The land described in Schedule 1 to this Act is hereby declared to be a drainage district for the purposes of the principal Act under the name of the Rangitaiki Drainage District as if it had been so constituted under the provisions of section 3 of the principal Act.

(1) There shall be a Board of Trustees for the district under the name of the Rangitaiki Drainage Board.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in the principal Act, the first Board of Trustees for the district shall be appointed by the Minister of Lands by notice in the Gazette, and the Board shall comprise such number of Trustees as the Minister thinks fit.

(3) The first members of the Board may be so appointed at any time after the passing of this Act, and shall come into office on the commencement of this Act or on the date of appointment, whichever is the later.

(4) No person shall be so appointed a member of the Board unless, if an election of members were held, he would be qualified under the principal Act to be elected as a member of the Board.

(5) The members of the Board so appointed, unless they sooner vacate their office, shall hold office until the members of the Board elected at the first triennial election of members of Drainage Boards held after the commencement of this Act come into office:

Provided that the Minister of Lands may at any time, by notice in the Gazette, revoke the appointments of all the members of the Board appointed by him, and thereupon a general election of the members of the Board shall be held. The provisions of section 5 of the principal Act shall apply to that election as if a new district had been constituted under that Act.

(6) The number of members of the Board to be elected at the first general election of members of the Board shall be fixed by the Governor-General by Order in Council.

Notwithstanding anything in section 10 of the principal Act, if any Trustee, whether appointed by the Minister of Lands or elected as a member of the Board,—

• (a) Dies; or

• (b) Becomes incapable of acting; or

• (c) By writing addressed to the Chairman resigns his office as Trustee; or

• (d) Ceases to reside permanently in New Zealand; or

• (e) Is absent without leave from 3 consecutive meetings of the Board,—

his office shall be deemed to be vacated, and the Board may by resolution appoint some qualified person to be a Trustee in his stead. The person so appointed, unless he sooner vacates his office, shall hold office as Trustee for so long only as his predecessor would have held office had he remained a Trustee.

(1) Upon the execution by the Board and delivery to the Minister of Lands of the debenture referred to in section 8 of this Act, all the lands, easements and other interests in land, drains, pumps, machinery, tools, implements, and drainage works owned by the Crown in respect of the drainage system carried on by the Crown at the commencement of this Act on the land described in Schedule 1 to this Act shall vest in and become the property of the Board.

(2) The decision of the Minister of Lands as to what assets have vested in the Board under subsection (1) of this section shall be final.

(3) A notice in the Gazette by the Minister of Lands specifying that any land, easement, or other interest in land has vested in the Board under subsection (1) of this section shall be conclusive evidence of that vesting to the District Land Registrar, and shall be sufficient authority to him to issue a certificate of title to the land in the name of the Board and to make such memorials in the Register Book and on any instrument of title as are necessary to record the vesting in the Board of any such easement or other interest.

(1) As soon as the members of the first Board of Trustees constituted under this Act come into office, the Board shall execute in favour of Her Majesty the Queen a debenture securing to Her Majesty the sum of $270,000, together with interest thereon as from the date on which those members came into office at the rate of $4 percent per annum, by 30 annual instalments each of $15,614.133.

(2) That debenture shall be in a form approved by the Minister of Lands, and shall be secured over, and be a first charge on, all property both real and personal whatsoever and wheresoever at any time owned by the Board and all revenues of the Board from any source and all rates payable to the Board:

Provided that the debenture shall not be secured over any special rates made as security for any special loans raised by the Board.

(1) Without limiting the powers of the Board under sections 16 and 31A of the principal Act, the Board may from time to time for the purpose of the better carrying out of drainage works and to facilitate the general administration of the principal Act in the district, by special order made on the petition of not less than half in number of the occupiers of the rateable property in any particular area of the district or on the petition of the occupiers of not less in the aggregate than half of the rateable property in any particular area of the district,—

• (a) Constitute that area a subdistrict, to be known by a distinctive name, in which drainage works of a general nature may be carried out; or

• (b) Constitute that area a subdivision, to be known by a distinctive number or name, within which, in addition to drainage works of a general nature, pumping schemes may be installed, maintained, and operated. Any such subdivision may be wholly within the boundaries of any subdistrict, or may be partly in one subdistrict and partly in another or others.

