APPEAL AGAINST SALE UPHELD

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27470, 2 October 1954, Page 10

APPEAL AGAINST SALE UPHELD

MARKET GARDENING LAND AT BELFAST

An appeal by the Crown against an order of the North Canterbury Land Valuation Committee, which consented to the sale of 40 acres of land at Belfast by Leonard Gracey Maginnes to Mundy Brothers, has been upheld by the Land Valuation Court.

The appeal was heard on September 9 before Judge Archer, with him Mr W. Stewart and Mr A. A. McLauchlan as members.

Mr J. G. Haughey appeared for the Crown; Mr G. H. Gould for Mundy Brothers; and Mr R. E. Booker for the vendor.

The appeal was on the ground that the sale infringed the section of the Land Settlement Promotion Act relating to undue aggregation of land. The reserved decision of the Court, given yesterday, says:— “It is admitted that the purchasers have ample land for the support of themselves and of their dependents, and we are of the opinion that having regard to the large area which they already own, the acquisition of an additional 40 acres of land would by ordinary standards be deemed to be excessive. The purchasers are firstclass farmers, but while this is a relevant factor for consideration, it does not of itself entitle them to acquire this land. We agree that, in general terms, it is in the public interest for the purchasers to continue their operations, and if possible to increase their production, but we are not satisfied that it is in the public interest for an area of 40 acres of first-class land, which would provide an ample living for an independent market gardener, to be added to the large holdings of the purchasers and so rendered unavailable for closer settlement. ‘‘We are therefore of opinion that the committee was wrong in granting this application, and that the appeal is entitled to succeed.”