TE KUITI COMPENSATION CASE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 96, 21 August 1908, Page 5

TE KUITI COMPENSATION CASE.

Lovett v. Railway Department,

Judgment was given in the Native Land Court on Saturday in the claim for compensatoin for land taken for railway purpses at Te Kuiti. The claim was made by Mr Lovett, and related to land in the Pukenui block. The amount asked for was .£32,450, and a number of witnesses were called to swear that this was a fair estimate. The Court cameto the conclusion however, that it was an unreasonable claim, and allowed the comparatively small sum of £225, and ordered £6O to be deducted from this for the Railway Department's costs. The principal item in the claim was one of £31,250 for the one and a-quarter million cubic yards of stone on the property. Mr Lovett said he would have made this profit out of the stone by delivering it as broken metal. The Court stated that however, having taken into account the enormous quantities of limestone in the Te Kuiti district and the loss at the present time with which it is worked, and thj chance in the future of the plant being increased or the stone being more expeditiously worked, the chances of opposition in the trade, etc., they-must disallow this 'item of £31,250. The only items alloweb for are: (a) Loss of land; (b) loss of the spaing; (c) expenses of moving stable and fence. As to item (a), the Crown claims that it is entitled to take onetwentieth (nein. acres) of the land for railway purposes free of cost, as 15 years had not elapsed since the title was first issued.