23 August 2023
File Ref: OIAPR-1274023063-6082
Sam Burns
By email: [FYI request #23595 email]
Tēnā koe Sam
Request for information 2023-199
I refer to your two requests for information both dated 26 July 2023, which were received by Greater
Wel ington Regional Council (Greater Wel ington) on 26 July 2023. One request was made directly
to Greater Wel ington, whereas the other was transferred to us by KiwiRail as the request relates to
the information we have. You have requested the fol owing:
“I write to request any information you hold regarding the currently in progress upgrade of Awarua
Street Station's rain shelter. The upgrade began some time ago and has very slowly progressed. It is
stil fenced off.
This could include emails regarding scheduling of the work and progression of that schedule.
I believe this may be part of a wider upgrade of the Johnsonvil e Line stations; I am primarily
interested in Awarua Street, less so any other station.”
Greater Wellington’s response follows:
Buildings on train stations across the Wel ington network are managed by Greater Wel ington
Regional Council/Metlink. We provide up to date information to customers about station upgrades
on our website https://www.metlink.org.nz/news-and-updates/news/train-station-upgrades/.
Background:
The Awarua Street platform cannot be accessed by vehicle from the street, so moving earthwork
and plant equipment onto the platform relies on using the rail line itself (via a ‘high rail’ system). As
such, the contractor has been forced to plan machinery works around periods when trains were not
operating on the Johnsonvil e Line (otherwise known as a BOL, or Block of Line) for the demolition
of existing concrete wal s, and instal ation of a new concrete strip. The Easter BOL presented the
best opportunity to do this demolition and strengthening work.
Wel ington office
Upper Hutt
Masterton office
0800 496 734
PO Box 11646
PO Box 40847
PO Box 41
www.gw.govt.nz
Manners St, Wel ington 6142
1056 Fergusson Drive
Masterton 5840
[email address]
Progression of the project:
The upgrade of the Awarua Street Station building has been phased as fol ows:
Design:
Design works by both architects and engineers, initial y within an 8-week timeframe, which was
revised to 14 weeks.
Design consultants were in-briefed over the period December 2022 to January 2023, and
commenced design works from late January 2023.
We original y intended to deliver a completed design by the end of April 2023. However, the
initial drawings of the building were inaccurate, and not reflective of the foundation conditions
under the platform surface. This meant an engineer and architect rework was required to amend
the means of strengthening the building and utilising the footprint. This caused a delay of 6
weeks, and the final design was delivered in mid-June 2023.
Stage One – Demolition/Shoring:
This involved an immediate demolition and temporary strengthening of the building, to ensure
that it is not an earthquake risk. The estimated time frame was one week.
This occurred over the Easter BOL as planned – please refer to Attachment 1 which contains an
email regarding this work and some photos of the work being undertaken.
We have withheld information in the correspondence under section 7(2)(a) of the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 in order to protect the privacy of natural persons,
including that of deceased natural persons.
We have considered whether the public interest in the requested information outweighs Greater
Wel ington’s need to withhold certain aspects of the requested information. As a result, we do not
consider that the public interest outweighs Greater Wel ington’s reason for withholding parts of the
document under the ground identified above.
The existing concrete wing wal s were demolished and asphalted over, while the front of the
roof structure was supported with props and scaffolding to make the building safe to use.
In the intervening period fol owing Stage One, the shelter was left as shown in Attachment 2.
This enabled use of the shelter by customers, as wel as seating along the rear of the building,
while the design for the build itself was finalised.
Stage Two – Construction:
This involves permanent strengthening and cosmetic upgrade to the shelter within an estimated
8-week timeframe.
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This stage was original y planned to occur from mid-May 2023; however, this was revised to
early July 2023 fol owing the later delivery of a final design.
Preparatory works to enable the main construction phase, particularly the laying of concrete
and fabrication of structural steel, have been hampered by poor weather and contractor il ness.
This caused a further delay of approximately 2 weeks.
The contractor revised their chart. Please refer to Attachment 3 which contains a copy of the
project programme. The attachment reflects the works on site currently planned out to the end
of August.
In summary, the project was original y intended for completion at the end of June 2023, with delays
due to redesign, weather and contractor il ness causing 8 weeks of delay.
Correspondence:
We have refused this part of your request under section 17(f) on the basis that the information
requested cannot be made available without substantial col ation or research. An initial search
regarding this subject returned 2,086 items. We have provided you with a subset of information for
this request by refining the scope of the search using the key words “Awarua Street station shelter
replacement.”
Please refer to Attachment 4 for the relevant correspondence from this search relating to the
Awarua Street station shelter replacement from within the last 6 months.
We have withheld information in the correspondence under section 7(2)(a) of the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 in order to protect the privacy of natural persons,
including that of deceased natural persons.
We have considered whether the public interest in the requested information outweighs Greater
Wel ington’s need to withhold certain aspects of the requested information. As a result, we do not
consider that the public interest outweighs Greater Wel ington’s reason for withholding parts of the
document under the ground identified above.
If you have any concerns with the decision(s) referred to in this letter, you have the right to request
an investigation and review by the Ombudsman under section 27(3) of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987.
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Please note that it is our policy to proactively release our responses to official information requests
where possible. Our response to your request wil be published shortly on Greater Wel ington’s
website with your personal information removed.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Samantha Gain
Kaiwhakahaere Matua Waka-a-atea | Group Manager Metlink
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