East Yorks Win Workshop Derating Appeal
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THE Court of Appeal last week allowed with costs an appeal by the East Yorkshire Motor Services, Ltd., from a decision of the Lands Tribunal, holding that their central workshops and premises at Hull Road, Anlaby Common, were not industrial premises and not entitled to derating benefit.
The Tribunal had affirmed a decision of the local valuation court for Kingston upon Hull and East Riding (South) holding that the premises should be assessed as non-industrial at a gross value of £1,750.
Giving judgment, Lord Justice Sellers said appellants' premises had in the past been scheduled as an industrial hereditament.
Appellants had a fleet of 240 buses and apart from regular servicing, provision was made for extensive periodic recon ditioning and overhaul of the vehicles. The case turned on how those functions necessary to keep the fleet of vehicles in efficient condition were performed. The central workshops was only one of the premises occupied by the appellants and it was necessary to regard the functions of these premises in relation to the organization as a whole. There were, in addition, local depots where the buses were maintained and two buildings where buses were garaged.
The decision of the Lands Tribunal recognized that the premises were used for two kinds of work, namely for the manufacture and reconditioning of parts or units of vehicles which were for the most part sent from the local service depots, and also for the repair or reconditioning of about four vehicles a week.
The President of the Lands Tribunal, having found this distinctive and separate user of the premises, apparently disregarded the difference between reconditioning of the parts of the units and the maintenance of the vehicles themselves. He inquired only as to whether the nature of the work undertaken on the premises was reconstruction or repairing and reconditioning.
1931 Decision Disregarded
In his Lordship's opinion, the decisions of the House of Lords did not support such an approach and the reasoning seemed to disregard the decision of the House which had stood since 1931. The reconditioning of units was as much an industrial purpose as the making of completely new units.
The Court had come to the conclusion that the workshops were primarily used as a factory. The areas of the docking shops, body shop, paint shop, and paint store would seem to be wholly nonindustrial as the area was given over to the maintenance of the vehicles, but there was a somewhat greater area associated substantially with the work of the fitting shop which employed 35 men.
Although his lordship would. hold that the hereditament as a whole was an industrial hereditament, there were obviously places within it which had a non-industrial use and which called for exclusion from the derating benefit.
Appeal to Lords Granted For the reasons given, his Lordship would allow the appeal and declare the hereditament to be an industrial hereditament which was occupied and used partly for industrial purposes and partly for non-industrial purposes. The case would be remitted to the Lands Tribunal to apportion the occupation and user between the one and the other and to order their entry in the valuation list accordingly. Lords Justice Devlin and Danckwerts agreed.
An application by Sir Derek WalkerSmith. Q.C.. for the valuation officer, for leave to appeal to the House of Lords was granted.
Mr. P. Browne, Q.C., for the appellants, said the decision might affect other companies in the British Traction Group to which the appellants belonged.
BLOX BUY BURN TRANSPORT GROUP (HOLDINGS), I LTD., announce that Blox Services, Ltd., one of the group's companies, has taken over Bum Transit, Ltd., of Tooting, London, who, like Bloat. operate a considerable contract hire fleet. The Burn Transit subsidiary. Commercial Haulage. Ltd.. has also been acquired by Blox in the same deal.