Waiouru station demolition likely

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 15, Issue 690, 10 June 1997, Page 1

Waiouru station demolition likely

Relinquishing the lease on the Waiouru Railway Station build ing by the Ruapehu District Council is on the cards and the building is likely to be demolished. "If there is no progress from what was previously resolved, council will have no option other than to cede occupation and have the NZR (Tranz Rail) lease terminated immediately in order to reduce the level of embarrassment of being effectively 'kicked out'," is the advice from council property officer Allan Low to the Waiouru Community Board. The board is to consider the matter and whether to relinquish the lease or not, at their meeting tonight. The council took on the lease of the building on behalf of a group of Waiouru people who wanted the old building retained and had planned to upgrade it and sub-lease space to cover costs. Tranz Rail wrote to the council in March, giving notice that if the work was not completed within the following three months (by 21 June), the company would take the building back and "take its own action to remove the building". "Tranz Rail has major concerns about the state of the building not only from an image point of view but from a health and safety aspect as well," wrote lease manager Neil Davies.

"Council is obviously in substantial breach of a number of terms and conditions of the agreement and as such council must take urgent control of the situation and upgrade the station in accordance with the original arrangements," he stated. However, he also said if the council decided not to proceed with upgrading, Tranz Rail would "look favourably at releasing council from its obligations".