Falkirk Parish Council v Assessor for Stirlingshire
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 28 January 1928 |
| Docket Number | No. 40. |
| Date | 28 January 1928 |
| Court | Court of Session |
Lord Hunter, Lord Sands, Lord Morison.
ValuationValueSubjects in owners' occupationCemeteries owned by parish councils for discharge of statutory dutiesMethod of valuationContractor's principle.
Certain cemeteries were owned and administered by parish councils in fulfilment of the statutory duty imposed on them by the Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act, 1855, and under the powers as to assessment and borrowing conferred by the Act. While some revenue was obtained from the sale of lairs and interment charges, the cemeteries were not profit-earning concerns.
The Assessor valued the cemeteries upon a modified application of the contractor's principle. He took in each cemetery the extent of unoccupied ground which would be required for thirty years, estimated its purchase price and the cost of its lay-out, and assessed the annual value of the cemetery at a sum represented by 5 per cent on that capital sum. The parish councils maintained that the revenue principle, which had been applied by the Court in Sighthill and Craigton Cemetery Companies v. Assessor for Glasgow, 1927 S. C. 485, to cemeteries owned by cemetery companies, should also be applied to cemeteries owned by parish councils, although, admittedly, in many cases the result would be a merely nominal valuation.
Held (1) that the cemeteries in question had an annual lettable value, in respect that the possession of them enabled the parish councils to discharge a statutory duty; (2) that the revenue principle, which would often result in a merely nominal figure, was accordingly inapplicable; and (3) that, in the circumstances of the present cases, the method adopted by the Assessor was the best available, but that his figures were excessive, in respect that the period provided for should be one of fifteen and not one of thirty years; and, accordingly, that the valuations should be reduced by one-half.
At a meeting of the Valuation Committee of the County of Stirling, the Parish Council of the Parish of Falkirk appealed against the value of 400 placed by the Assessor in the Roll for 19271928 upon a cemetery in Falkirk owned and occupied by the appellants. The Parish Council of the Parish of Larbert and the Parish Council of the Parish of Grangemouth also appealed against values of 120 and 180 placed upon their cemeteries respectively. The Committee having dismissed the appeals, the appellants craved and obtained a stated case on appeal to the Lands Valuation Appeal Court. [Case 429.]
The case set forth that the following facts were admitted, or were within the knowledge of the Committee:(1) Prior to the passing of the Rating (Scotland) Act, 1926, burial grounds were exempt from local rates, and accordingly the figure at which they might be entered in the Valuation-roll prior to the passing of the Act was not regarded by the parties as of much consequence. The Act in question has, however, abolished the exemption in the case of burial grounds, where such ground belongs to a local authority or to a company or persons selling the exclusive right of burial in lairs therein or trading as cemetery owners for profit, and, accordingly, it has now become a matter of importance to the ratepayers generally that cemeteries and burial grounds should be properly valued. (2) The population of the parish of Falkirk is approximately 43,000. The Falkirk Cemetery, part of the land for which extending to 11 acres was originally acquired in 1869, now extends to 40 acres, of which 11/2 acres are what is known as common ground used for the burial of paupers, and in which the Parish Council are not entitled to make any charge for lairs. Of the remaining 38 acres, 20 acres are meantime laid out for interments, 6 acres are available for extension, while 121/2 acres are more or less waste ground and could only be made suitable for cemetery purposes at very large expense. The average annual sale of lairs during the three years ending 15th May 1927 was 142, and the average annual receipts from the sale thereof for the same period amounted to 444, the average number of interments being 536, of which 56 were in common ground. From the opening of the Cemetery till 15th May 1927, the number of lairs sold was 9420, and of these 504 lairs were, at said 15th May, unoccupied, while 8427 lairs were only partially occupied. The number of lairs laid out and still available for sale at Whitsunday 1927, was estimated at 2125, with a purchase value of 8998. (3) The Falkirk Cemetery has been hitherto entered in the Valuation-roll at the value of 87, with, in addition, a superintendent's house at 18, and certain fields at 5, making 110 in all. The superintendent's house and fields are now included in the proposed cumulo valuation of 400. (4) The population of the parish of Larbert is 12,389. The Larbert Cemetery, which was provided in the year 1901, extends to 6 acres, of which 1 acre is common ground, 4 acres are laid out for interments, and 1 acre is available for extension. The average annual sale of lairs during the three years ending 15th May 1927 was 49, and the average annual receipts from the sale thereof for the same period amounted to 194, the average number of interments being 132, of which 30 were in common ground. From the opening of the Cemetery till 15th May 1927, the number of lairs sold was 1612, and of these 68 lairs were at said 15th May unoccupied, while 1523 lairs were only partially occupied. The number of lairs laid out and still available for sale at Whitsunday 1927 was estimated at 634, with a purchase value of 2450. (5) The Larbert Cemetery has been hitherto entered in the Valuation-roll at the figure of 10 with 12 for the superintendent's house. This house is now included in the proposed cumulo valuation of 120. The ground on which the Cemetery is situated was feued from Mr George Sherriff of Sten-house in 1900 at a price of 1721, and a nominal feu-duty of one shilling if demanded. (6) The population of the parish of Grange-mouth is 18,707. The Grangemouth Cemetery, which was provided in the year 1902, extends to 17 acres, of which a quarter of an acre is common ground, 5 acres are laid out for interments, and 6 acres are available for extension. The remaining 5750 acres are not in their present state well adapted for cemetery purposes, and could only be made suitable for lairs at considerable cost. The average annual sale of lairs during the three years ending 15th May 1927 was 53, and the average annual receipts from the sale thereof for the same period amounted to 198, the average number of interments being 123, of which 16 were in common ground. From the opening of the Cemetery till 15th May 1927, the number of lairs sold was 1480, and of these 130 lairs were at said 15th May unoccupied, while approximately 1300 lairs were only partially occupied. The number of lairs laid out and still available for sale at Whitsunday 1927 was estimated at 950, with a purchase value of 2223, 10s. There was outstanding at 15th May 1927 a sum of 2600 in respect of money borrowed in connexion with the said Cemetery. (7) Hitherto this Cemetery has been entered in the Valuation-roll at the yearly value of 35, with a superintendent's house at 20, the latter being now included in the proposed cumulo valuation of 180. (8) Under the Burial Grounds (Scotland) Act, 1855, and amending statutes, the duty is laid upon parish councils of providing suitable and convenient burial grounds for the parish, with power to enclose, lay out, and embellish any burial ground so provided, in such manner as may be fit and proper, power being given to meet the expense by assessments to be levied by the parish council in the same manner as the poor rate. These assessments under the Rating (Scotland) Act, 1926, are now levied by the county councils or town councils as the case may be. The Cemeteries in question have been provided and laid out by the respective appellants under the foresaid powers. There are no other available burial grounds in any of the said parishes except in the case of the Parish of Grangemouth, where in the Polmont Churchyard there is still a considerable amount of ground available for burial purposes. (10) In the event of the revenue principle, with...
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