(2) Notwithstanding the constitution of any subdistrict or subdivision under this section, all rateable property therein shall continue to be liable as part of the district to all rates levied from time to time on the whole district under section 31 of the principal Act.

(3) The Board may at any time abolish any such subdistrict or subdivision by special order made on the petition of not less than half in number of the occupiers of the rateable property in the subdistrict or subdivision or on the petition of the occupiers of not less in the aggregate than half of the rateable property in the subdistrict or subdivision.

(4) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the principal Act or in any other Act, any rate made and levied on lands in any subdivision in respect of any expenditure incurred in installing and operating pumping schemes, and administration and maintenance expenses, and interest in respect thereof, may be made and levied on an area basis.

(1) The Board may from time to time, by notice in writing given to the occupier of any land within the district and situated near the Tarawera River, prohibit the construction of drains on the land or on such part thereof as may be specified in the notice, and also prohibit any other interference with the surface of the land or part thereof that may cause or be likely to cause the escape or seepage of water from that river. The decision of the Board as to whether or not any land is near the Tarawera River for the purposes of this section shall be final.

(2) A notice to any occupier under this section may be given by delivering it to him personally, or by posting it upon a conspicuous part of the land and posting a copy thereof by registered letter addressed to the occupier at his last known place of abode or business in New Zealand, or to the agent or representative of the occupier. A notice so posted shall be deemed to have been given at the time when the registered letter would in the ordinary course of post be delivered.

(3) Any notice given under this section may be at any time in like manner amended or revoked.

(4) Every person who does or causes or permits to be done any act prohibited by a notice given to him under this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $200.

(5) The Board may from time to time do such things as it deems necessary for the purposes of filling in any drain on any land in respect of which a notice has been given under this section and of remedying any other interference with the surface of any such land, whether the drain was constructed or the interference was made before or after the commencement of this Act or before or after the giving of the notice.

(6) For the purposes of this section the Board and all persons authorised by it in that behalf may enter upon and pass over any land within the district, with or without vehicles, and may take from any land in the immediate vicinity such spoil as may be required.

(7) Every person suffering any damage from the exercise of any of the powers conferred on the Board by subsection (6) of this section shall be entitled to full compensation therefor in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Act 1928 relating to compensation. All such claims for compensation shall be made in writing to the Board within 12 months from the time when the claim arose, and no claim for compensation shall be allowed unless made within that period.

(8) All costs incurred by the Board under subsection (5) or subsection (6) of this section in respect of any drain constructed or other interference made on any land at any time while the construction or making thereof was prohibited by a notice given under this section to the occupier of the land shall constitute a debt forthwith due and payable to the Board by that occupier, and shall be a charge on the land and may be recovered in the same manner as rates that have been validly demanded under the principal Act.

(9) Subject to the provisions of subsection (8) of this section, all costs incurred by the Board under subsection (5) of this section shall be deemed to be part of the expenses of the general administration of the principal Act in the district.

(10) On the application of any owner or occupier of any land affected by a notice under this section, the Board may from time to time exempt that land or any part thereof from liability for rates under the principal Act either wholly or in part and for such period as it thinks fit, and may from time to time remit either wholly or in part any rates made and levied under the principal Act in respect of that land or any part thereof. Any exemption granted under this subsection may be at any time in like manner varied or revoked.

(11) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this section, no compensation shall be payable under the Public Works Act 1928 or any other Act in respect of any damage suffered from the exercise of any powers conferred on the Board by this section.

(12) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Impounding Act 1955, or any other Act, and notwithstanding that any stopbank along the Tarawera River may not be on fenced land, the Board may claim and recover as a debt from the owner of any stock full satisfaction for any actual damage caused by the stock to the stopbank. For the purposes of this subsection the terms fenced land and stock have the same meanings as in the Impounding Act 1955.

The following lands in the district are hereby declared to be exempt from the payment of all rates made and levied by the Board, namely:

• (a) The land described in Schedule 2 to this Act:

• (b) The land in the Town of Matata and the district adjoining in respect of which the powers of a Borough Council as to the supply of water for domestic purposes were conferred on the former Whakatane County Council by an Order in Council made pursuant to section 74 of the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1922.

