Supreme Court DISPOSAL OF RESERVE

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30783, 22 June 1965, Page 18

Supreme Court DISPOSAL OF RESERVE

Dispute Among Farmers

The hearing of an appeal against a decision of the North Canterbury Land Settlement Committee on the disposal of land which had formed part of She LincolnLittle River railway reserve began in the Supreme Court yesterday before Mr Justice Wilson.

The committee on June 11, 1963, decided that the lease Alfred Lawrence Lee, of Greenpark, had held on the railway reserve should be terminated in October, 1964, and that the 20 acres should be offered in parts to Benjamin Edward Jones, Douglas Neil Harvey Watson, and Pyne. Gould, Guinness, Ltd. (as trustee of an estate). Mr J. G. Leggat, with him Mr H. J. B. Quigley, appears for Lee, Mr R. de Fleshei’ for Watson, and Mr J. B. Matson for Jones. The section of the reserve at issue lies across Ridge road from Lee’s farm. The properties of Jones and Watson lie on the opposite side of the reserve from Lee’s, and are separated from the reserve by a paper road. Mr Leggat said the land had been leased by Lee since 1951, and in February, 1963, he applied to purchase it. Jones, Watson, and a man named Eden, who had now withdrawn, were also applicants.

Lee in 1951 acquired his property of nine acres freehold and 52 acres lease in perpetuity, and subsequently purchased a further 10 acres. Because of his lack of dry land for wintering stock he had a short-term lease of another nine acres of dry land. The disputed 20 acres was a vital part of his farming. Mr Flesher, in opening, said that Watson had farmed his property for 35 to 37 years, and his carrying capacity had also been held down because of a lack of dry land. Both his homestead block and the acreage adjacent to the paper road were subject to flooding as a result of varying levels in Lake Ellesmere, that adjacent to the paper road being affected by the Halswell drain.

The hearing will continue today.