Auchinlea Quarries and Brickworks v Assessor for Lanarkshire
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 18 February 1955 |
| Date | 18 February 1955 |
| Docket Number | No. 29. |
| Court | Lands Valuation Appeal Court (Scotland) |
Lands Valuation Appeal Court.
Lord Patrick. Lord Sorn. Lord Hill Watson.
ValuationValueRateable valueDeductionsDeratingBlaes bingsBings workedBings let but unworkedWhether entitled to deduction as "quarries" or "minerals"Whether entitled to deratingRating (Scotland) Act, 1926 (16 and 17 Geo. V, cap. 47), sec. 12 (1) and First Sched.Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928 (18 and 19 Geo. V, cap. 44), sec. 3 (1) and (2)Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929 (19 and 20 Geo. V, cap. 25), secs. 45 (1) and 46 (2) (b).
The Rating (Scotland) Act, 1926, enacts, by sec. 12 (1) and First Sched., that, in determining the rateable value of "mines, minerals, and quarries," a deduction of 5 per cent shall be made from their gross annual value.
Under the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928, sec. 3 (1), the expression "industrial lands and heritages" means,inter alia, lands and heritages occupied and used as a mine or, subject to a proviso, as a factory or workshop. "Factory" and "workshop" are defined in sec. 3 (2) by reference to the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, under which these terms include quarries, "that is to say, any place, not being a mine, in which persons work in getting slate, stone, coprolites or other minerals."
The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, by sec. 45 (1), allows derating of industrial lands and heritages. Sec. 46 (2) enacts that for the purposes of the 1928 Act "the following lands and heritages shall be deemed to be industrial lands and heritages (b) Minerals which are let notwithstanding that they are not being worked at the time."
An Assessor, in entering a number of blaes bings in the Valuation Roll, refused to allow a deduction under the 1926 Act or derating in respect of them. The blaes, an argillaceous shale, which is one of the sedimentary rocks forming part of the earth's crust, was brought to the surface when coal was being worked. Being regarded at the time as of no commercial value, it was deposited in bings, but it was later discovered to be of value as raw material for the manufacture of bricks. Some of the bings were purchased and worked by the purchasers. Others were leased, and of these some were being worked by the lessees, while others were still unworked, though rent was being paid in respect of them.
Held (1) following Hamilton and Kinneil Estates v. Assessor for Lanarkshire, supra, p. 209, that the bings were not entitled to be derated as mines; but (2) that the bings that were being worked, whether by their owners or by lessees, were "quarries" within the meaning of the 1901 Act, and consequently industrial lands and heritages under the 1928 Act, and so entitled to derating; and that the bings leased but not worked were entitled to derating under sec. 46 (2) (b) of the 1929 Act, the blaes being a "mineral" within the meaning of that subsection; and (3) that all the bings were entitled to a 5 per cent deduction under the 1926 Act, being "quarries" or "minerals" within the meaning of that Act according as they were being worked or not.
Dictum of Lord Dundas in Airdrie, Coatbridge and District Water Trustees v. Assessor for Lanarkshire, 1908 S. C. 596, at p. 599, to the effect that the word "minerals" in the statutory expression "mines, minerals, and quarries" relates to "something in the nature of mineral which is being wrought out from its native place in the ground"disapproved.