Without limiting the power to make bylaws conferred on the Board by the principal Act or any other Act, the Board may from time to time, in the manner provided by section 50 of the principal Act, make bylaws—

• (a) Preventing or regulating the overflow of artesian wells or the pumping of water into any watercourse within the district, whether the watercourse is under the control of the Board or not:

• (b) Regulating the location and capacity of pumps installed after the commencement of this Act:

• (c) Prescribing such matters in relation to pumping as the Board considers necessary for the effective drainage of the district:

• (d) Regulating the use of any constructed watercourse under the control of the Board:

• (e) Prescribing conditions on which other constructed watercourses may be connected or continue to be connected with any constructed watercourse under the control of the Board, including in those conditions the payment to the Board of any annual or other charges:

• (f) Preventing the widening and deepening of watercourses under the control of the Board or the alteration of the course thereof without the consent of the Board:

• (g) Prohibiting or regulating the removal of shingle, sand, or other material from any watercourse under the control of the Board:

• (h) Prohibiting or regulating access to or the passing over or along any bank, dam or other defence against water, or other work of any kind whatsoever constructed, or maintained by, or under the control of, the Board:

• (i) Prohibiting or regulating the erection of any structures or fences within a specified distance from the banks of any watercourse under the control of the Board or in any place where they will obstruct or be likely to obstruct the free flow of floodwaters in any existing flood channel, and regulating the maintenance of any such structures or fences:

• (j) Generally preventing trespasses, nuisances, obstructions, and damage to watercourses under the control of the Board or to plantations established or maintained by the Board, and making all such provision as the Board deems necessary or expedient for the protection and proper management of its property and all machinery and works of every kind under its care, control, and management.

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of section 50 of the principal Act, bylaws made by the Board under this Act or the principal Act may prescribe fines not exceeding $100 for any breach thereof, and in the case of a continuing breach may prescribe a further fine not exceeding $10 for every day or part of a day during which the breach has continued.

Notwithstanding anything in the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 the Board during the first 2 years of its existence may, with the consent of the Minister of Local Government and upon such terms as he specifies, borrow money in anticipation of its revenue, whether on overdraft or otherwise, from its bankers or from any person or persons, and may give such security for the repayment thereof and interest thereon by debenture or otherwise as the Board, with the approval of the Minister of Local Government, thinks fit.

(1) Without limiting the powers conferred on the Board by section 43 of the principal Act, the Board may agree with the Whakatane District Council for the employment by the Board, on a part time or other basis, of clerical, engineering, and other employees of the Council and to pay to the Council such sums as remuneration for those services as may be agreed on between the Board and the Council.

(2) The Council is hereby empowered to enter into contracts with the Board for the purposes of this section upon such terms as it thinks fit.

The following provisions shall apply with respect to the land for the time being within the boundaries of the county town of Edgecumbe (being the land referred to in this section as the township), namely:

• (a) The Whakatane District Council shall be entitled to connect with the drains controlled by the Board, in a manner approved by the Board, all stormwater drains within the township:

• (b) So long as the Whakatane District Council connects the stormwater drains within the township with the drains controlled by the Board, there shall be payable each year by the Council to the Board an amount equal to the total amount that would have been received in that year by the Board in respect of land in the township if the township had formed part of the district and rates on that land had been levied by the Board on the basis of the special rateable value determined by the Valuer-General under paragraph (c) of this section and according to the class in which the land would have been classified had it formed part of the district:

• (c) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of this section, the Valuer-General shall as soon as possible after the commencement of this Act, and thereafter whenever the values on the district valuation roll of the District of Whakatane are revised under the Valuation of Land Act 1951, determine a special rateable value for the land in the township as if the land were used in such number of farms as the Valuer-General thinks fit for farming purposes of the kind generally carried on on the farming land in the district, and shall notify the Board and the Council of the total special rateable value so determined.

(1) The enactments specified in Schedule 4 to this Act are hereby repealed.

(2) The repeal of any enactment by this Act shall not affect the liability of any person for the payment of any rate made and levied under any such enactment before the commencement of this Act, and all such rates shall continue to be owing and shall be deemed to be owing to the Board, which shall have the same powers in respect thereof as if those rates had been made and levied by the Board under this Act at the dates when the same were respectively made and levied.

(3) This subsection amended s 19 of the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1922.

(4) [Repealed]

(5) This subsection amended the definition of the term special Act in s 2 of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941.