WAIKANAE SECTIONS

Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 922, 22 June 1903, Page 3

WAIKANAE SECTIONS

At tho Native Land Oompousatiou Court on Saturday His Honor Judge Muir delivered judgmunt in tho cases of the laud taken by tue Borough Council for cemetery and abattoirs, and the Railway Depart merit lor railway purpoaos.

Iu delivering judgment in connection With the laud taken by the Borough Council for cemetery and abattoirs, His Honor Btated he had not attempted to write any very elaborate decision, because he did not think it would serve auy purposo. He had condensed his judgment, aud tried to make it as clear as possible. Ho detailed tho names of the various blocks of Awa puni laud tuken for cemetery and abattoirs purposes under proclamation dated April 3, 19U2, aud stated blocks of rand lying along too shore of Poverty Buy were originally sot apart for tho Maori people. The sou, especially at the sea trout, was little rn.'jre than pure saud, and the rest of the block was smoothing the same. It was agreed upon by the parties that the land had littie value as land, but in the eyes of the Maoris had a value from old associations, aud from tho fact that they used it to get fuel aud timber. It was also tho only part of the shore extending from the Awupuoi lagoon which had not passed from their possession. The Borough and Couuty.Couueils, thinking the land suitable for abattoirs and cemetery, had rnovod to have it appropriated for cemetery purposes, and it would seem from thoir point of view that it must havo a special value. Thon, another aspect was its value for seaside residences, and in a report of this it had been shown that the Victoria land of tho same character, lying half a mile nearer tho railway station, was acquired from the Maoris for £lO an acre, and on being cut up for quarter-acre sections sold readily at the rate of £2OO an acre and upwards. The evidenco as to values given varied from £4 .to £3O an acre. The Act provided that this land must be assessed at its value when entered upon for the purposes for which it was taken. As nothing had boon done in that direction, the value must bo taken from today. Tho Court had to consider the value to the Maoris and to the other local bodies, for a cemocery, and also for any other purpose they might put it to. The Court must take into consideration the fact that tho Natives were dispossessed not by the usual process, but by force, the legal seizure being a thing which was distasteful to Europeans as well as to Maoris. It had been remarked by Mr Koes in one case that there was a tendency on the part of some valuers to undervalue land owned by Maoris against that owned by Europeans. His Honor hoped it would not bo sot up that any tribuual should allow itself to bo prejudiced against either raco. It had been stated that the value had been raised by the Victoria township. Having been fenced and two small cottages erected thereon, the adjoining land was now valued at close ou £3O. As this was the Borough’s owu valuation, it was a useful guide in fixing compensation for the land before the Court. Taking into consideration all tho circumstances, and allowing for some decrease in value as the land extended westward, thus increasing tho distance) from the town, and also tho peculiarities of each block, the Court fixed tho value of each block as follows :—Wai-o-hi-haroro No. 3, £22 au aero ; Awapuni No. 2, £22 ; No. 1A £2O ; No. IE £lB ; No. IF, £ls ; No. IK, £l2 ; No. 1C £l2 ; 18, £lO. The order would issue accordingly. LAND TAKEN BY KAILWAY.

His Honor, in delivering judgment in tho case of the land taken by tho Railway Department, Wdi O-hi-hai'Ot'fl No. ‘l, on September 13th, 1900, statod some of his remarks made in his docision in tho previous caso would also apply to this case, and the two decisions might very well be read together. Tho evidence as to value had a very wide range extending from .£7O an acre to XoOO. Tho best evidouce which bad been tendored was the record of prices realised for sections in the immediate neighborhood of this land, and the amounts fixed as compensation for tho land adjoining it. Theso facts gave a bare to work on. However oxperts might differ in their evideDCO it must be evident to anyone in Gisborne who had considered tho position of the land, especially its proximity to tho Borough, that it was of great value. Making duo allowances for tho rise in town properties during tho last few years it must have been a very valuable property September, 1900. The Court was of opinion that tho lowest estimato was not supported by facts, and was quite unreasonable. On the other hand, the highest valuation was probably more than the land would have realised if put up in one lot two and a-balf years ago. The value must be betwoen these two extremes. It had boen said on behalf of the owners that if this land had been cut up into sections like Victoria it would have realised higher prices than that suburb did. Probably tho owners would have shown wisdom in taking that course, but the Maoris were not a commercial people, and they did not do so. It was too late now to speculate on what might have been. After carefully weighing all the evidence, and taking into consideration the circumstances and the position of these Waikanae lands, it seemed to His Honor that the yalue increased ae the {airway into the

harbor was approached. Therefore, the highest valuation should bo placed on tbe eastern end of the Wai-o-hi-barore block. To mako this clear, he had drawn a due on the plan to mark tho difference. For tho land on the east side of this line, that was, extending towards the groyne, bo awarded compensation to tho amount of £260 an acre. For the balance of tbe block he fixed tbo amount of compensation at £230 an acre, and made the order accordingly. Mr Roes stated that it had beon agreed by his clients that the costs payable by them to him should be £l5O, that instead of these costs being chargeable on individual affairs it should bo made a chargo on the funds. His Honor ordered accordingly.