Assessment Court.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 55, 15 June 1908, Page 5

Assessment Court.

A sitting of the Assessment Court was held in the Courthouse, Milton, on Friday, before Mr Kenrick, S.M., and assessors, Messrs W. Grey and D. Thomson. The Trustees in estate of William Smaill, Kaitangata, objected to valuation of improvements on the Summerhill property, consisting of 884 acres. There were two objections lodged; one in regard to the Summerhill pro-, perty, and the other with reference to Rutherford's flat. The objections were heard together. Mr H. L. Wiggins (officer-in -charge Otago) and Mr R. Milne (district agent) appeared on behalf of the Valution Department. Charles Stewart Smaill, in evidence, said the valuation was underestimated in regard to the whole of the fencing (nearly 20 miles), three miles of which had been erected about twelve months ago, while some had been erected not ten years ago, and the remainder before that. Witness erected part of the fencing himself, but did not keep date as to the work. He could not say how much had been erected within ten years. The fences were composed of posts and droppers, with six plain an'd one barb wire throughout. The work was done by employees on the estate, and he reckoned it cost from 10s to 12s a chain. The fencing was in good repair. He also objected to the valuation of a mile of ditch, which witness valued at ;£i6o. He could not say when it was originally made, but it had been deepened from time to time; in places it was 10ft across at the top and 3ft deep, at any part not being less than sft wide and 3ft deep. Witness valued this at £2 per chain. For the past fifteen years the ditch had been cleaned out periodically. The cross ditches on the estate were valued at £8 the lot, were made about seven years ago, and averaged about 3ft deep and 2ft 6in across the top. He also objected to the valuation of 50 acres of bush clearing done perhaps 10 years ago; 60 acres of stumping at '£4 an acre, done 10 to 15 years ago; 17 acres of bush clearing at £6 an acre, done when the land was taken up about 32 years ago. Then there was the insurance on the buildings, etc., a plantation of macrocarpa, pinus insignis, etc., 25 years old, 3 acres of orchard valued at planted 30 years ago; as well as 460 acres in grass at £1 per acre, sown at different times from one to seven years ago. To Mr Wiggins: Part of the ditch was on the property and part on the roadside, about two-thirds being on the road; represented the whole value of the ditch. The improvements on the property (itself worth £8320) were odd. Admitted the bush clearing was of some use to the land, which had been cleared not for the sake of the timber, although a little might have been taken .off. The grass lasted about ten years, and was not then done; in fact, in some cases it was better than the young grass at three years old. He had cut up some of the grass land before it was done, because the land had to be worked in rotation. Yet, said Mr Wiggins, you say you would do better by turning it in than when it is worth according to your own statement more than the young grass ? To this the witness made no reply. The fruit trees in the orchard had not been sprayed. The buildings were between 25 and 30 years old. The dwelling-house was a ten-roomed one with iron roof, and there were two stables with five stalls and loose-box in each, coach house, harness room, two cow byres, two-roomed cottage, woolshed, implement shed, hut to accommodate 12 men, three dwelling-houses of four, seven, and five rooms respectively. Peter Haggart, farmer, Wangaloa, in corroborating the evidence of Mr Smaill, said the whole of the ditch was or the property, but ran alongside the ro<d. One of the houses which was in th< orchard had not been in use for Uree years. The insurance on the buildings was some time back, ajd a represeruwve of the insurance uompany wanted to increase the anount, but the trustees would not htve it increased. With the exception $ the four-roomed house, all the builditgs were about 25 years old. Witness nade a valuation of the property in #97, when he reckoned the fencing at jO,s a chain for a certain amount and j'a for the other, The orchard had no .'been included in his list; it was in tetter condition then than now. He also not included the ditch, but a *yone pduld miss putting that in. T9 Mr Qrey': "it was an up-to-date ftquse. The shearing shed ~<n4 barn, wer§ combined, and \vere abQitf §gft lpp§ ; 1 Robert Milne, district valuer, said l he assessed the le-roomed dwellinghouse at ; the other two at and £75 ; the two dwellings under one l roof at',£lso ; byre and shed at Iwoolshed arid barn at stable and shed at J the "total value at ;£l2oo. He considered he had put OH the full value. The rooms in the dwelling-house were a good size, costing about £7O a room; it was ag I years old, and he had allowed a good (deal for depreciation. Mr Smaill's figures for the fencing were 1466 chains, Valued at ; draining on the hill, on'the. flat, £45 ; clearing bush jand, 66 'acres'on the .flat, ; 660 acres of grass on the flat, &250, and jiill, ; three acres of plantation, foo; yard aod dip, £iq' } the house

on the flat belonging to the estate, ;£too • and on the hut, shed, and J storeroom belonging to the lessee, The condition of the dwelling-house was fairly good, but it was close on 30 years old ; it had been painted, but not for a considerable time. was its full value; the outbuildings were not. in such good repair. would be fair selling value. The average grasb lands he valued at between 6s and 7s an acre. Some of the hill country was in its natural state. He reckoned 10s an acre for the grass land on the flat. Mr Smaill told him there were five acres of orchard, but for the past three years the roll showed three. At the last valuation the total, for improvements was set down at ; now it was £2610. He allowed a mile for the fencing. He put no value on the orchard at all from a buying point of view; the two vineries were useless. £1 an acre for grass eight to ten years old was altogether out of the question. Some of it was nearly exhausted; the rest was going away and would have to be broken up. Witness said he was giving good value for grass at 7s an acre. To Mr Grey: There were 142 acres of grass on the flat, and from 660 to 700 on the hill. To Mr Haggart (who was allowed by his Worship to ask a question) : I took no notice of the ditch whatever. Mr Haggart: That is a very big item. Mr Milne : I could not tell whether it belonged the estate or to the Comity Council. Continuing, he said he had allowed for drainage; had not taken very much notice of the ditch on his tour of inspection; in fact knew nothing of it until the case was being heard. The fence was on the inside of the ditch, which Mr Haggart explained was done to prevent cattle falling into the ditch. Mr Milne said 10s a chain would be good value for it ; he had known of ditches 4ft x 4ft being dug for that money. This closed the case, and after consultation His Worship announced that the Court had decided to sustain the Government valuation. He pointed out that there was such a thing as an exhausted improvement. That applied to a number of the improvements mentioned ; whether the drain was on the land or not, it was entitled to be held as an improvement to the land, just the same as a road metalled in front of land was an improvement. The valuer had really put on a certain amount which the C n urt considered allowed for this. The Government valuation would be sustained. OTHER OASES.

Christina Scott, Wangaloa, in reaped of.part 1, block 3, Coast, Reduced by agreement from £13,0 to £IOO. David Lawrence, Kaitangata Riding, 139 acres, No appearance. Valuation sustained. G. E. Royds, part of Lakeside property, increased to on account of value of flax. Ward Bros., flaxmill, Coombe Hay, no appearance. Valuation sustained.