Too late to demolish Melling station building

Monday, 12 May 2025

NZTA rejected proposals by the Greater Wellington Regional Council to demolish the Melling station building.

Time has run out to include a new building for Melling station into the blueprint of the $1.5 billion RiverLink Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi project.

The New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) rejected proposals by the Greater Wellington Regional Council to demolish the current station building, citing potential delays and cost increases to the already long-awaited project.

It means the building will be preserved and moved 300 metres south to make way for a new State Highway 2 interchange, on which construction is set to start this year after NZTA signed final agreements with contractors AECOM-Fletcher following months of negotiations. It will be linked with the Lower Hutt city centre through a new bridge crossing Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council wanted to knock down the asbestos-ridden structure, which had not been used for years, and build a replacement at the new location, but a previous heritage status saved it from the bulldozers.

Transport Minister and local MP Chris Bishop says it was frustrating that the building cannot be knocked down.

In April, the council’s chairperson Daran Ponter asked NZTA chairperson Simon Bridges, whose agency is responsible for the station’s relocation and the new Melling interchange, to review plans about the station building, believing it would be cheaper to demolish the current building and start afresh.

“Greater Wellington is committed to reinstating the Melling service as soon as practicable and we see the seamless development of a user-friendly station facility as an essential aspect of that outcome.”

But NZTA infrastructure delivery regional manager Jetesh Bhula said the changes were unlikely to achieve significant savings. Accommodating the change meant modifying the project’s comprehensive resource consent, which could end up with lengthy delays and hefty cost increases.

“This is because new facilities would have to be built to replace the station to ensure compliance with Greater Wellington Regional Council and Metlink Minimum Requirements,” he said.

Regional councillor Quentin Duthie expects the station building will be refurbished at its new location.

“It should also be noted contracts and agreements for the project have already been signed.”

Transport Minister and local MP Chris Bishop shared the council’s view.

“The short answer is it just too hard now for a range of reasons to do anything other than what is planned,” he said. “It is frustrating.”

Ponter said he was disappointed, but it was a small issue in the overall scheme of things.

Regional councillor Quentin Duthie expected the station building would be refurbished at its new location, like fitting in new accessible toilets, bike racks, Snapper card kiosks or even commercial space.

“While the building itself is important, it’s only part of the set of facilities to serve passengers’ needs,” he said.

Melling station will be closed for three years starting this December or next January while the interchange us being built, but Melling Line would remains open and terminates at Western Hutt station.