CHURCH PROPERTY OR DAIRY?

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 569, 23 January 1929, Page 6

CHURCH PROPERTY OR DAIRY?

MOUNT ROSKILL BOARD IN DILEMMA SUBSTANTIAL REVENUE LOST Prior to the sale of the Mount St. Mary estate, Mount Roskill, to a religious body, the Road Board received a substantial sum in rates from the property, but the board recently obtained evidence that the Sisters of Mercy were selling milk, which, the board contents, concerts the establishment into a commercial concern and renders the owners liable to rates. 9 The question was further ventilated at the meeting of the board last evening when the Valuation Department stated in a letter that it was unable to value any particular subdivision of the land that was being used for commercial purposes, but suggested that as the dry season was approaching the sale of milk would probably cease. Mr. G. E. Tansley said that if milk was being sold for profit, the property, which contained 42 acres, could not be exempted from rates under the clause dealing with religious institutions. The board was losing £361 a year and on his suggestion the question was referred back to the local Valuation Department with a request that it be sent on to the head office in Wellington.