COMPENSATION CASE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 10 August 1917, Page 5

COMPENSATION CASE.

A Compensation Court set up to dealwith the claims of Phillip Pitcher, Charlotte Pitcher and Edwin Jacob Gifford against the Kaponga Town Board under the Public Works Act sat |at the Courthouse, Eltham (the Argus reporte) on Tuesday. The Court consisted of Mr W. R. Haeelden, S.M., as' president, Mr J. iB. Murdoch as claimants' assessor, and Mr J. B. Richards as respondent's ! assessor. Mr T. B. Crump appeared for the claimants and Mr P. ODea for the respondent Board. j The claims were as follow: j By Phillip Pitcher, for £50 for de- ! privation of use of land, trespass of ! stray cattle, and damage, removal of topsoil and flooding and erosion. By C. Pitcher, P. Pitcher and E. J: Gifford, £200, damage by erosion and flooding. j After the opening of the case, at the instance of counsel on both sides, the Court visited the site at Kaponga for the purposes of inspection, and returned to town to take evidence. • Phillip Pitcher said he had resided on the farm in question for 28 years, and the heaviest tiood experienced during that period was that of August 13, 1993. That was the onjy occasion on which water went over me property to any serious extent previous to the erection of the dam by the Town Board, and on that occasion no damage was done. He had refused to agree to the works on his land, and the Board went on with the work without any permission or arrangement. Witness described the work, and also the damage from the subsequent floods. He considered the land reduced in value from £4 to £6 an acre -by reason of the Kaponga Town Board's works. ■ John Sturrock, Hawera borough engineer, was the next witness, and gave expert evidence of probable effect of the dam on the river in flood. He believed that if the dam had not been constructed there would have been '■ some flooding over the land, but not ' to anything like such a serious extent as occurred during the flood in quesI tion, this excess being due to the choki ing of the stream by the darn. j The case was adjourned to Monday next at 10.30 a.m. i