Seeks Consent To Sell Private Hospital

Northern Advocate, 15 March 1947, Page 4

Seeks Consent To Sell Private Hospital

Keilher the Crown nor private valuations of a property before the Land Sales Committee ir. Whangarei yesterday sustained the price reached in the agreement although the purchaser war eager to pay t! e J'uli amount asked.

This aspect was a feature of an application for consent to the sale of a Maunu Road property used as a private hospital.

The applicant. Miss E. M. Lowe, asked for trie committee's consent to a prko of £SOOO, a reduction of £250 from the original figure, which had not been sustained by the private valuation ot ttf'OO. The Crown valuation was £4525. For the purchaser, Mr D. K. Ross tojci the committee that his client- was anxious to pay the full price as he par- | tieuiarly desired to obtain the prop- ] ertv. The Whangarei Hospital Board was interested and approached the intending purchaser, who said he would be able to house nurses there. This would enable the board to alter the maternity annexe to accommodate 13 extra beds by doing away with some of flic nurses’ rooms. The arrangement would only be a temporary one until the new nurses' I onic was built. Then the purchaser would convert the property into a private boardinghouse. If the purchaser, Mr G. W. Petley. ol larakao, had not reached this arrangement the board might have acquired the place under the Public Works Act, he said. Miss Lowe would not sell to Petley at less than £SOOO and his client had been willing to pay this figure or the original one of £5250. ‘STRETCH ACT’ To enable the transaction to proceed Mr Loss suggested that the committee stretch the Land Sales Act. “We might all. go for a stretch if we did that." said the chairman of the committee <Mr E. H. Burton). ‘ Would there be any harm in that?" queried Mr Ross amidst laughter. The Crown representative (Mr L. A. Aniocleo) then said that the case was j no more urgent than many others that j came before the committee and which received no special consideration. Under cros-examination by Mr Ross, the private valuer (Mr E. W. Thomson) stated that babies and boarders had one thing in common—they both had to be fed and bedded.

j He added that he was impressed by the furnishings of the house, which were all of the best. He thought that they were just as suitable for a boardinghouse as they were for a maternity hospital and the property was fully fitted for either purpose. QUESTION OF GOODWILL The chattels, valued at £7(14 by the Crown, were worth more collectively than if they had to be purchased separately as the purchaser would lose time and profit while he gathered them. Because of the suitability and availability of the building Mr Thomson said he thought these were assets. The goodwill he valued at £250, and Mr Amodco commented that it was rather an indefinable subject to assess. Mr Thomson replied: "The vendor should not be deprived of the'goodwill she has built up." It was debated whether the goodwill of a maternity home would be an asset to a boardinghouse until one of the 'committee suggested that it was not the point under discussion. The committee then adjourned the case to allow Mr N. P. Wyatt, for the vendor, to ascertain if the property could be transferred to another owner as a maternity hospital. If it could, and Mr Wyatt produced figures to show the value of the goodwill, the committee, said Mr Burton, would allow the vendor to capitalise I on it. I

“What the purchaser does wilh it is no conce) n of ours and if he is prepared to btiy the goodwill and then close the business it is his own affair.”