Vogel heirs fight for family home
Court to decide fate of former residence of Prime Ministers
Abattle over historic Vogel House has reached the High Court. The grandsons of the former owners would suffer emotional hardship if it was not given to them instead of being sold on the public market, lawyer Richard Fowler told the High Court at Wellington yesterday.
The property, which was the Prime Minister’s official residence from 1977 until 1990, was donated to the Crown by James and Jocelyn Vogel in 1965 and is held under the Land Act 1948, meaning the Commissioner of Crown Lands must dispose of the land in accordance with the act.
In early 2016, the commissioner decided to offer the property to the beneficiaries of the Jocelyn Vogel estate — the Vogel Charitable Trust and the Wellington SPCA.
At the same time, the commissioner notified two grandsons of the Vogels that they would not be offered the property. The grandsons, Tim and Geoff Vogel, had previously asked for the entire property to be given to them.
The Vogels applied for a rehearing and an independent lawyer was tasked to report on the case.
It was decided neither the grandsons nor the charities should have the house, but that it should be sold on the market, with the proceeds going to the Crown.
The grandsons have now taken the matter to court for a judicial review, which was heard yesterday.
Fowler argued there had not been consideration of the emotional hardship the Vogels would suffer if the house was not offered to them.
Reading from Tim Vogel’s affidavit, Fowler spoke of the family connection to the house, family associations in the area stretching back 150 years, and the fact that no other private family had ever lived there.
In his affidavit, Tim Vogel also said his grandmother had “often remarked she wished the Crown would return the property to the family because it was no longer being used as the PM’s residence”.
The Land Act states the property can be allotted to someone without competition from the public if there were special circumstances and the applicant would suffer hardship by the call for public applications.
Fowler said this did not just include financial hardship, but could also mean emotional hardship.
The judge has reserved his decision. Thor: Ragnarok