Ministry told to buy Marshland land

Press, 21 April 1979, Page 2

Ministry told to buy Marshland land

A block of farmland at Marshland will be taken under the Public Works Act, after the Planning Tribunal (No. 3 division) found that the owners could not sell, and suffered financial hardship, because of a motorway designation. In a reserved decision, the tribunal has ordered the Ministry of Works to buy the 20.95 hectares, located to the west of Grimsey’s Road and owned by Richards Farm, Ltd. The decision follows the hearing last October, of an application for the land to be taken for the proposed northern motorway. A strip of land running through the property was designated for the motorway in 1971. Attempts in 1975 to sell the land at a price thought to be $196,000, failed. The tribunal found that “it would be unreasonable to ,expect the applicant to continue actively pursuing” the sale. It accepted evidence from the owners that prospective buyers lost interest on learning of the proposed motorway development. The usual requirement for a property to be on the open market for six months was shortened. The tribunal also found that the designation was the principal reason for the property not being sold. It accepted expert evidence

from an agricultural consultant that an infestation of potato cyst nematode was not the main deterrent to buyers. The tribunal agreed that the infestation could be eradicated, but the high cost of this was not justified because of the uncertainty over the future use of the land.

The tribunal rejected a claim by the Ministry of Works that the potato cyst nematode had caused the financial state of the company to decline. The property was rented to farmers, and the decision said that if it could have been sold, Richards Farm would have benefited financially. It was also noted that “substantial mortgages” on the land were overdue for payment and could not be renewed. In view of these factors, the tribunal found that the owners were suffering financial hardship, and would continue to do so until the property was sold, or the designation lifted. The tribunal also held that the Ministry should be ordered to buy the whole property, although only part was covered by the designation. The decision said that an order covering only the motorway land would be either against provisions of a district scheme or would be “unreasonable or inequitable.”