The Laud Board of the Land District of Westland shall decide upon all applications, and shall determine all questions of title arising out of applications and selections under these regulations, and shall do all that is necessary for the enforcement of these regulations, and shall in all cases be the judge of the breach or fulfilment of the same, or of any conditions contained or implied therein.

The lands in the settlement shall be divided into the following three classes, or any of them—namely, town, suburban, and rural lands. The lands shall be laid off as nearly as can conveniently be done in sections of the following sizes: Town lands in sections of not less than one-quarter of an acre each; suburban lands in sections of not less than one acre nor more than ten acres; and rural lands in sections of not less than fifty acres nor more than one hundred and fifty acres.

Any exceptionally-situated or irregularly-shaped parcel of land may be deemed to be and may be sold as a section of land of that class within which it may, by its situation, be most appropriately included, notwithstanding that its area may be less than the minimum area above defined for that class of lands.

Town and suburban lands shall be sold by auction for cash, and in the same manner as other town and suburban lands are sold by auction in the Land District of Westland.

The rural sections shall be allotted by the Land Board, upon application, to adult male settlers of the age of eighteen years and upwards; and the Land Board may, if it thinks fit, allot more than one section to the same selector, provided that not more than one hundred and fifty acres be allotted to any one selector.

The price of rural lands shall be 2s. per acre per annum to resident selectors, and payment of the same for ten years shall entitle the resident selector to a grant of the land without further payment, provided that there have been, in the opinion of the Land Board, bonâ fide occupation, and cultivation to the extent of one-fifth of the area held, or improvements which in value may be considered equivalent to such cultivation, and that all these regulations have been duly complied with.

At any time after the expiration of two years from the allotment of any section the selector shall be entitled to a Crown grant of his land, if he shall have performed the foregoing condition as to occupation, cultivation, and improvements, and shall pay, by way of purchase-money, such a sum as, together with any yearly payments that he shall have previously made, shall amount to 20s. per acre.

All lands which have been heretofore selected and allotted as suburban lands shall be deemed to have been selected and allotted as rural lands, anything in these regulations to the contrary notwithstanding, and the price of such lands shall be the same as is fixed by these regulations as the price of rural lands, and allowance accordingly shall be made to all selectors of suburban lands upon payments already made by them; but no such allowance shall be made in any case unless the Land Board is of opinion that there has been bonâ fide occupation and cultivation of the land by the selector, or that the conditions as to occupation and cultivation contained in these regulations will be complied with.

All applications for lands shall be made at the principal land office, or, if a local land office be appointed for the district comprising the settlement, at such local land office, in manner provided by section twenty-seven of “The Land Act, 1877.”

All lands which have not been selected or sold may be classified anew by the Land Board in conformity with the provisions of sections thirty-eight and thirty-nine of “The Land Act, 1877,” and with these regulations; and the Land Board may cause sections in each class to be laid off in conformity with these regulations.

All rents shall be paid half-yearly in advance, and all payments shall be made at the local land office, or, if there is no such office, at the principal land office, or in such manner and at such place as may be directed by the Land Board.

No person who shall be indebted to the Government on any account whatever shall become entitled to the freehold of the land allotted to him, or to any document purporting to confer such title, until such debt to the Government shall have been satisfied, unless the Minister of Lands shall otherwise direct.

If any selector shall neglect or omit to pay the rent for a period of three months after the same shall have become due, the Land Board shall have power to offer for sale by public auction the whole of such selector’s interest in the land allotted to him, and in all improvements effected thereon; and out of the proceeds of such sale there shall be payable to the Government the expenses of the sale and the rent due, and, in addition, unless the Minister of Lands shall otherwise direct, any debt which on any other account may be due from the selector to the Government, and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the selector.

No transfer of the interest of any selector in the land allotted to him shall be permitted without the authority of the Land Board, and no transfer shall be permitted unless one-fifth of the land shall have been cultivated or improved, or, if less than one-fifth, then one-twentieth for every year that shall have elapsed from the date of the allotment of the land. The interest in any land selected under this Act shall not be capable of being charged, incumbered, or taken in execution in any manner whatever.

Reserves upon unallotted land may be made by the Governor for any purpose that he may think fit.

The Land Board shall have the same powers of granting licenses and leases as are conferred by the sections of “The Land Act, 1877,” numbered from eighty-six to ninety, and constituting the Fourth Part of the said Act, and the same powers of granting mineral leases as are conferred by the Appendix to “The Land Act, 1877,” relating to the Land District of Westland—that is to say, Appendix L.

The Land Board shall also be empowered to grant licenses for the felling and removal of timber upon such unallotted lands, and at such price and subject to such restrictions as shall be stated on such licenses; but no such license shall extend over any reserve made by the Governor, unless such reserve was made for such purpose, without the previous approval of the Governor.