Railways makes $34,000 ownership point

Press, 1 June 1988, Page 9

Railways makes $34,000 ownership point

Mr Bill Flanagan is angry about the $34,000 asking price for a 35cm strip of railway land bordering his Sydenham service station.

A simmering argument over ownership and access rights across the strip briefly flared into the public eye yesterday when a railway crew drove two girders into the strip, blocking an entranceway to Mr Flanagan’s garage. Several hours later after a conference between Mr Flanagan, who leases the land, the Railways, and Mr Mervyn Moore, who owns the property, permission was granted for the girders to be removed.

The Railways Corporation’s area property manager, Mr Graham Ancell, said the action was taken to prove a point over ownership and rights across the land. The 35cm wide strip of land, a link strip, is a

legacy of the corporation’s development of Cass Street at a time when adjacent owners did not want to take part in the development. The strip prevented other landowners later creating accessways to Cass Street without Railways Corporation approval. Mr Ancell said the corporation had sold or leased strips to a number of properties and to keep faith with those owners it had to do something about an unauthorised entranceway. Mr Flanagan said the entranceway on his property existed when he took over the business in 1981, and that blocking it would create traffic dangers. “Trucks that normally come in through the Cass Street entrance would have to swing on to Colombo Street and do a U-turn to get in here.”

Mr Flanagan said he

did not wish to buy or lease the link strip and that it was a matter between the landlord and Railways. The landowner, Mr Moore, said he did not wish to buy the strip either and that the matter was between his tenant and the corporation. “Railways are saying either don’t use the link strip or pay for it,” Mr Moore said.

Mr Ancell said a registered valuer had valued the 60m-long strip by Mr Flanagan’s garage at $34,000. “We have sold or leased strips across other properties and because this one has dragged on since 1986 we had to do something to show we meant business and to keep faith with other owners.”

He said blocking the accessway was “a pretty dramatic thing to do” but it had proved a point, and brought the three parties together to negotiate.