CONSENT REFUSED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26636, 5 December 1947, Page 6

CONSENT REFUSED

SALE OF QUEENSTOWN RESIDENCE COURT’S RESERVED DECISION " Viewing the evidence as a whole, and bearing in mind that Scheib, who is a single man, already owns one residence in Queenstown; the fact that there is an acute shortage of residential houses thereand not being satisfied that Scheib requires the property for his own personal occupation, the committee has reached the conclusion that consent should be refused,” said Mr C. B. Barrowclough, chairman of the Otago Land Sales Committee in a reserved decision on a case in which Charles Henry McKay, trustee in the estate of the late Margaret Fraser, applied for consent to sell a residential property in Queenstown to Eric Albert Scheib at a price of £BSO, the Crown valuation being £535. Mr C. G. Gray appeared for the applicant and purchaser, and Mr J. R. Hampton represented the Crown. The question of value was not raised during the hearing, as the purchaser accepted the applicant’s price. Local Housing Shortage The Crown, however, opposed the granting of consent on the grounds of undue aggregation. The evidence for the Crown was to the effect that there was a serious housing shortage in Queenstown. Mr J. McDonald, president of the Queenstown branch of the Returned Services' Association, and the association’s representative on the local Rehabilitation Committee, gave evidence as to the difficulty of obtaining houses for discharged servicemen. He stated that he did not know of any available houses, and also gave .evidence that others than ex-servicemen were also faced with similar difficulties in obtaining homes. In his estimation there were 40 to 50 summer residences in Queenstown, many of them not opened except for the owners' use at week-ends and the holiday season. No Undue Aggregation “Although the purchaser owns four properties in Queenstown and one in Arrowtown, only one is suited as a dwelling, and this property already provides a home for a discharged serviceman, continued Mr Barrowclough. ' Permits to build on two of,the properties have been refused. One is an old shop on a monthly tenancy. The purchase therefore of a vacant dwelling would not in these circumstances appear ‘jper se to amount to undue aggregation.