ASSESSMENT COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 289, 29 April 1913, Page 7

ASSESSMENT COURT.

YESTERDAY'S SITTINGS. The Assessment Court, which is adjudicating on the Borough valuations, continued its sittings yesterday before Mr. A. Crooke, -S.M. At the outset. Mr. A. H. Johnstone stated that the following cases had been settled by consent:— Ambury Bros., £SO to £49. Thomas Burton, £2O to £l3. J. W. Boon, £1(10 to £135. R. Coleman, £lO3 to £9l. C. Carter, £262 to £2lO. E. Dockriil, £sl to £4O. Mrs. Duncan, £BS to £6O. Mrs. Elwin, £IOO to £9l. Mrs. Goodaere, £7O 'to £65. A. Coldwater, £IOO to £9O. V. Hasluck, £93 to £BS. P. Jury, £l2B to £ll4. J. F. Lepine, £4B to £l4. E. Murfell, £2O to £l2. W. J. Russell, £3O to £lB. A. Mace, £22 to £lB.

St. Mary's Vestry, £IOB to £IOO. St. Mary's Trust, £47 to £42. S. Percy Smith, £BO to £72. H. li. Street, £45 to £4O. Ada S. Sole, £7O to £6O. B. Tooke, £95 to £B7. : J. Thrush, £22 to £2O. W. D. Webster, £SB to £sl. F. Watson, £45 to £4O.

The first case heard was that of Mr. Newton King, property situated at the corner of Devon and Brougham streets. Mr. A. H. Johnstone appeared for the objector and stated that there were several buildings on this section. He suggested that they be taken all together, although they were separately rated, and • that afterwards those to which no objection had been made should be deducted. Objection was raised, continued Mr. Johnstone, to the part occupied by Mr. Newton King, on which a valuation of £405 had been placed, and to a part in Brougham street, on which £6O was placed. Mr. W. Jjewley deposed that he had inspected the property in Brougham and Devon streets, and had put the value of the part occupied by Mr. King at a weekly rental value of £4, or a total value of £8950. Mr. Mills had rated Mr. King's part at £8 per week, but he was satisfied that, he was correct in putting it at half that amount. Mr. Sykes had paid £2750 for a property nearly opposite, which would serve for purposes of comparison. On this section Mr. Sykes occupied a two-storey building, one of the best in town; the weekly rental of this was £2 13s. Mr. King carried on a wholesale business, and only occupied the ground floor in a building which was practically worthless. To Mr. Mills: The frontage to Devon street was 72 feet and to Brougham street 90 feet. He .put a value of £125 per foot on the Devon street frontage, based on the rental paid by the present tenants, which was £405. He had omitted to value a part lately occupied by Mr. Bailey, which he put at £6OO, which, added to the capital value, made £9550, and an extra rental value of £3O. Very few sales had taken place in the near vicinity of Mr. King's property in the t 20 years, although several had changed hands through tenants. Mr. F. P. Corkill said he valued the property in two parts. The 72ft. x 90ft. Devon street frontage he valued at £l2O per foot, and the portion over the stream which Went back to an acute angle, at £4O, making an aggregate value of £9640. The buildings, as they stood' now, he considered. a handicap on the value, of the site, - arid were very costly in upkeep. There' was also a part unlet,- which had been vaqiited by Mr. Bailey some, 15 -months ago'f'.tMs Mr. Iving was using to stock ( motdr accessories. He ' thought that a weekly rental of £4 per week for the part occupied by Mr. King would be a fair one. Across'the way .the Bank'of New Zealand had a (10 feet square frontage to Devon street and Brougham street. Mr. Mills had rated this at £350, equal to a capital value of £7OOO. This was a more modern building than Mr. King's, and was valued at £92 per foot on the Devon street frontage, which was a superior one to Mr. King's. Ambury Bios., on the opposite side of the street, with a 35 foot frontage to Devon street, had been valued bv Mr. Mills at £202, or a capital value'of £4040. He I'alued it at £9O per foot. Hallenstcin Bros.' property, according to the sale price,- worked out at just over £l2O per loot.

