The former owners of a small strip of land at Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, which was compulsorily purchased by Somerset County Council in August 1999, have failed in the second round of their Appeal Court challenge to a Lands Tribunal valuation of the land, for compensation purposes, of £100,000. Joseph and Joanne Richards had claimed that the land was worth £4.5m.
In February, the Court of Appeal had refused the couple permission to challenge the award, but the Richards went on to seek a time extension to enable them to challenge a preliminary Lands Tribunal ruling that established the basis upon which the land was to be valued.
Mr Richard claimed that oral evidence given by two members of the council at the preliminary hearing had been untruthful, and argued that, in the circumstances, the tribunal’s conclusions had been unreasonable.
Dismissing the application, Mummery LJ said that more than two years had elapsed between the preliminary decision and the making of the application for an extension of time in which to appeal, and that Mr Richards had put forward no additional material sufficient to justify the grant of such an application.
Richards and another v Somerset County Council Court of Appeal (Mummery LJ) 9 May 2003
References: PLS News 12/05/03
