Environmental impact party inspects electrification project on main trunk line

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 40, 18 March 1986, Page 1

Environmental impact party inspects electrification project on main trunk line

The Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Phil Goff, was impressed with what has been achieved along the Ohakune-Horopito section of the North Island main trunk line electrification project when he visited the site on Sunday.

Mr Goff and a large party of Railways and Park staff as well as the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Ken Piddington, toured the site on a railways' 'jigger'. They stopped off at various areas along the way to discuss land which had been cleared of trees, regenerated vegetation and the re-planting of trees onto the land. Mr Goff said after viewing the project: "The way in which the Railways and National Park staff have worked together ought to be applauded." "This project indicates the way in which a greater number of developments could work in the future," he said.

Damage to the environment had been minimised as much as possible he said, and ways are now being looked at to restore the environment quickly. Mr Goff said the precautions which are being undertaken in this project, such as the steam cleaning of machines before they are allowed on the site to prevent the introduction of plant diseases, are the sort of things which need to be done in the 1980s and contrast sharply with the original construction of the railway in the 1900s. The Minister said of the old Hapuawhenua Viaduct: "It would be a tragedy if it were to be lost." He said he hoped it would be retained as a walkway for the public.