Railtrack plc has failed in its challenge to a Lands Tribunal decision setting an amount of £5m for the sale of “air rights” over London railway lines.
The company had originally sought more than £33m for the right to construct an access road between the A40 and a major development on land owned by Guinness Ltd, at Park Royal, West London. It appealed the tribunal’s valuation on the basis that the tribunal had treated it as a “company regulated and subsidised by central government and subject to political pressures,” rather than as a “willing seller” looking to get the best price possible.
Dismissing the appeal, Carnwath LJ held that the tribunal had approached the matter correctly.
He said: “Outside any special statutory or commercial context, any company would normally be expected to seek the best price for its assets. It is not clear why a railway company should be any different. Not surprisingly, the tribunal found that, whatever the pressures, the hypothetical railway company ‘would be concerned to extract a proper value for the rights that it granted’.”
Railtrack plc (in administration) and another v Guinness Ltd Court of Appeal (Aldous and Carnwath LJJ and Sir Denis Henry) 20 February 2003.
Robin Purchas QC and Joanna Clayton (instructed by Rees & Freres) appeared for the appellant; Brian Ash QC and Peter Village QC (instructed by Herbert Smith) appeared for the respondent.
References: PLS News 21/02/03
