Court win for Moriah
The Supreme Court in Sydney has ruled that the NSW Government must return $3.5 million it received from the city’s Moriah College in overcharged rent.
The school’s building fund’s trustees, Robert Goot, Shya Redelman, Philip Simons and Robert Simons contested successfully in court that the State Property Authority had wrongly assessed the value of land that the school was renting in Queens Park based on the fact the evaluation was not carried out within the terms of the lease.
Goot told J-Wire: “The valuation was always meant to be based on the comparison of land values in the area on which educational institutions were built…and the lease also states that the Valuer-General must value the land personally. This decision vindicates the efforts of the school to recover the overcharged amounts over the last five years.” J-Wire understands the valuation was based on a bowling club in Rose Bay.
The school will receive $3,411,000 plus $1,085,989 in interest.
Goot added: “There is no doubt that school will put this money to good and needy use.”