To Mv. Crookc: Tt would not pay anyone to pay £9001) to-day for Mr. King's building, for he would have to completely re-build, after pulling, down the old buildings. . • To Mr. Mills: The adjoining section, over Ihe river, had been knocked down to Mr. King at £OO,, per foot, after keen Auckland competition; £lO5 per foot was paid for the river section on the opposite side of the street. Mr. Newton King in his evidence said lie intended tp occupy as a. show-room a jVovtion of the building which kid been out of Occupation for" 15 months. He occupied a* small room upstairs. The insurance he paid was about £3O per annum'. The foundations of his property were not solid; they were, unfortunately, hollow underneath, and they had to prop up the old .buildings every year. He placed no value on the buildings, which had' been put up 35 years ago, or more, and were built of second-class timber. Rents had depreciated; he used to get £7OO for" the top offices, now they had dropped down 25 per cent. His book value of the property was £OOOO. To Mr. Johnston: The room upstairs was only an unlined lumber room. A portion of the building for which he was rated was not his and he was paying a rental for it. Mr. Mills said !.<• valued the whole property at £II,OOO. or £14,016 including the railway reserve. After further argument the valuation on shop property was reduced to £205, the valuation of £2OO being allowed to stand against the remainder of the property. .S.'W. Shaw, for whom Mr. A. 11. Johnstone appeared, objected to the valuation of £350 on IS acres odd on the South Road, almost opposite that owned by the Mor'shead estate, which the Court has already adjudicated upon, its valuation being reduced from £4OO to £2OO. Another properly in the vicinity was reduced from £250 to £l5O.

W. Bewley said lit! liad inspected the properly within the lust few days. Part of it was good grazing land, suitable for subdivision at sonic future date, but it only fetched His an acre. lie valued the land at £225 per acre all round. If it was subdivided it would take five acres to provide the necessary roads.

To Mr. Mills: Me did not know of any sites in that immediate vicinity. It would cost £1(H) per quarter-acre to cut up the property. Portions of an estate in the vicinity had been sold as high as £li()0 or £7OO pei acre, but that was at the time of a boom. Mr. Shaw's properly could not be sold in view of the prwsent state of the laud market at the valuation placed on it by the borough valuer.

Mr. R. H. fleorgc said he had been interested in a corner section immediately opposite Mr. Shaw's property, an acre in extent, on which there were four cottages. There was still a small area not built upon. They had great difficulty in selling it. In July 1911 it was offered at auction, hut did not fetch a bid. The following month the whole property, including the four buildings, was sold for £llOs. The sale was on behalf of an assigned estate.

Mr. F. P. Cork ill said he valued the property, as the result of a recent in-

spection, at £4150, representing £225 per acre. The buildings on the sections in which Mr. George had been interested were worth £2OO a piece, and the area of the land was one and a quarter acres. The property' was equal to the best of Mr. Shaw's. The Government valuation of Mr. Shaw's property was £3013, and it was valued by the late borough valuer at £216.

Called by Mr. C. T. Mills, J. C. Davies deposed to having valued Mr. Shaw's property at his (Mr. Mills's) instance. His valuation of £4OO was a low one. As it stood, without any roading, it would fetch £SOO per acre in the market to-morrow. Witness instanced sales in the vicinity of Mr. Shaw's property in support of his valuation.

Mr. Mills asked that the valuation be sustained, quoting instances of land of inferior quality to Mr. Shaw's fetching prices in excess of his valuation. Mr. Johnstone, in his address, stressed that Mr. Mills's values were more those of an enthusiastic salesman than those of a borough valuer. Tlis (Mr. Mills's) value was purely speculative. His Worship commented on the great discrepancy of evidence, and reduced the value to £225.

Questioned by Mr. Johnstone, Mr. Mills said that he was quite prepared to confer with the objectors' representative, with the ohjret of arriving at comprumises where possible. The Court accordingly adjourned till 10.30 a.m. on Friday.