Woodhouse takes umbrage Hillside not part of rail spend
CONFIRMATION none of the Government’s $1.2 billion rail investment in Budget 2020 will include Hillside workshops has been labelled a “staggering act of hypocrisy” by Dunedin National list MP Michael Woodhouse.
Thursday’s Budget included $400 million to replace the Interislander ferries and improve portside infrastructure, $246 million towards investment in track and supporting infrastructure, and $421 million for new wagons and locomotives.
KiwiRail group chief executive Greg Miller yesterday said there were no plans for any work funded by Budget 2020 to be undertaken at Hillside workshops.
“As New Zealand does not have the capability to build locomotives, or ferries, they will have to be sourced overseas, and it’s unlikely specialist landside infrastructure for the ferries, such as linkspans, which allow trains and vehicles to get on and off the ferries, could be built in New Zealand.
“The funding for making the rail network reliable and resilient is for work that will be undertaken onsite across the country.
“Hillside currently carries out refurbishment work, including converting 130 container freight wagons to carry forestry logs last year.”
Mr Miller said KiwiRail’s plan was to turn Hillside into a heavy engineering facility for the South Island that could “be used, for example, to assemble rail wagons”.
“This is what the redevelopment, beginning with the $20 million Provincial Growth Investment, is aimed at.”
Mr Woodhouse was heavily critical of the decision.
“The revelation that, despite investing $410 million to purchase rolling stock in Budget 2020, none of that work will come to Hillside is a staggering act of hypocrisy by the Labour Government.
“Dunedinites were led to believe the $20 million Provincial Growth Fund investment so proudly announced by Clare Curran, Shane Jones and David Parker six months ago was so Hillside could respond to just such an investment.
“With job losses imminent and a commitment to apprenticeships, and given the Government’s stated commitment, Dunedinites would see this as a massive opportunity.”
Dunedin South MP Clare Curran said KiwiRail’s plan to turn Hillside into a heavy engineering facility for the South Island was “extremely important”.
‘‘This is what Hillside used to do, but it was run down and closed by the previous National government, with a fire sale of important engineering equipment.’’
She said she was ‘‘advocating strongly’’ for any new rail investment to include Hillside.
“I do however understand that the reestablishment can’t be fully achieved overnight.
“I’m looking forward to more announcements that include Hillside in the coming months.”
FOR many people in Dunedin, life in Alert Level 2 is sweet.
After more than 14 weeks without having a haircut, lockdown nearly caused Tania Keane to commit a cardinal sin.
The Healthcare New Zealand support worker, who has been working throughout Alert Levels 3 and 4, said she did not know how, but somehow she managed to put the scissors down and resist the urge to trim her tresses.
Mrs Keane usually has her hair cut every six weeks without fail.
That was until her last haircut, which was supposed to be the day after New Zealand went into lockdown.
So after 14 weeks without so much as a trim, she was getting pretty tempted to have a go herself.
‘‘It felt like I was wearing a big heavy helmet — like this big thick mop. I just wanted to put the clippers through myself.’’
She held out until Thursday, when the country went into Alert Level 2.
‘‘I was one of the first on the chair.
‘‘It was wonderful to take some time for myself for a change.’’
Mrs Keane said her new ‘‘do’’ felt ‘‘absolutely amazing’’.
‘‘I feel more lively now. I feel like myself again.’’
Shirley Daubney, of Dunedin, had a similar lockdown look.
She was relieved to see nail salons open their doors once again after walking around with superglue, from her last pedicure about seven weeks ago, clinging to her nails.
‘‘I have had my nails done every three weeks for the past six years.’’
Her daughter had managed to give her a home pedicure, buying time until her appointment yesterday.
Humans were not the only ones struggling to maintain selfcare throughout lockdown.
Liz Pine, of Laundromutt dog groomer, said she had seen some ‘‘interesting’’ hairstyles on customers’ pets since reopening.
‘‘We call them ‘mum grooms’. ‘‘We have had some children give their dogs haircuts and we have even had bubblegum[in the hair].’’
Many dogs had left the groomer bald because a ‘‘shave off’’ was the only option to fix their overgrown coats. She said they had honoured their existing bookings and filled any gaps by prioritising which pet needed their attention the most.
‘‘A lot of our customers came back to us and said ‘I did not realise what you guys actually did for us’.’’
The groomer was expecting to be flat out for at least the next four months.