Wongala Holdings Pty Limited v Beynon & anor [2000] NSWSC 1187

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Wongala Holdings Pty Limited v Beynon & anor [2000] NSWSC 1187 FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 5914/92 HEARING DATE(S) : 27-28 July, 16 October 2000; (written submissions to 9 November 2000) JUDGMENT DATE : 14 December 2000

PARTIES : Wongala Holdings Pty Limited (Plaintiff) Ian Lloyd Beynon and Gwyenneth Elizabeth Beynon (First Defendants) JUDGMENT OF : Master McLaughlin

COUNSEL : D. Higgs SC, S. Kaur-Bains (Plaintiff) K. Smark (First Defendants) SOLICITORS : Jackson Smith Solicitors (Plaintiff) Selby Anderson Attorneys & Consultants (First Defendants) CATCHWORDS : Assessment of damages - Failure of Defendants to complete contract to purchase rural property - Market value of property - Opinion evidence of valuers - Lifestyle characteristics of property - Asserted estoppel arising out of statement made by Counsel to Court of Appeal. Gould v Vaggellas (1985) 157 CLR 215 KKJ Pastoral Company Pty Limited v Old Town Pty Limited (1990) 28 NSWLR 105 CASES CITED : Carpenter v McGrath (1996) 40 NSWLR 39 Advance Commercial Finance Limited v Aarons (Cohen J, 14 February 1996, unreported) Commonwealth of Australia v Verwayen (1990) 170 CLR 394 DECISION : See paragraph 50

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES EQUITY DIVISION

MASTER McLAUGHLIN

Thursday, 14 December 2000

5914/92 WONGALA HOLDINGS PTY LIMITED -V- IAN LLOYD BEYNON AND ANOR JUDGMENT

1 MASTER: This is an inquiry as to damages consequent upon orders of Mr Justice Cohen made on 11 December 1997. Those orders included the following: 1. The First Defendants [Ian Lloyd Beynon and Gwenith Elizabeth Beynon] pay the Plaintiff [Wongala Holdings Pty Limited] damages arising out of the failure by those Defendants to complete the contract for sale of the property known as Inglebar dated 7 November 1991 and arising out of the order for the repayment to the First Defendants of the deposit paid under that contract.