AN BINSE LUACHÁLA
VALUATION TRIBUNAL
AN tACHT UM LAITHREAIN TREIGHTE, 1990
DERELICT SITES ACT, 1990

Joseph McCormack APPELLANT
and
Castlebar Urban District Council RESPONDENT

RE: Derelict Site at Springfield, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
Market Value

B E F O R E
Henry Abbott S.C. Chairman
Padraig Connellan Solicitor
Brian O'Farrell Valuer

JUDGMENT OF THE VALUATION TRIBUNAL
ISSUED ON THE 7TH DAY OF APRIL, 1992

By notice of appeal dated 27th day of January, 1992, the appellant appealed against the determination of Castlebar Urban District Council in fixing a market value under the Derelict Sites Act, 1990 of £18,000 on the above described property.

The grounds of appeal as set out in the Notice of Appeal are that;-
(1) The appellant is not and never has been the owner or occupier of any property at Springfield, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

(2) Without prejudice to the foregoing, the valuation determined is excessive and has been arbitrarily arrived at.

(3) He was never informed of the basis on which the valuation was determined.

(4) The determination is unconstitutional.

(5) The ownership is a matter of public record and is known to the respondents.

In response to a letter from the Valuation Tribunal, Mr. J. Condon, Town Clerk, Castlebar Urban District Council confirmed that the Market Value of the site as determined by the Urban District Council was £18,000 and enclosed a map of the site. He further said that the appeal cannot be valid if Mr. Mc Cormack denies being the owner of the land. In a further letter dated 7th March, 1992 Mr. Mc Cormack sought clarification as to whether the building or the entire building site was in question. He again referred to the ownership of the site and asked for clarification from the Urban District Council regarding an application for planning permission. A copy of this letter was forwarded to the Respondent for clarification and information.

ORAL HEARING
The oral hearing herein took place at Castlebar on the 7th day of April, 1992. The appellant appeared personally and the Respondents were represented by Mary Keane, Solicitor.

From the onset the appellant indicated that the owner of the site was Mall Construction (Castlebar) Limited, a company of which he was a director. Part of the site had been sold to Mr. Scanlon. Mr. Mc Cormack the appellant assured the Tribunal that he would ensure that Mr. Scanlon was indemnified by the Comp[any in respect of any outgoings arising from the site having a value under the Derelict Sites Act, 1990. Accordingly the Tribunal decided that the appeal should proceed on the basis that Mall Construction (Castlebar) Limited is the owner and that there is no further necessity to notify Mr. Scanlon.

The site is approximately 5,425 square feet and is not enclosed. It has a Nissan type hut and is used as a builders yard for a large building site.

The respondents valuer Mr. Brian Moran gave evidence that the site could accommodate 5 building sites and on that basis was valued at £18,000. The appellant contented that the site would be ultimately a green or open area, which contention was hotly contested by the Respondents who cited the fact that there was some overlap between a block purchased by Mr. Scanlon on which he had recently received permission for 4 houses on the subject site.

The appellant gave evidence that the value on individual sites would be in the region of £1,500 and stated that the whole site of 68 houses was offered to the Housing Authority for £70,000.

The Tribunal has considered all the evidence and finds that while the site has obviously some development value the potential thereof is limited as there appears to be limited access and the market is already cluttered with an easy availability of sites. The Tribunal finds that in all the circumstances of the case that the Market Value of the subject site is £5,000.