KEY POINTS:
The family of Manukau City's founding mayor say land compulsorily acquired from them for the Auckland Airport should be offered back to them - at 1982 prices.
The Lambie family, through the Craigie Trust, is fighting Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIAL) in the High Court to get back 36ha of the original family farm - now worth an estimated $126 million to $144 million. In the 1980s it would have been worth around $15 million.
The family say the land was compulsorily acquired in the 1970s under the then 1928 Public Works Act for the development of an aerodrome, but
has been used for commercial developments, such as the Butterfly Creek leisure attraction, and buildings housing businesses, including the BNZ, Hertz Rental Car, Manukau Toyota and a McDonald's Drive Thru'.
The Craigie Trust, which owned the land and which benefits the Lambie family and the Good Neighbour Charitable Trust, argues it should be given the opportunity to buy the land back because it was not used for an aerodrome or essential work.
The updated 1981 Public Works Act says land no longer needed for the public work it was acquired for must be offered back to its original owners. The trust's case is that the land should be offered for sale at its February 1982 market value, the date the revised law came into force.
The Lambies have grazed stock on the land since 1939. Hugh Lambie was the first mayor of Manukau City from 1965 to 1968, and Lambie Drive in central Manukau is named after him.
"It's an absolute disgrace," his son John told the Herald. "I believe they thought they'd get away with it and they're not."
Auckland International Airport argues the acquired property formed part of the Crown's general land and reserves, and was not subject to the Public Works Act 1928 but the Reserves Act.
In its statement of defence, AIAL says that in February 1982 the land was being used directly and indirectly for aerodrome purposes.
It says construction of the second runway has now begun and it's critical that the property be retained for future airport development.
"Would you agree with me that it's unreasonable to take the position the trust does, some 30-odd years after the land was taken, to now claim it back at those values, with a windfall benefit to the trust and an equivalent loss to the [airport] company and its shareholders?" Alan Galbraith, QC, acting for the airport, asked John Lambie in court yesterday. "No," he answered.
Mr Lambie earlier told the court that around 2006, when he saw the plans for his family's former land in the airport's "masterplan" to 2025, "I started to see that most of the land was taken for commercial property development, to enhance the profitability of the airport".
Derek Harries, senior director of commercial real estate agents CB Richard Ellis, said his colleagues could remember land selling in the area for $42 a square metre in the 1980s - meaning the disputed land could have a 1980s value of around $15 million.
He said at a conservative estimate it would now be worth $350 to $400 a square metre _ a total $126 million to $144 million. "It is a premium industrial development site now, it's an area that's sought after."
THE DISPUTE
* The Lambie family trust says 36ha of the family farm near Auckland International Airport should be returned to them at 1982 prices.
* It was compulsorily acquired in the 1970s for airport development, but the trust says it's been used for commercial activities instead and should be offered back.
* Commercial real estate agents estimate the land is now worth around $144 million.
* They say it would've been worth around $15 million in the 1980s.
- An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the land was "now worth an estimated $1.26 billion to $1.44 billion". It should have said $126 million to $144 million.
