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STREET WIDENING.

; j . LEVIN ESTATE'S CLAIM. ; INVESTIGATED IN COURT. [ A compensation case arising out of i the taking of land for street ■widening under, the .Public Works Act, in connecHoa, w *ith tlie subdivision of the property- : of the'late W. H. Levin, between Tina- ■ kori Road and Grant Road, was heard yesterday by a special Compensation Court. The Chief Justice (Sir' Robert otout) presided, and with him as assessors were Mr. A. L. Wilson (for ihe City Corporation) and Mr. A; H.- Miles ; (for the claimants). The Levin Estate trustees—consisting i Sf.,, J S^ orge M'Lean. Francis Henry Dillon Bell, Arthur Edward I'earce, Ger- , aid Fitzgerald, Amy Levin, and Robert Lionel Levin—had been required to de- ; dicate a strip of land along each of the two frontages for purposes of street widening, 1 as required by the I'ublic Works Act upon the subdivision of the property. The frontage .on Tiuakori Eoad SMft. long and that on.Grant Road ST „• g '. allt ? tlie str 'P dedicated was Bft. 3m. wide in each case. The trustres claimed as compensation the sum of £315 10s., on -the ground that the area of the sections was'lessened and the selling value, of the laud as residential sites diminished by the loss of depth. Uhe claim was made up as follows Grant Road, 6.27 perches, at ss. per foot: Tinakori Road, 8 perches, at .£1 per foot, £264; total, =£315 10s. The corporation did not admit the claim, but offered .£132 in lieu thereof. The trustees refused the offer, and the case, in due course, came into Court. It may be mentio'ned that the land, though dedicated, has not- actually been taken. Mr. M. Myers appeared for "the claimants, and Mr. J. O'Shea (City Solicitor) for the corporation. ModerationMr. Myers, in opening the case, said that, oivjpg. to' the dedication of the land, the sections oil Tinakori Road were only 85ft. tlin. deep, instead of'94ft. The consequent was that the houses were practically right on-the street line. He submitted that the claim .was considerably less than' the claimants were honestly entitled to. Lewis Henry Balfour Wilson, valuer and estate agent, Wellington, said he inspected the property last month, knowing nothing of the claim. Proceeding on the theory 1 (which had sometimes been held by the Courts) : that fair compensation would be. on the basis of - area, and valuing the sections fronting Tinakori'Road at ■ <£52.615 a perch, the loss -of - eight perclies on Tinakori .Road would come-to £120. ISs. id. Oh. Gip'nt Road, at ,£38.424' a perch, the price.'of the. land taken' (6.27 perches) would'be £240 18s. 43. He.'estimated that- there would be special,damage amounting, to £100 on Grant Road through tlio loss of a good 'board :fence and live hedge and a drying ground, and there would •'be.."special, damage on '.Tinakori Road for, the loss of a' hedge, <£50. The total would be £811 16s. Bd. He would, riot suggest .that. so. muck damage had actually teen sustained. Proceeding on a different: basis, ho ■ estimated- the loss on Tinakori Road at £2 a..'foot, including the loss of the hedge; - If- the dedication of the strip of land had not been required, the sections, which would then be 9ift. deep,, would be worth £2 a foot more. .. Wide Streets and Value. •His Honour:i;Do you make any 'allowance for increase of value because of the.wider road:?.; .'■ ; ■' ' ' Witness: That inakes no difference whatever for residential purposes. The great detriment (witness added)' was that the houses had to. be -put'sO: close' to the road, because the corporation insisted on a certain amount of air space at: the back; .' : • Everard. William Seat'on, surveyor and land v.alijer, 'Wellington,said lie surveyed the property for the' trustees. He considered that tho Tinakori Road sections would have sold for £20 a foot if the strip had not been 1 dedicated. The lossto the section on Grant Road would bo £67 ,ss. in addition to the loss of the fence, which was worth £76. . : , : Arthur Blacklock, employed by Son, and Ewen, said ,he had pur- : chased two sections' of the estate., Ho would have paid £50 more for each section if he.had riotiiad'to give.up the strip of land for dedication! . - - Gerald . Fitzgerald, civil engineer, and secretary to the, Levin trustees, said the land dedicated in Tinakori Road was worth £1 a foot or more. The trustees asked £3250 for Section 1 on Grant Road with the house. He estimated, the total loss on the Grant Road sections at £10?. Alexander Andrew Gellatly, of the firm of W. ,E. Bethune and Co., said he had estimated that , the selling value of the Tinakori . Roa'd _ was diminished by by .taking'off the Bft. 3in., .buthe now thought this was 10w... He thought ■tlie amount claimed for the strip ori Grant Road, should be £51 10s., but, after learning -that part of it' was • a drying ground, he thought the amount should be greater. . The City's White Elephants.• Mr. O'Shea : said the corporation had mado an, offer of £132 ;to the trustees, and it had been rejected. The land had realised £12,753, which was a very good price. The getting of a reasonable frontage tc a road like Tinakori Road, and a section that could be built upon was the main consideration with buyers, and. the depth of the section was i not of such great moment- to them.' People did not. go to Tinakori Road to grow, vegetables. It was absolutely stated' by-some auctioneers, wheu conducting sales, that the land dedicated would..not. be taken by the corporation.' Pu'i':hasers knew that the corporation would ■ not . widen , streets" to have them . running in :ind. out like i a dog's ' hind leg. These small pieces of land that , had to be dedicated for. street-widening were the corporation's white elephants. . Henry ■ Arthur ' SlWoherd, land; agent, Wellington, said -he would allow 10s. a foot on the Tinakori■' Road' sections, ori account of the loss of depth, though ho did, not think the selling price of tho properties would be affected. It added to the value, of a property to be on a 4 street of full widtli. , Eighty feet was a, reasonable'depth for a residential section in Wellington. People took sections at' Thorndon because - they preferred the locality, rather than the particular section. I Will the Land Be Taken? ,v . James Ames,-city valuer, said he had seen a section of the Levin Estate sold at £17. a foot, whereas he considered £15

a. foot would be a fair valuation. Very little of the drying ground oil Section 1, Grant Road, had been taken.. Ho had just been up there and seen the clothes hanging out. • Mr. Myers: The land' has not been taken yet. Witness: And never will be.' On another section, witness added, the Bft. space had been asphalted by the owner, and. n good' fence put up. It would never be put back. Mr. Myers: That depends, on who is Mayor. , : Witness: There would be no advantage in putting it back. The sections on either sido are subdivided. The question of trespass had been raised, but the corporation could lease the strip for a nominal rent like ss. His Honour: But you can't lease a public street, Mr. O'Shea said this was allowable under two Court decisions. His Honour: I don't agree with the decisions. Witness said it had been dono, and owners had made concrete paths on the strip dedicated. ' His Honour' said it only showed that the corporation thought narrow streets were good for the people of Wellington. The strips of land should be taken by the corjKiration, . and made some : use of. They might be planted with flowers, or seats might ,be placed there. ■ Mr. - Myers, in a brief address to the Court, said it was an insult to common sense to. suggest that land with a depth of, 95 to 100 feet was worth no more than land with the . same, frontage . and a depth of 80 feet. ... ■ The Court adjourned for 45 minutes to visit the land. , . The Award. On resuming, the Court announced its deaision.i awarding to the claimants'the sum of ,£233 and costs £29 8s:, in addition to disbursements, the corporation to pay its own assessor. • •

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19101025.2.85

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 956, 25 October 1910, Page 8

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,360

STREET WIDENING. Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 956, 25 October 1910, Page 8

STREET WIDENING. Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 956, 25 October 1910, Page 8

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