Clonmel Mental Hospital Board v The Commissioner of Valuation

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1960
• Date: 01 January 1960
• Court: Supreme Court

Clonmel Mental Hospital v. Commissioner of Valuation

THE CLONMEL MENTAL HOSPITAL BOARD

and

THE COMMISSIONER OF VALUATION

Supreme Court.

Rates - Rating - Hereditament used as residence for nurses employed in mental hospital - Whether hereditament used exclusively for charitable purposes - Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1838 (1 & 2 Vict., c. 56), s. 63 - Valuation (Ireland) Act, 1852 (15 & 16 Vict., c. 63), s. 16 - Valuation (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1854 (17 & 18 Vict., c. 8), ss. 2, 6.

The Clonmel Mental Hospital Board (hereinafter called "the Board"), which is the Local Administrative Authority for the Mental Hospital District comprising the Counties of Tipperary (North Riding) and Tipperary (South Riding), in the year 1947 purchased leasehold premises, known as "Elmville,"comprising a dwellinghouse and about fourteen and a half acres of land. The Board adapted the dwellinghouse for use as a residence for nurses employed in the Mental Hospital and the lands were farmed with other lands belonging to the Board. "Elmville," the hereditament in question, adjoined the Hospital grounds, from which it was separated by a boundary wall. The entrance to the roadway was kept permanently locked and a gate was broken in the dividing wall to give direct, and the only, access to the hospital grounds. In the valuation lists for the year ending the 28th February, 1951, the hereditaments constituting the Mental Hospital were distinguished as being exclusively used for charitable purposes and therefore exempt from rating, but "Elmville" was not so distinguished. The Board appealed to the Circuit Court against the valuation of "Elmville" which was allowed by the Circuit Court Judge who held that it was a hereditament of a public nature and was used exclusively for charitable purposes and that it should have been distinguished as such in the valuation lists. At the request of the Commissioner of Valuation, the Circuit Court Judge stated a case for the opinion of the High Court as to whether, upon the facts found, he was correct in law in so deciding.

Held by Davitt P., that the Circuit Court Judge was correct in law in holding that the hereditament in question was used exclusively for charitable purposes and that it should have been so distinguished in the valuation lists. On appeal by the Commissioner of Valuation to the Supreme Court it was

Held by the Supreme Court (Maguire C.J., Lavery and Maguire JJ.), affirming Davitt P., that the question asked in the case should be answered that the Circuit Court Judge was correct in law in allowing the appeal.

The Commissioner of Valuation for Northern Ireland v. The Committee of Management of the Fermanagh County Hospital, [1947] N. I. 125 considered.

Case Stated by the Circuit Court Judge for the South-Eastern Circuit, County of Tipperary.

The Case Stated was as follows:—

"1. This matter came before me for hearing by way of appeal by the Clonmel Mental Hospital Board against a decision of the Commissioner of Valuation whereby the Commissioner of Valuation had determined that the hereditament hereinafter described:—

(a) was not of a public nature: or,

(b) was not used exclusively for charitable purposes: and

(c) was not, therefore, properly distinguishable in the valuation list as being of a public nature or used exclusively for charitable purposes.

2. The hereditament or tenement to which the appeal refers is described in the valuation list in the following terms:—

County of Tipperary, South Riding. O.S. T.P. 1. 2. 4. 5.

Urban District: Clonmel.

Electoral Division: Clonmel West Urban.

Reference to Map: 'Elmville.'

Town of Clonmel Heywood Road.

Local No.: 15 and 15a. Occupiers: Clonmel Joint Mental Hospital Board. Immediate Lessors: Reps. John Bagwell. Description of Tenement: House (Nurses' Home), Offices and land. Area: 14 acres 2 roods 24 perches. Rateable annual Valuation: Lands £34 15s. 0d. Buildings £30 0s. 0d. Total—£64 15s. 0d.

3. The facts proved or admitted before me in the course of the hearing were as follows:—

(1) The Clonmel Mental Hospital Board is the Local Administrative Authority for the Mental Hospital District comprising the administrative Counties of Tipperary (North Riding) and Tipperary (South Riding) and occupy the hereditaments as such.

(2) The hereditament described in paragraph 2 above together with a cottage or small dwellinghouse situate at No. 6 Power's Lane, Clonmel, which is separately valued at £2 0s. 0d. (rateable), was purchased by the appellants in 1947 for the sum of £5,250 subject to a yearly rent of £60 payable to The Representatives of John Bagwell from whom the hereditament is held for the residue now unexpired of a term of one hundred and fifty years from the 25th day of March, 1947.

