Assessment Courts.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 486, 15 March 1881, Page 2

Assessment Courts.

AKAROA AND WAINUI ROAD ROARD

Tho Court for hearing appeals against

the Valuation Roll of this road district was held at the Board's offices last Saturday before J. Aylmer, Esq.,R.M., judge. Mr A. I. McGregor appeared in support of tha valuation, when the following cases were disposed of :— Mr H. L. Aylmer applied to bave his name inserted in the roll instead of tbe Rev W. Aylmer, for 65 acres, Demon' s Bay. Alteration made. Mr John Porter applied to have the name of F. Arming inserted for 72 acres of land in Aylmer'a Valley, as it was held under a lease which did not expire till May, 1882. No objection to the alteration was made on the part of tho Board. r Mr Barwick gave evidence that he had intimated the objection to Mr Aiming, as required by the Amended 'Rating Act of 1879. Mr Arming did not appear, and the alteration was made. Mr H. Funnell's acreage was corrected ; valuation to stand. Mr A. C. Knight applied to have the valuation of bib property nt East Heads and Island Bay, 281G acres, reduced. He contended that the property in question was much lessened in value by the non completion of the Mount Bossu road.

_ After argument, tbe valuation was re d'ueed by £89 10s.

Mr B. Shadbolt (who did not appear.but was represented by Mr Barwick) objected to the acreage charged against him, as he had sold a considerable amount for road purposes, which had not been allowed for.

The valuer pointed out tbat, in tin original objection, no such grounds were given, and he had only heard of the exact grounds of the objection that morning. The matter was one that required careful consideration. On examining the first instance it was found that it was an exchange of road for road, and that the acreage of tho old road exceeded the acreage of the newone. The Court decided that tbe whole objection was informal, and that the valuation would be sustained. Mr G. Armstrong objected to the vabia tion of his Flea Bay property. 3044 acres, at £548, as being excuse v-v ' being without roads or other works u-mally performed by Road Boards in lieu of rates." After a long argument betwe-n the valuer and Mr Armstrong, the valuation was reduced by £91 18s. Mr T. Brooks objected to the valuation of tbe hotel and 104 acres at Barry's Pass, at £126 16s, on tbe ground tbat tbe hotel did not improve the property, and that business was absolutely nil. The valuer remarked that there was always some one there when ho called. The judge, amidst tho laughter of the audience, said that although the remark of the valuer was a little Irish, still he bad observed the same thing. As his attention bad been drawn to the provisions of the Act, which required the objection to be under the hand of tho objector, he must strike the case out.

The valuer had no objection to take the case on its merits. The Court ruled that the objecton must be struck out. Mr Brooks also objected to the valuation of the Somerset Hotel at £250. He showed that was the actual rent ho was paying. The valuation was reduced by 20 per cent Mr A. Jones objected that his property at Fisherman's Bny was excessive in acreage and va'ue. ' The valuer admitted the reduction of 15 acres on re-survey, and was willing to take a pro rata reduction. » After some discussion—in which tbe valuer maintained that Mr Jones's property was only valued tho same as bis neighbors, and tbey did not object— Mr Jones put his case on the want of a road, and tbe valuation was reduced by 15 acres and £12 16s in value. The following objectors were colled but not appearing, the valuations were sustained -.—Messrs C. Bates, F. Hahn, and T. H. Macmillan. Mr J. Gracier attended, and said he was not aware of tbe why in which objections had to be lodged, and bad addressed a letter to the Chairman of the Board, objecting to the valuation of 300 acres of land in the Waikerakikari Valley. Under tbe cirsuiiistances the valuer did not object to tbe irregular way in whicb the objection was put in. Since the roll had been prepared, the land in question had been surveyed by Mr Harper, and was further up the range than bad been previously supposed. With the permission of the Court he would agree to a reduction of Is per acre. Reduction made accordingly. Before closing the bitfiness ot the Court, the judge drew attention to the extremely irregular way in which the objections were generally made Iv previous years he had been disposed to make every allowance for want of knowledge of tbe exact method of procedure, but objectors did not seem to improve. If objections were taken by the officers of tbe local bodies, be was only carrying out the provisions of a statute, and he had no power but to read it strictly, and in many cases would not be able to go into the merits, which would no doubt be a hardship. In future years lie hoped to see greater attention paid to the details of the Act. The Court then adjourn I