Duncombe v Valuer-General

Case [2015] QLC 4

LAND COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION: Duncombe & Anor v Valuer-General [2015] QLC 4
PARTIES: Joseph Lawrence Duncombe and Margaret Ann Duncombe
(appellants)
v
Valuer-General
(respondent)
FILE NO: LVA353-12
DIVISION: General Division
PROCEEDING: Appeal against valuation under the Land Valuation Act 2010
DELIVERED ON: 13 February 2015
DELIVERED AT: Brisbane
HEARD ON: 20 August 2014
HEARD AT: Charters Towers
MEMBER: PA Smith
ORDER:

1.     The appeal is allowed.

2.     The unimproved value of the subject property is fixed in the sum of Two Million, One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,100,000) as at 1 October 2011.
CATCHWORDS:

Valuation – appeal against annual valuation – relevant sales
Valuation – valuation methodology – whether sales meet the “Spencer test”
Valuation – enquiries by valuer – weight to be given to enquiries made by others and adopted by valuer
Valuation – carrying capacity – use as a check method

Land Valuation Act 2010
Land Court Act 2000

Brewarrana Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Highways, S.A. (1973) 32 LGRA 170
Callcott v Chief Exeuctive, Department of Natural Resources and Mines Unreported, Land Court of Queensland, 28 September 2011, AV00-620
Fairfax v Department of Natural Resources and Mines [2005] QLC 11
Fenton Nominees Pty Ltd v Valuer-General (1981) 47 LGRA 71
Mayne Property Development Pty Ltd v Chief Executive, Department of Natural Resources (1996-1997) 17 QLCR 709
Donald Neil Meiers and Florence Myrtle Meiers v Valuer-General [2012] QLC 19
Micaesea Pty Ltd v Department of Natural Resources and Mines [2004] QLC 0079
Nimmo v Department of Natural Resources and Mines [2005] QLC 0028
Spencer v The Commonwealth (1907) 5 CLR 418
Steers v Valuer-General [2012] QLC 12
APPEARANCES: Mr JC Duncombe representing himself and his wife MA Duncombe
Mr PS Prasad, legal officer, In-house legal, Department of Natural Resources and Mines, for the respondent

Background

  1. This is an appeal by Joseph Lawrence Duncombe and Margaret Ann Duncombe (the appellants) against a determination by the Valuer-General (the respondent) of the unimproved value of the appellants’ property known as Clarke Hills as at 1 October 2011. Pursuant to the provisions of the Land Valuation Act 2010 (LVA), the respondent initially valued the appellants’ land at $2,500,000.

  2. By letter dated 4 July 2014 the respondent, in accordance with the provisions of s 163 of the LVA, reduced the valuation of Clarke Hills to $2,300,000.[1]

    [1]        See Ex 5.

  3. By their notice of appeal, the appellants contended for an unimproved value of Clarke Hills of $1,000,000 as at 1 October 2011. However, during the course of the hearing, the appellants revised their estimated of valuation to “somewhere slightly less than $2 million”. [2]

    [2]        T 1-51 line 47.

  4. Clarke Hills is a rural property. Accordingly, pursuant to the provisions of the LVA, Clarke Hills has been valued as unimproved land.

The subject land

  1. Clarke Hills is situated about 249 km by road north-west of Charters Towers. The road access is 107 km of bitumen on the Flinders Highway to Pentland, followed by 142 km of mostly gravel road. The access…

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Details
AGLC
Duncombe & Anor v Valuer-General [2015] QLC 4
Case
[2015] QLC 4
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case of Duncombe v Valuer-General concerned an appeal against the annual valuation of land. The appellant, Mr. Duncombe, challenged the valuation assessment of his property. The matter was heard in the Queensland Land Court. The central issue for the court was whether the valuer appropriately applied the "Spencer test" in determining the relevance of sales used in the valuation process. The court was also required to consider the weight that should be given to enquiries made by others and subsequently adopted by the valuer. Additionally, the use of carrying capacity as a check method in the valuation process was under scrutiny.

The court found that the valuer had failed to adequately apply the Spencer test to the relevant sales, resulting in an inappropriate selection of comparable sales. The court held that the valuer did not sufficiently consider the relevance of the sales in relation to the subject property. Furthermore, the court noted that the valuer had given undue weight to enquiries made by others without conducting independent verification. The court also determined that the use of carrying capacity as a check method was not appropriate in this context. Based on these findings, the court concluded that the valuation was not conducted in accordance with the statutory requirements.

