Compensation Court

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 36, 2 July 1914, Page 7

Compensation Court

uniuuiai council v. the plkuc WUUKS DIiPAKT.UOT. QCNo'.uXiXU A I!ALL-A,ST- PIT. A sitting of the ( uinpeii-atioii (.o.irt| va, opened at New Plymouth ye-ter-ilay auii'uoon, -Mr .lustre .liosking pte-.-..Ung. The case was Lli.it in wliicii Liie Ncw'i'hmouth Uorougli t.'ouncil claimed fioin the .\limster tor I'ulilic Work), tl.ie stun of £170!) os Id as ei mp.'nsalion fm the Miui.-tei'V, action ill opening a ballast pi 1, cuiistiluting it siding and removing gravel from Hie Council's property at Skinner road 1 .

Th<! a.-scsso s ivitu Mc—rs K. Maxwcii, for the Council, and V. 11. Viekerm'.in, for the Minister fur Public Work?.. Mr C, I'. Skerrett, K.C., Avilh Mr K. M. IJuilliam, appeared for l-lie Council, and Mr 11. 11. Ostler (of the Crown Law oll'iee) for til- Minister. Mr Skerrett, in opening the case for the Council, qeoted from a voluminous correspondence betwen the; Council and tlfe Public Woiks Department, liy whklii ii. appeared that in li)U3 the Department entered into negotiations with tile Council with a viiw to obtaining a ballast pit on .Skinner road. The land was the freehold ot the Council but ieased and sub-let. The Department entered into an arrangement with the tenants, and sought the afstnt of the Council to i< on the condition thai compensation should he paid to the Council for pc mancnt damage, particulars of which were to be supplied' to the Council when the Department had finished with the land, so that tlhe amount of the compensation could be assessed. The Com: oil. said .Mr Sterrett, evidently eventually overlooked the fact that it had given its assent. The Department entered into possession in April!, MIIM, and on November 1-2, ilM'i, was requested by the Council to take over the, land by proclamation, which \v«i* done. The Council, however, had for some time been asking for particulars of the damage caused and for compensation, tile tone of its letters being that it had looked on the original arrangement as merely ti mporary, \vl icrcas the Department had occupied it for eight years. The Department, on the other hand, claimed by its letters that the arrangement was that particulars of damage were to be supplied wlhen it could be ascertained (namely, when the land was no longer required), and moreover that as the Department had su'tteequeutly been forced by the Council to enter into possession of the land, the claim should be not for material removed, but for the value nt' the land. M r Skerrett stated that the main point? of hi.9 claim were that the Department entered on the land subject to notice, that the consent to the ar rangement with the tenants merely justified the entry and did not forfeit, the statutory rigb'; to compensation wlhich the Council enjoyed. Mr Ostler interjected that the agreement had hem repudiated by the Council, and that the claim now was for the value of the land taken. Mr Skerrett continued that tJie moa Hire of compensation inu-t be the fair injury done to the land als if it wevc done by a trespass not authorised. He quoted cases in support of this contention. Before the entry by proclamation l the Borough Council was entitled' to compensation for damage to its reversion and this right, if merged in the biking, had not in any way been forfeited thereby. It was a fact that in 1(103 the land had more than a merely agricultural value.

Robert ]I. G-meron, of -Stratford, contiaetor in that district for 20 years and for 10 years tivewfluTe, deposed that be hud metalled more Stratford roadh than any other contractor about. He had a sawmill on the Skinner road in l'JOl and knew the ballast pit in question. If is attention was first called to the fact, that there was gravel in the vicinity when he sow prospectors at work there. ]Je saw flic pit after the Government started working it and noted that the best gravel was to be found towards the lower end of the pit. The portions now exposed were not nearly 1-0 good as those at the lower end. Metal was scarce in the Stratford district and as a result it was expensive. Metal was frequently railed from a distance. The ir.etai! so obtained was about equal hi quality to that from the Kkinner road pit. In some parts of the di-trict shell rock was used, and this v.an obtained from almost inaccessible places, and was so expcii-ive that it was used only where it was haudv. The Stratford lh/rough Council's pit contained gravel similar to that in the Skinner road pit. For tin: past ten years there 'had been a market for metal of the class found in the lower (or southern) portion of the (skinner road pit, but that in the other portions mould be used only for binding purposes, (jravi'i whs becoming more, scarce every vear. From April, V.m, to November. - 14112. a fair royal* y for the metal (if there were a railway but no siding) would lie fid per yard for th,? best material, and if a siding were provided 7d or 8d per yard. The fair average value for the period .under review would be 5d per yard. The fact that the pit was now vsted in th.' Crown made a vast difference to tile adjoining hind, as it wa ■ unsightly and dangeroni to ,'altle. Tllie i-n!l«-,iy iii,.' " U!)|, '-' Vl ' , '> l '-l" "!'' l'o:ul acUMi to WUte/. To Mr Ostler: He fir-t saw the pit (,p,n when t.V- Gripping hegan, lie had no iaea how much rubble there was in the pit. He did not know the depth of the grit seam above the ruhhfe, He had not g«:t practically the whole ofthe metal he hail uW'd in the Stratford; disiiiit out of the l'alea river.

M r Ostler subjected the witness to ad fairly length,.' cross-examination, seeking to show that very little stone from the Skinner road pit had been u«ed on[j the reads in (he district, as river stone'J w-i.H belter and cK-aper than the pit

stone. The v itnost- maintained that this was not so. and stressed also the value added to land bv the fact that it held -tone d.iosits. A pit alongside hi- own pit (owned by t Iv 'i ioveiTntioiit)

j:.vv<liiiM'(l tro tn linio \-\v\h m wiu yi!ar. !;iit was now' "."iieu. There wore other l>it,H in tin- di-lrk-t, 1 hit, the -iiipply ot stone Was not ]i' : i'lltiflll. Joseph .Miilii'c of Stratford, road eontraetor fur V, v/.'urs but retired fur Uke lust liv.-« vca-s." deposed tlmt tin- gravel in tin' Skin,.. , mad pit 11,1111 l!lu:l to lill-2 was worth aliout -Id or oil per yard. 11.. a-cd with il.o ,-\ idcnco of tile pi""\ ioiis witness.

John Skinner, of .Voir l>]y mli. surveyor anil engineer, wil.li many years experience in all parts of Tirana 1 ;!, deposed that In- bad surveyed the land

situated. In l'a-t Tanmaki the I'atea river was the onle .me which llowed east of the inounlain. and yielded a supply of boulders. l)nrin« (lie lasl ten years' there had been un enormous expenditure on roads anil road repair : tlie district r„st of iStralford. ■" nrlal from the Skinner road ; ™'' fairlv -nod. nnl in the pi- - I 1 *"* view there- w;..•-. a eo. , •'"" » l " |,, i' n " for metail of that. , -' , »" , ';> >!<• demand in the pit to "'!' m ' ll( '™' To m, '- ■ "■""''A l ' ' liHillt ,l(1 1'f- y-"-'' n,V M » sl »f I'" 1 I'oa.ls in Ul .';. '..rntfprd comity were metalled ,v .cfl national from tlie rivers, because miost of the livers erossed the roads and so were coi.venient, to the roads to ■bo Metalled. The demand tot cement

material was rauiitiv especially ill Stratford aai 'i'li.a.n. |'hc class <■!' materia! la th.' " :■: . ~1 pit had a market val.ic lor I hi.- nar,,,,,.,-. At ID p.m. ih, ■: .-•;. . : ;„,! until 10 a.m. to-dav.