LAW REPORTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2793, 10 June 1916, Page 13

LAW REPORTS

SUPREME COUKT

FENCING IN A SIREET,

INJUNCTION SOUGHT

The. Wellington City Corporation yesterday brought an action against Messrs. A. and 1. Burt, Ltd., asking for an injunction lo compel the defendants to re"ir;?. fl ' ou V*° rk Street-a blind street off laraiiaki 'Street-a fence and a gate which had been erected by defendants, and enclosed a portion oi the street which, they used lor the storage of pipes I , he Corporation in December, S'J+i 10 ? tht ?, er6ction > aud on the of that month, wrote asking the defendants to remove the obstruction. To this request the defendants made no response, hence the action. (4, City Solicitor, appeared ftn the Corporation, and with him Mr. G. Af'r ti V^ ts^'„ and - for tlle defendants Jh o M '°f Wellington, and •pi Adams, of Dunedm. 1 J-he case turned upon whether the street as a private street was incorporated and vested, m the City Council, the defendants contending that the area enclosed by them was part of. their section, which 13 part-of town acre,246.' The City Solicitor stated that in 1877 the street was open to its full length, and that the Corporation had expended money upon its upkeep. ■ 18S8 the street was taken over irom tho private owner and declared a public street. Evidence was led by the City Solicitor to show that York Street went right up to the boundary of the late I. G. Alacarthy's property, on which a brewery now stands-200 feet from Taranaki Street, to,the barrier erected bv'the ■defendants, and for 110 feet bevond. It was part of town acre 246, which had a frontage to Taranaki Street of two chains and was fivo chains in depth. The Corporation had maintained the street for twenty years, including the portion, nowenclosed. When the street was > surveyed ! by Mr. J. D. Climie, in 1881, he put a .nail m the kerb, that was then in the street, and that remained till now. William M. Smith, a plasterer, now of Auckland, said he lived in York Street in 1879, and it extended, from Taranaki Street down to the fence enclosing tie Phoenix Brewery, which subsequently became the property of the late I'. G. Macarthy. -Edward J. Tucker, , plasterer, and Jas. V. Thornhill. waterside worker, gave corroborative evidence.

Richard Matliiesopr carter for forty years , for. _tlie brewery, gave evidence as to the existence and condition of the street in 1879. "

James D. Climie, who was District Government Surveyor, and carried out 'a, standard survey between 1870 and 1881, testified to the : street going down to MXarth/e boundary. ■ Messrs. J"/ J. Kerslake, Corporation foreman, JY Ames, valuator, J. M. Morice, assistant engineer, and John Dimes, water overseer/ gave evidence for the Corporation.

Mr. Adams,. for the. defence, did not admit that the portion of land enclosed by his clients was part of York Street. A search of the title showed a right-of-way, in 187-1. A -citizen named John M'Kenzie secured a title in 1878 to the ■land, and-,his certificate of title showed a right-of-way. . His clients' title was clear. He admitted that there was a passageway beyond 220 feet of the street from Taranaki. Street, but that passage-way was only for the convenience of tenants living beyond, and could, ho held, be taken away at any time;

Messrs.. j; Heard, Joseph Cottrell, Roger Crawford Outtrim. Percy Booker. H. J. Johnson, Thomas Ward, 'William T. Morpeth,' Thomas. Burt, who showed that the Corporation spent in wages on York Street from 1879 to 1887 the sum of .£33, gave evidence for the defendants. At this Stage His Honour adjourned further hearing of the case to a day to l>e fised by the parties. COMPENSATION CASE, •vYesterday 'His Honour Mr. Justice \Hasking, sitting with Mr. W. M. Hannay and Mr. H. Buddie'as assessors for the claimant and (respondent respectively, delivered judgment- in tbe case, of a claim by Miss Alice Mary Bourke of Kilbirnie, against the City Corporation for the sum of JSiOO as compensation for -1.69 perches of land facing Childer's Avenue, Kifbirilie, taken under the Public Works Act, 1908, for tramway purposes. His Honour'gave judgment for tho claimant for .£135, to be paid -by respondent Corporation; J315 15s. oach was allowed to each assessor, and-'as tho award of the Court was not equal to half the amount claimed, no costs would lie allowed against tho Corporation. It may'ba remembered-that the City- Corporation. offered the claimant £50 in full settlement. Mr. I'.'Young appeared for claimant, and Mr. J. O'Shea, City Solicitor, for the respondent. ' .