Richardson v Lockevo Pty Ltd

Richardson brought proceedings against Lockevo in the County Court of Victoria, seeking a declaration that a valuation of premises at Unit 1/334 Wagga Road, Lavington, was not valid under Section 19 of the Retail Leases Act 1994. The valuation in question was conducted by Kirk Robert May on 16th July 2010 and was purported to be a “current market rental” valuation. Richardson argued that the valuation was not a valid Section 19 valuation and, therefore, the parties were not bound by it. The central legal issue before the court was whether the valuation complied with the requirements of Section 19 of the Act, specifically if it constituted a valuation for the purposes of that section.

The court considered the criteria for a Section 19 valuation, including the necessity for the valuation to be made by a registered valuer and for it to be a valuation of the premises for the purposes of a proposed or existing retail lease. The court examined the terms of the valuation and the qualifications of the valuer. It was found that the valuation did not strictly adhere to the requirements of Section 19, as it was not explicitly stated to be a valuation for the purposes of a retail lease, nor was it clear from the document itself that it related to a retail lease context. This omission rendered the valuation invalid for the purposes of Section 19.

Consequently, the court declared that the parties were not bound by the valuation. The court held that the valuation did not meet the statutory criteria and, therefore, could not be considered a Section 19 valuation. No order for costs was made in the proceedings.