As a result, the appeal was allowed. The unimproved value of the subject property was fixed in the sum of Two Million, One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,100,000) as at 1 October 2011. This decision highlights the importance of rigorous application of valuation principles and the necessity for valuers to conduct independent verification of information used in their assessments.

Orders

Orders of the court

1. The appeal is allowed.

2. The unimproved value of the subject property is fixed in the sum of Two Million, One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,100,000) as at 1 October 2011.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

Although Mr Duncombe refers to 10 sales, his material in this regard has been well summarised in Ex 2 as follows: [10][10]Ex 2 p 1-3.“Sales Evidence: Charters Region 2009 to 20124/09 Camden Park 66,814 acres, 130 km north east of Hughenden. Sold for $5.6million with 2,600 cattle including 800 steers plus a good list of plant. Country comprises about 15,000 acres basalt, balance granite forest. Improvements to a high standard. Sale analyses at roughly $55 per acre or $1,200 per beast area.11/09 Bodalla 75,390 acres, 130 km west of Charters Towers. Sold for $6million with 4,000 cattle and basic plant included. Roughly 1/3 basalt with Lolworth Creek frontage, 1/3 granite spear grass country, balance rough but usable range. Sound structures. Approx.. $60 per acre, $1,100 per beast area.1/10 Christmas Creek 102,547 acres, 160 km north of Charters Towers. Sold for $7million with 800 cattle and plant included. Burdekin river breeding country, primarily ironbark, spear grass, some good frontage areas plus some range, bitumen highway access. Approx.. $65 per acre, $1,300 beast area value.6/10 Goldsborough 88,957 acres, 160 km west of Charters Towers. Sold for $4.75million with 4,200 cattle and plant included. Well regarded breeding property with Cape River frontage, red soil granite, low hills, sandy tableland, good waters, sound structures. Approx.. $36 per acre, $800 per beast area.12/10 Bullock Creek 183,100 acres, 80 km west of Mt Garnet. Sold for $2,657,200 with 1,400 mixed cattle plus plant. Granite breeding country, sandy soils, gravelly ridges, small areas of range, sound improvements, inferior cattle. Approx.. $11 per acre, $500 per beast area.11/11 Keen Gea 47,791 acres, 240 km south west of Charters Towers. Sold for $4.4million with 1,700 cattle and plant included. Level country mostly pulled, featuring softwood scrub, bauhinia, gidgee with black soil plains also sandy loam ironbark, box country plus channel of Torrens Creek system with buffel grass, sea stylo well established. Sound improvements, upgrading required. Carrying capacity 3 to 4,000 head. Est. $75 per acre, $1,000 per beast area.12/11 St Ronans 44,000 ha (108,724 acres) 60 km south west of Mt Garnet, 370 km north of Charters Towers. Sold for $4million with 800 cattle plus plant, farming equipment included. Primarily red and black basalt country running to granite forest, range areas, 6,000 acres cleared, 3,000 acres cultivation. Structures include 2,000 head feedlot, grain silos, steel yards, older style homestead, machinery sheds. Carrying capacity 4,500 head. Sale analyses at $30 per acres, $700 per beast areas.5/12 Toomba 47,500 ha (117,373 acres) 100 km west of Charters Towers. Sold for $7.4million with 3,670 cattle including steers, bullocks and extensive list of plant, including airplane and stock horse stud. Unique mix of country with red, black basalt fattening country plus fertile Lolworth creek frontage, box and ironbark forest, plus an area of wetland with heavy para grass, springs and swamps. Some waste country, basalt wall. Carrying capacity 5,000 mixed cattle, turning off bullocks. Sale reflects $50 per acre, usable county, $950 per beast area.6/12 Rosella Plains 81,600 (201,635 acres) 300 km north west of Charters Towers. Sold for $7.3million with 5,000 cattle and full list of station plant included. God balance of country, red and black basalt plus granite forest country. Improvements of high standard, good quality cattle herd. Carrying capacity 8,000 head. Sale analyses at $600 per beast area of $24 per acre.7/12 Beverley Hills 50,500 ha (125,540 acres) 45 km south west of Einasleigh, 380 km north west of Charters Towers. Sold for $2,250,000 with 1,510 branded cattle plus progeny and basic plant included. Useful breeding country with areas of range, tidy improvements, good quality cattle herd. Carrying capacity 2,500. Beast area value $500, $10 per acre.”

Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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