BUS SHELTER SITE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25177, 14 April 1945, Page 10

BUS SHELTER SITE

BATEPAYEE'S OBJECTION

COURT RESERVES DECISION The action taken by a Takapuna ratepayer, Mrs Myrtle Middleton, of 85 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna (Mr West), against the Takapuna Borough Council (Mr Stanton), to compel the council to remove a bus shelter erected on the frontage of her property was concluded before Mr Justice Callan yesterday.

The plaintiff complained that the shelter, which was unsightly, interfered with her property rights, and' asked for an injunction requiring the council to remove it, and for £25 damages. The council denied that the shelter

had caused any damage or detriment, and said it had been lawfully erected in the exercise of the council's statutory powers at the request of a large number of residents.

Mr Stanton contended that the borough council had a right to erect a bus shelter in the public street where it did not unreasonably interfere with the traffic or unfairly and unreasonably interfere with the rights of individuals. Questions of the site, size and style of the buildings were entirely for the elected council to decide. There had been a complete failure to establish any abuse of its powers by the council, and consequently there was no justification for any interference by the Court. If it could be established thatthe erection of the shelter had depreciated the plaintiff's property there was undoubted provision for claiming and assessing compensation. Mr West submitted that interference with the right of access to any part of the frontage of a property was a private nuisance and was actionable at common law. One would have expected, counsel said, that the council would have given some attention to the owner's views and his intended use of the property. There were other more suitable sites that might have been selected for the shelter. His Honor reserved his decision and intimated that he would view sites that had been under discussion.