At a meeting of the Valuation Committee of the County of Lanark, Auchinlea Quarries and Brickworks, Limited, appealed against an entry in the Valuation Roll for the year ending Whitsunday 1955, in which the gross annual value and rateable value of subjects of which they were proprietors and occupiers appeared as 417. The appellants craved that there should be allowed in respect of the subjects (1) the deduction from the gross annual value provided for in section 12 and Class 1 of the First Schedule to the Rating (Scotland) Act, 1926, and (2) the derating deduction of 75 per cent of the net annual value provided for in the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928, and section 45 (1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, for industrial lands and heritages.1 Along with this appeal there were heard
appeals at the instance often other appellants relating to subjects substantially similar in character and raising the same questions of law. The Committee dismissed all the appeals, and, at the request of the appellants, stated a case on appeal to the Lands Valuation Appeal Court.[Case 874.]The case set forth that the following facts were admitted or held by the Committee to be proved or within the knowledge of the Committee:"(1) The subjects under appeal comprise fifteen blaes bings situated in various parts of the county of Lanark. (2) The bings, which consist of argillaceous shale and other colliery refuse, were formed during the sinking and working lives of the collieries, and their ages vary. The materials of which they are composed were brought to the surface while the coal was being worked, and, being regarded as of no commercial value at the time, were deposited in heaps to form bings. No royalty payments were made in respect of the materials comprising the said blaes bings at the time when they were brought to the surface. The bings are not composed entirely of blaes, but also contain varying quantities of other debris and colliery refuse. (3) The said bings were purchased or leased by the appellants for the purpose of using the blaes contained in them as raw material for the manufacture of bricks. (4) Up to the current year the subjects under appeal had been granted the 5 per cent deduction under the Rating (Scotland) Act, 1926, and the 75 per cent derating under the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928, and section 45 (1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929. The Assessor has withdrawn all derating from the subjects following on the decision in MacDonald v. Assessor for Inverness-shireSC, 1954 S. C. 89. (5) Howmuir Bing, Cleland, the first of the representative appeals, is owned and occupied by Auchinlea Quarries and Brickworks, Limited. The company also own other bings in the vicinity. (6) The company built brickworks on a site which was convenient for the use of material taken from Howmuir Bing and from the other bings owned by them in the vicinity. The brickworks are situated about fifty yards from Howmuir Bing. The said brickworks are separately valued and receive the benefits of derating. (7) Material has been removed continuously from Howmuir Bing since March 1948. Originally the bing extended to 14 acres, but now extends to about 4 acres. The material is extracted by means of a mechanical excavator and conveyed to the brickworks by motor lorries. Several men are employed in the operation. The height of the working face of the bing varies from fifteen to sixty feet. It is estimated that during 1953 48,000 tons of material had been removed from the bing and conveyed to the brickworks. (8) The Bogside Bing, Newmains, was formed about 1922 from Hirsthill Colliery and is now owned by Coltness Iron Company, Limited, who began to remove material from the bing in 1951. The material is extracted by a mechanical digger and conveyed by motor lorry to the company's brickworks situated one mile distant from the bing. Only one man is employed on this work. The bing extends to about 4 acres and the height of the working face of the bing varies from twenty feet to thirty feet. The said brickworks receive the benefits of derating. (9) Quarries and The Chapel Bing, Newmains, and the Ladylands and Hartwoodhill Bings, Shotts, are leased by Newmains Brickworks, Limited. This company is a subsidiary of Coltness Iron Company, Limited. (10) The Chapel Bing was formed about 1925 and extends to 14 acres. The excavation of material commenced in 1952 and a mechanical digger is used. The material is then conveyed in a lorry to the brickworks, which are one quarter mile distant. The whole operation is carried out by one employee. The height of the working face of the bing varies between ten and fifteen feet. (11) The Hartwoodhill Bing at Shotts extends to approximately 11 acres and is some 25 years old. Newmains Brickworks, Limited, commenced operations at the bing in 1950 and the material is taken to brickworks four miles distant. One mechanical excavator and one motor lorry are used in the operation and the height of the working face of the bing varies between ten and twenty feet. (12) Ladylands Bing, Shotts, extends to 5 acres and operations by the company at this bing commenced in 1951. (13) The Hartwoodhill and Ladylands Bings are included as one entry in the Valuation Roll at a figure of 10. (14) Tannochside Bings, Tannochside, Uddingston, form part of the subjects formerly leased to Archibald Russell, Limited, by the trustees of Baroness Newlands. This company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Colvilles, Limited. When the National Coal Board took over the collieries of Archibald Russell, Limited, Colvilles, Limited, exercised the option which they had under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act, 1946, to retain the brickworks used by its subsidiary. The subsidiary company terminated their lease and Colvilles, Limited, entered into a lease of the same subjects with the trustees of Baroness Newlands dated 10th, 17th and 26th October, and 3rd November 1947. The latter lease is for a period of twenty-one years from Martinmas 1945 (15) The subjects of the lease are All and Whole the coal, gum, blaes, fireclay, ashes and redd existing at the commencement of the lease in the hills and bings upon that part extending to 72 acres or thereby of the lands and estate of Tannochside in the parish of Bothwell as delineated on the plan attached to the lease. The bings which are the subject of appeal and the said brickworks are both situated within this area. (16) The lease gives full power to...
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