(3) The said hereditament adjoined the grounds of the Mental Hospital at the date of the said purchase in 1947, and prior to such purchase by the appellants was separated therefrom by a wall and had an entrance opening on to Heywood Road. Since its acquisition by the appellants the dwellinghouse on the said hereditament which was previously known as "Elmville" has been adapted for use as a Nurses' Home in connection with the said Mental Hospital the said entrance gate opening into Heywood Road has been kept locked and is not used as an authorised means of exit or entry by members of the nursing staff resident therein. A gate has been opened in what was the dividing wall between the Mental Hospital proper and the said hereditament described in paragraph 2 above so that members of the nursing staff resident therein must enter or leave by the gatekeeper's lodge at the main entrance to the Mental Hospital proper as the only authorised exit and entrance to and from the Mental Hospital and the nurses' home.

(4) The buildings on the said hereditament described in paragraph 2 above are used exclusively for the accommodation of female members of the nursing staff and they are required as a condition of their employment to reside therein when accommodation is available. The buildings provide accommodation for sixteen nurses and there were fourteen nurses in residence at the date of the appeal. It is necessary for the purposes of the Mental Hospital that as many as possible of the nursing staff should be available at call, and it is desirable also in that it facilitates the routine rotation of duties. The entire staff of the Mental Hospital numbers one hundred and twenty-two persons of whom eighty-four (including the said fourteen nurses) reside within the institution. A living-out allowance is paid to members of the staff who are permitted to live out or who cannot be accommodated within the institution.

(5) The lands comprised in the said hereditament described in paragraph 2 above ara farmed with other lands of the appellants to provide food for the institution and as a form of occupational therapy for the patients. Of the produce of the lands farmed by the appellants approximately nine-tenths are consumed within the institution to which it is charged in the farm account at current market prices, and the remaining one-tenth is sold to the public and the moneys arising thereform are used for the purposes of the institution as part of its revenue. The farm accounts show a profit in 1948, of £3,187, in 1949, of £3,312, after deducting rent of £150, in 1948, and £170, in 1949, but no allowance is made therein for the labour provided by patients or for maintenance of farm buildings.

(6) At the date of the appeal, there were eight hundred and thirty patients all except one from the administrative Counties of Tipperary—North Riding and Tipperary South Riding in the institution.

(7) In the year preceding the date of the appeal viz., the year ended 31st March, 1949 the institution had been supported by contributions of the amount and from the sources following: Tipperary (North Riding) County Council, £34,294; Tipperary (South Riding) County Council, £48,981; Private patients, £2,429; State Funds, £597; British Ministry of Pensions for "Service Patients," £2,172; and the sale of the surplus produce referred to above.

I decided upon the foregoing facts that the hereditament was of a public nature, that it was used exclusively for charitable purposes and that accordingly it should have been distinguished in the valuation lists for the year ended the 28th February, 1951.

The Commissioner of Valuation has, by his solicitor, expressed dissatisfaction with my said decision and has required me to state a Case for the opinion of the High Court of Justice and Your Lordships' opinion is therefore sought as to whether upon the facts found as aforesaid I was correct in law in deciding as aforesaid."

The Case Stated was signed by Judge Roe and was dated the 3rd day of July, 1956.

From this judgment the Commissioner of Valuation appealed to the Supreme Court (3).

Cur. adv. vult.

Davitt P. :—

In broad outline the facts of this case are as follows. The Clonmel Hospital Board is the Local Administrative Authority for the Mental Hospital District comprising North and South Tipperary; and as such occupies the hereditaments constituting the Clonmel Mental Hospital. In 1947 the Board acquired certain leasehold premises known as "Elmville"comprising a house and fourteen and a half acres of land. This property adjoined the Hospital grounds, from which it was separated by a boundary wall; and had its entrance to Heywood Road. The Board adapted the house for use as a residence for nurses employed in the Hospital. The entrance to Heywood Road was kept permanently locked; and a gate was broken in the dividing wall to give direct, and the only, access to the Hospital grounds. The staff of the Hospital numbers one hundred and twenty-two individuals, of whom eighty-four reside within the institution, including those who reside in "Elmville." It is necessary for the purposes of the Hospital that as many as possible of the nursing staff should be available...