Sandro Goubran

Grand Ridge Plantations has lost an appeal seeking to halve the official valuation of its Gippsland timber forest, with a court finding that the trees on the land must be included in its assessed value.

The Valuer-General of Victoria has won a High Court appeal against developer WSTI Properties over a $2.9 million valuation for a heritage property in Melbourne, which centred on the meaning of an “improvement” to the land. 

The litigation funder controlled by recently deceased class action lawyer Mark Elliott has lost its bid for a 12.5 per cent commission of a $5.5 million settlement secured by the special purpose receivers of Banksia Securities in its claim against the collapsed firm's former insurance broker.

Billionaire Lindsay Fox and property magnate Max Beck have lost a dispute over the valuation of land at their jointly operated Essendon Airport, with a judge siding with the Federal Government's method that calculated the site's value at $349 million, not $7.1 million as claimed by their expert.