COMPENSATION COURT. Tuesday, December 8.

Otago Witness, Issue 2232, 10 December 1896, Page 22

COMPENSATION COURT. Tuesday, December 8.

(Bafore hi? Honor Mr Justice Williams, president, and Messrs A. M'Kerrow and J. T. Wright, assessors.) i ANDERSON V. THE MINISTER FOR PUBLIC WORKS. Claim £575 ss, compensation 'for land taken for railway purposes under the Public Works Act. Mr Sim appeared for the claimant, William Anderson, agent ; and Mr Fraser for the respondent. Mi- Sim, in opening the case for the claimant, said that two pieces of laud had been taken. Tho claim in respect of the first piece included a claim for compensation for loss of access and loss of water rights. An arranganient had been made between the parties 'for the loss of water rights, and the only question which the court would have to determine would be the amount of compensation to be p*id to the claimant for land taken. This piece of land contained an area of one acre 17 perches. That was valued at £200 per acre, and the house and land at .-£3Ol sj. By another proclamation a piece of land containing one acre 28*7 perches was also taken. A claim had been Bent in for that at the rate of .£2OO per aero ; and the stable on it was valued at £38. The claim in respect to that l»nd and stable was £273 The locality of the land in question \yas Barnside, and the two pieces of land really formed .one piece. The piece that was taken at first was taken for the ! purpose of a railway siding. It had a l-ailway on [ one side and a district road on ths other, and there was water through it. The total area of the land taken was 2a lr 57 perches. Learned counsel then led the following evidence :— Johu Reid, land and estate agent and valuer, stated' that he knew the land in question. He made a valuation of the land on January 6, 1891. ! He valued it at £200 per acre. The cottage he [ valued for insurance purposes at from £80 to £100, and the stable at from £30 to MO. Their market v*lue would be more than that. He did not think that the value of tbe land would have i altered since then. ; The land was of especial value— ' abutting on a railway, having water frontages | and being suitable , for manufacturing purposes' which required railway comniuuication- and water. ' ! WUlJom-Reid, land and estate-»gent and valuer, depo?ed that he lately made an inspection of the laud taken. He valued it at £175 per acra Con- , ; sidering the position of the land he thought that ■ wa3 a fair market value for it. The land was of exceptional value &s being the key of the railway station, and having a stream running al ngside of it. To Mr Frager : Tha land bought for the abattoirs cost £50 au acre, arid he con«idered there had been a considerable rise in the v*lue of the land since the abattoirs site was sold. The land was not of value as a residential site, hut for manufacturing purposes. Alexander Bartleman, secretary of the Burnside Yards Company, deposed that, the company in 1877 purchased 4a 2r 5p at £100, and in 1878 two small parcels were bought at the rate of £50 per acre. To Mr Fraser: At the time these purchases were made there was an id<*a that Green Island was to be the seat of a small Manchester. He aid not think the ground had since increased in value. No more land was wanted by the company there. Joseph S Webb, of the National Insurance Company, gave evidence that the cottage had been | insured for. £80. that being estimated to be 75 per cent of its value. Charles ltd ward George, builder and contractor, had recently examined the stable on the i property taken by the Minister, and valued it at i £38. I Mr Fraser : Will you give £5 for it as it stands ? ! You can hare it ; it's good sound material, you [ know. Will you take it ?— Witness : I build i stables ; I don't buy tbun. J. B. Thomson, builder, valued the stable at £35, and said it would cost £*7 10s to build new. Its value for removal was an entirely different matter. This concluded the case for the claimant, subject to the question of water rights being settled during the adjournment. Mr Fraser, in addressing the court, said it was obvious that it must have been possible to bring evidence of sales during a recent period as a guide to the court in arriving at a fair estimate of value. 'Jhe evidence given had been vaffue. The department sought to be liberal, but when brought face to face with a. perfectly preposterous clsim s-ich as this they had to dispute it, and to prove the value of the land. Ltnds had changed hands in the district, and these transactions showed that prices had been on the down grade. The prices that had been given many years ago were absurdly high, because it was thought the district would b8 a great manufacturing one. The offer made had been £75 per acre for the l*nd — £25 more than its value, — £35 for the house, and £5 for the stable. W. A. Walton, auctioneer, deposed that in 1895 he sold a large strip of land at Green Island. The piece of land in question he valued at from £40 •to £50 an acre. In the light of previous experience he thought that a full market value of the land was properly advertised. ~H.e bad sold land in JJurnside township, fronting the Kaikorai stream, and Tiaving special advantages for manufacturing purposes, for £31 10 a per acre. W. B. Taylor, town clerk, deposed as to the offers made by se"ttleva of land in the district when the corporation were negotiating for a site for abattoirs. Gavin Ulingworth. carpenter, stated that the cottage was in a very dilapidated condition and not habitable. He valued it at between £14 and £15. .The stable had" never heen a good one, and its present value wa3 about £4 or £5. To Mr Rim : To put up a new stable of the same kind would cost from £18 to £20. John Coom, resident engineer, deposed that he advised the department that if they gave £150 for the first piece of the land and the cottage that was the full value. The buildiDK was offered for sale for removal, and the beßt offer was £10. To erect the building new would coot about £G5. As regards the btable anyone could have it for removal for £5. James M'lndoe, Government valuer for the Green Ibln.n<P district, stated that he ValneS the" ground and buildings in 1891 at £-240. Allowing £80 for the house and £20 for the stable, left £140 as the value of the land. He had great difficulty in coming to a valuation of the land, as it had no access except from a narrow district road. There was no demand for land in the locality. To Mr Sim: Witness valued the land for the abattoirs at £40 per acre. James Miller, Mayor of Green Island, stated that he owned a good deal of land in the district and had a good knowledge of values there. He thought a fair value for the land taken by the Minister for Public Works was £50 an acre. He 1 would regard £75 an acre bb a fancy price, A.

year ago he bought a better piece of land at £40 an acre. There had been no demand for land in the locality for the past two or three years. Mr Fraser intimated that he did not intend to call any evidence ; but he would like the court to visit the land. His Honor said that both the assessors had seen the land, and as he hud no knowledge of local values he did not think that anything was to be gained by his going out to see it. The court retired at 2.25 p.m , and on returning half an hour later, His Honor said : A majority of the court is of opinion that the respondent should pay to the claimant, in full value for the land aud buildings taken, the turn of £280, without costs. Mr Fraser asked the court to fix the assessors' fees. His Honor said the assessors' fees would be five guineas each, each party to pay their own assessor. Aa to access and water rights an agreement was come to between the parties to the following effect :— The Minister to grant a right-of-way to Mr Anderson's land on the other Bide of the railway and to give him the same water lights over the land taken as- were granted to him by the Railway Commissioners by a deed dated October 18, 1892. Mr Anderson to undertake to allow v water to flow from the Kaikorai stream through the water race on his other property in the same manner as it had heretofore flowed.