New Zealand Legislation: Acts
Acts are laws made by Parliament
(1) Where any land is required for any public work the Minister or local authority, as the case may be, shall, before proceeding to take the land under this Act—
(a) Serve notice of his or its desire to acquire the land on every person having a registered interest in the land; and
(b) Lodge a notice of desire to acquire the land with the District Land Registrar who shall register it, without fee, against the certificate of title affected; and
(c) Invite the owner to sell the land to him or it, and, following a valuation carried out by a registered valuer, advise the owner of the estimated amount of compensation to which he would be entitled under this Act or the betterment that he may be liable to pay; and
(d) Make every endeavour to negotiate in good faith with the owner in an attempt to reach an agreement for the acquisition of the land.
(2) If, after a period of 3 months,—
(a) The owner fails to respond to any invitation issued under subsection (1) of this section; or
(b) The owner refuses to negotiate with the Minister or the local authority, as the case may be; or
(c) An agreement for the sale and purchase of the land is not made with the owner under section 17 of this Act,—
the Minister or local authority may, within 1 year after notifying the owner under subsection (1) of this section, proceed to take the land under this Act.
(3) Any notice under subsection (1) of this section—
(a) May be withdrawn by the Minister or local authority at any time; and
(b) Shall, in relation to any person and his interest in the land, be deemed to have been withdrawn at the expiration of the period of 1 year beginning on the day after the date on which the notice was served on that person unless, before the expiration of that period,—
(i) Proceedings have been commenced under subsection (2) of this section; and
(ii) Notice of the commencement of those proceedings has been given to that person.
(4) Where any notice under subsection (1) of this section—
(a) Has been withdrawn by the Minister or local authority under subsection (3)(a) of this section; or
(b) Has been deemed to be withdrawn by virtue of subsection (3)(b) of this section—
the Minister or local authority, as the case may require, shall give notice to that effect to the District Land Registrar who shall register it, without fee, against the title to the land.
(5) If the land required is—
(a) Maori freehold land as defined in section 2 of the Maori Affairs Act 1953; and
(b) Beneficially owned by more than 4 persons; and
(c) Not vested in any trustee or trustees—
the Minister, or any person authorised generally or particularly in writing by him, or the local authority, as the case may be, before complying with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, may apply to the Maori Land Court for the district in which the land is situated for an order under the provisions of Part 9 of the Maori Affairs Amendment Act 1974. The Maori Land Court shall deal with the application as if a notice under an enactment had been issued to the owners.
(6) If an agent is appointed by the Maori Land Court, he shall, subject to the terms of the appointment, be deemed to be the owner of the land for the purposes of this section.
(7) Where—
(a) After reasonable inquiry the owner of the land cannot be found or is absent from New Zealand without appearing to have appointed an attorney with power to act on his behalf, and a period of 3 months has elapsed since notification was attempted to be given under subsection (1) of this section; or
(b) In the case of land to which subsection (5) of this section relates, an order has not been made within 6 months after the application to the Court under that subsection; or
(c) The owner of the land has indicated that he does not object to the acquisition but he has no power to sell the land; or
(d) The owner of the land is under a legal disability and he has no person to represent him; or
(e) The land is subject to a right of way by virtue of section 168 of the Land Transfer Act 1952 and the owner of the land has consented to the acquisition—
the Minister or local authority, as the case may be, may, without complying with the provisions of subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section, proceed to take the land under this Act.
(8) Where Public Trust is authorised by virtue of an order under section 81 of this Act to represent the owner, Public Trust may agree to represent the owner for the purposes of this section.
Subsection (1) was amended, as from 31 March 1987, by section 2(7) Public Works Amendment Act (No 2) 1987 (1987 No 67) by substituting the word “public”
for the word “essential”
.
Subsection (8) was amended, as from 1 March 2002, by section 170(1) Public Trust Act 2001 (2001 No 100), by substituting the words “Public Trust”
for the words “the Public Trustee”
wherever they occur. See clause 2 Public Trust Act Commencement Order 2002 (SR 2002/11).