Developer JA Pye (Oxford) Ltd has asked the High Court of to overturn a Lands Tribunal decision that it must pay £428,000 to acquire 276m² of land on a disused railway line in Avon.
Pye agreed in July 1979 to buy the land from Avon County Council, a predecessor of South Gloucestershire District Council, so that it could build a link road joining two parts of its land at North Common, Warmley, that were separated by the railway line.
Under the deal, the Lands Tribunal was to fix a price for the land if the parties could not agree on one. The tribunal initially came up with a price tag of £765,000, but that was reduced to £428,000 when the matter was sent back to it for reconsideration after an appeal.
Now Pye is seeking a further reduction of £409,000, as it maintains that the land is only worth £19,000.
The hearing continues.
PLS News 3/10/00
