Peddie v Assessor for Roxburghshire
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 22 October 1963 |
| Docket Number | No. 31. |
| Date | 22 October 1963 |
| Court | Lands Valuation Appeal Court (Scotland) |
Lands Valuation Appeal Court.
Lord Patrick. Lord Sorn. Lord Kilbrandon.
ValuationSubjectsAgricultural lands and heritagesBroiler housesWhether "agricultural buildings"Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act, 1956 (4 and 5 Eliz. II, cap. 60), sec. 7 (2).
The Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act, 1956, enacts by sec. 7:"(2) In this section agricultural lands and heritages means any lands and heritages used for agricultural or pastoral purposes onlybut does not include any buildings thereon other than agricultural buildings;agricultural buildings means buildingsoccupied together with agricultural lands and heritagesandused solely in connection with agricultural operations thereon(3) No agricultural lands and heritages shall be entered in the valuation roll"
A farmer occupying a farm of 286 acres, used wholly for producing wheat, barley and potatoes, erected on it two broiler houses, in which four batches of 16,000 chickens each were reared every year. The chickens were brought to the houses as day-old chicks, kept there for ten weeks and then removed for slaughter. They were normally given compounded feed, but occasionally feed produced on the farm was used. All the wheat straw produced on the farm was used for litter in the houses, and after the removal of each batch the litter was taken from the houses and applied to the farm lands, in which it renewed the humus.
Held that the broiler houses did not satisfy the definition of agricultural buildings in sec. 7 (2) of the 1956 Act, inasmuch as they were not used solely in connection with agricultural operations on the farm, such connection as existed between the rearing of chickens and the agricultural operations being too slight to be of consequence; and consequently that the houses were not agricultural lands and heritages and must enter the roll.
At a meeting of the Valuation Appeal Committee of the county of Roxburgh Donald T. Peddie appealed against an entry in the valuation roll for the year ending Whitsunday 1963, the subject of which was broiler houses of which he was shown as the tenant. He craved that these should not be entered in the roll. The Committee dismissed the appeal, and at the request of the appellant stated a case for appeal to the Lands Valuation Appeal Court.
The case stated that the following facts were admitted or held by the Committee to be proved or within the knowledge of the Committee:"(1) The appellant is tenant of the farm of Ednam West Mains, Kelso, Roxburghshire. The farm and lands extend to 286 acres or thereby. (2) About 1960 the appellant erected two broiler houses, one on brick foundations and the other on breeze block foundations and a small equipment store, all on ground adjoining the farm buildings. These houses are made of wood and measure 150 feet long by 37 feet wide. They are fully insulated, have aluminium roofs and are heated by calor gas. They are lighted by electricity and they are ventilated by electrically driven extraction fans. Three photographs of the broiler houses are appended hereto(3) Both houses have earth floors, which are covered in the early stages with wood shavings and later with wheat straw produced on the farm. Fifty acres of wheat are grown on the farm. All the straw produced from that wheat is used for litter in the houses. Water and food are supplied by hanging hoppers. Compounded feed is purchased although on occasions feeding produced on the farm is used. (4) The two broiler houses and all equipment cost approximately 8000, of which approximately one-half thereof (sic) related to the moveable equipment. (5) Four batches of 16,000 chickens each are reared each year. They are produced outwith the farm. They are purchased when one day old and installed in the broiler houses, where they are fed for approximately ten weeks. They are then collected by a packing station and taken away for slaughter for human consumption. (6) There is an interval of approximately two weeks between the departure from the broiler houses of one batch of chickens and the arrival of the next batch. This time is required and utilised for cleaning out the broiler houses, disinfecting and sterilising them. The litter removed from the broiler houses is applied immediately to the farm lands or, if the time of year is unsuitable, it is accumulated and applied to the lands at a suitable time. (7) Prior to the erection of the broiler houses and to starting up in the business as a producer of broiler chickens the appellant produced livestock and grain and had part of the farm lands in grass. Since commencing to produce broiler chickens he has altered his system of farming, in that he no longer keeps livestock on the farm and the whole lands are used for producing wheat, barley and potatoes. There is no land in grass and in the absence of livestock there is no farm manure available. (8) The litter produced in the broiler houses when applied to the land renews humus in the soil. Without this litter the appellant would require to keep other livestock on the farm and to rotate the...
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Deeside Poultry Ltd v Assessor for Aberdeenshire
...with regard to the first group, that the interpretation of sec. 7 (2) of the 1956 Act adopted inPeddie v. Assessor for Roxburghshire, 1964 S. C. 353,was sound, that that case was rightly decided and that the suggested treatment of a building as separate from its site would be an anomalous a......
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...and the land are complementary to each other in the farming system as practised there". 20In Peddie v. Assessor for Roxburghshire 1964 S.C. 353 a farmer with a fairly large arable farm had two broiler houses on it. He sometimes fed the chickens on farm produce and he used his straw for litt......
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...Eastwood Ltd. v. Herrod [1971] A.C. 160, [1968] 2 Q.B. 923. 8 Lean v. Inland Revenue 1926 S.C. 15. 9 Peddie v. Assessor for Roxburghshire 1964 S.C. 353. 10 Alma v. Corporation of Dublin (1876) I.R. 10 C.L. 476. Appeal from the High Court. The appellant was a farmer who at material times occ......