear on : the matter and will get a report from tha depai-tmental officers. We will then let you know," he said, "We will lose s# more time upon the, examination tbtin is necessary, and we won't nse this investigation as a means of sidestepping you or delaying *the proposals. Al'ter.our investigation we will tell you whether or not we will carry out * scheme." Mr Culleh's Hopss. Mr E. L. Cullen, M.P., auhstantiated the Mayor's statement that the proposal put forward was the unanihious decision of the special. committee set up by a publie meeting to place before the Government. He hoped that the Minister would not take too serioiia 'a view of the proposed reconstruction, for he pointed out that, if the scheme paid for itself in 25 years, then it waa well worth-while doingv Mr Sullivan: I would just like to mentiton that the • first visitor to my office before I became Minister of Railways Was your member, Mr Cullea* and he invited me to come to Hastinga to see about a new station-. Mr Maddison, in concluding the discussion, said that he was pleased. to have 'the assurance of ihe Ministe* that there would be no further delay than, was absolutely ( neceesary. "I de», test procrastination in everything," he said. "I like a man to say yes or no to a, proposal, Whst has annojed *• is tliat for over '25 years it has bfien recognised that Hastings has just qlaims for a new railway station but that nothing has been done about it." The Ministeriai party was tben taken on a toiir of inspection of the proposed site and of the orossings in the town and also of the present station and yards. Afterwards they were driven to Te Mata Peak to obtain a "bird's-eyn view" of the borough and surrounG countryside.