PALMERSTON N. DEVIATION

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3933, 20 April 1929, Page 2

PALMERSTON N. DEVIATION

WORK STOPPED. Official instructions for the suspension of all work, with the exception of that necessary in order to leave everything in satisfactory condition, was received at the Palmerston railway deviation on Thu-' rsday. The steam shovels were stopped, and the construction work c-cased. Immediately inquiries were instituted to ascei’tain which men were willing to transfer to other undertakings. The first draft is expected to leave for Gisborne on Monday. MIR. LINKLATER’S VIEWS. CONGESTION AT YARDS. “The fact that £216,000 has already been spent on the deviation is a very strong reason why the work should be completed,” commented Mr J. Linklater, M.P., president of the Manawatu and West Coast A. and P. Association in expressing his surprise to a “Standard” reporter that the Government had decided to issue orders for the suspension of the work. “The present congested state of affairs at the shunting yards, and the very inadequate station serving such an important ‘centre * as jPalmei’ston North, surely warrants very considerable improvement's,” he added. “The expenditure of £33,000 on •patching up the present station appears to me to be a waste of money,” he stated. So far as the Manawatu A. and P. Association was concerned, the new yards would be more convenient than the present yards for stock coming to the shows, because the yards would be situated in a quieter part of the town, and stock could be handled .much more easily than Horn the present station. As the population of Palmerston North grew and the traffic increased, the deviation would have to be completed, and the right course to pursue would 'be to proceed with the work immediately. MR. FIELD’S VIEWS. Questioned on the matter, Mr Field, M.P., says: “I view the Government’s action in stopping ’the woik with great satisfaction. I have strenuously opposed the construction of this deviation from the beginning, and have always regarded it as a waste of public money. My only regret is that so much money has been spent. Mr Hiley’s proposal, made before his retirement, for extending and re-arrang-ing the present station yards and building an island station, and estimated the cost at not more than £40,000, would have been sufficient lo meet all requirements for many years to come. If any deviation was to be constructed it should have been the Levin-Greatford one, which would have been to the advantage of the Dominion as a whole. I trust this latter deviation will ere long receive favourable consideration.” LEVIN - GREAT FORD DEVIATION MORE IMPORTANT.

Air W. E. Barber, Chairman of the Alanawatu County Council declared he had always maintained that the deviation was not called for. A much more important undertaking, in his opinion, was the Le-vin-Greatford deviation, which would shorten the Main Trunk line by 15 miles. The railway line through Palmerston North could have been sunk, or overhead bridges erected where necessary, and more land acquired by the Government to keep the station where it now is. He declined to express an opinion on the cessation of the work on the new site, but thought that the Government should provide work for the men thrown out of work by the cessation of the work on the new undertaking.