The Short Title of this Act is “The Christchurch Tramway District Act, 1906.”

The area of land comprised within the limits described in the First and Second Schedules hereto, including the City of Christchurch, and Boroughs of Woolston, New Brighton, and Sumner (as incorporated under “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1900”), the Road District of Spreydon, and such portions of the Road Districts of Avon, Heathcote, Riccarton, Templeton, and Halswell (as incorporated under “The Road Boards Act, 1882”) as are therein included, shall for the purposes of this Act be and be deemed to be one district, to be called the “Christchurch Tramway District” (hereinafter referred to as “the said district”).

The said district is subdivided into the following subdistricts, that is to say:—

The Governor may from time to time, and upon the petition of the majority of the ratepayers of any borough or road district, or of any ward or portion of a ward of any borough or road district, shall by Order in Council direct that any such borough, road district, or ward, or portion of a ward, as the case may be, shall thenceforth be incorporated with and form a portion of the said district; and upon such Order being gazetted, any borough, road district, or ward, or portion of a ward so directed to be incorporated shall thenceforth be and be deemed to be incorporated with and form a portion of the said district; and the Board, in relation to tramways within any borough, road district, or ward, or portion of a ward so directed to be incorporated, shall have the same property, and may exercise all or any of the powers, rights, duties, privileges, or authorities, which under or by virtue of this Act it may possess or exercise within the said district.

There shall be for the said district a Tramway Board (hereinafter referred to as “the Board”), which shall consist of nine members, to be elected in manner hereinafter mentioned. The members of the Board shall be elected by electors as defined by this Act for the said subdistricts as follows:—

Four members for the Central Subdistrict:

One member for the Linwood Subdistrict:

One member for the Woolston-Sumner Subdistrict:

One member for the New Brighton Subdistrict:

One member for the Spreydon-Halswell Subdistrict:

One member for the Riccarton-Sockburn Subdistrict.

The members for each of the said subdistricts shall be elected by the electors on the subdivision of the electoral roll (hereinafter described) for that subdistrict. Such Board shall be a body corporate under the name of the Christchurch Tramway Board, with perpetual succession and a common seal.

The Board shall be a local authority within the meaning of “The Tramways Act, 1894,” and “The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1901,” and shall have and may exercise within the said district all and each and every of the powers conferred on a local authority by the said Acts respectively.

The said district shall be and be deemed to be “a district,” and the Board’s fund shall be deemed to be a “local fund,” within the meaning of “The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1901.”

The Secretary of the Board, or some other person appointed by the Board for the purpose, shall, on or before the fifth day of April in each year in which a general election of members of the Board is to be held, make out in the prescribed manner and form a list to be called “the electors list” for the said district, setting forth separately for each of the said subdistricts of the said district the name, occupation, and address or the situation of the property of every person, male or female, of the full age of twenty-one years who possesses any one of the following qualifications, that is to say:—

In the case of husband and wife, any qualification possessed by either of them shall be deemed to be possessed by each of them.

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Board, or other person charged with the making-out of the electors list, to enter thereon the name of every person who to his knowledge possesses any qualification entitling him to be entered thereon, or who, being so entitled, shall in the prescribed form make claim to be entered thereon.

The electors list shall be prepared in separate subdivisions, one for each subdistrict as defined in section two of this Act.

The electors list shall be corrected, completed, and authenticated in the prescribed manner and time and thereupon shall become the electoral roll (in subdivisions as aforesaid) of the said district, and shall remain in force until another electoral roll comes into force for the said district.

Until the making of the electoral roll in the year one thousand nine hundred and nine, the Christchurch Tramway District electoral roll in force immediately before the coming into operation of this Act shall be the electoral roll for the said district.

The name of any person shall not appear more than once on the electors list or the electoral roll of the said district:

Provided that any person having more than one qualification, or having a qualification in more than one of the said subdistricts, may at any time during the triennial making and correcting, and before the completion and authentification, of the electoral roll, or when his name is being placed upon a supplementary roll, but not afterwards, select the qualification or subdistrict in respect of which his name is to be entered; but if he shall not so select, the Secretary of the Board, or other person charged with the preparation of the electors list, shall make such selection.

Any person may, at and in the prescribed time, manner, and form, lodge with the Board an objection under his hand to the electoral roll on either of the following grounds:—

The Board shall forthwith after receipt of any such objection inquire into and dispose of the same.

The Board shall from time to time, whether upon any objection as aforesaid or of its own motion, amend the electoral roll for the said district by adding to such roll the name of any person who then in fact possesses the necessary qualification but is not entered thereon, and by erasing therefrom the name of any person who does not then in fact possess the necessary qualification but is entered thereon.

The Board shall also from time to time make in the district electoral roll any necessary corrections in the statement of the names, addresses, and qualifications of persons enrolled thereon.

The functions conferred upon the Board by this section shall be exercised by the Secretary or other officer of the Board when the Board is not actually sitting.

In particular, but without affecting the general operation of this section, the Board shall hold a sitting on one of the last seven days in May in each year in which a general election of members of the Board shall be held, and of which due notice shall be given in three consecutive issues of a newspaper circulating in the district; and at that sitting, or any adjournment thereof, shall amend the district electoral roll by adding or erasing names and making all necessary corrections as hereinbefore provided, to the intent that as far as may be the roll may correctly set forth the name, address, and occupation of every person then possessing the requisite qualification, and of no other person.

Any person aggrieved with any decision or act of the Board, or the Secretary or other authorised person as aforesaid, touching the district electoral roll may, in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time, appeal therefrom to a Stipendiary Magistrate, who shall hear and determine the appeal, and may order such alterations in and additions to the roll to be made as he thinks just.

All such alterations and additions shall be made by the Secretary or other authorised person as aforesaid, and initialled by the Stipendiary Magistrate.

All additions required to be made after the completion of the said roll shall be made on supplementary electoral rolls, which shall be corrected, completed, and authenticated in the same manner as in the case of the electoral roll, and thereupon shall become supplementary electoral rolls and shall form parts of the electoral roll.

The electoral roll shall be deemed to be closed at five o’clock in the afternoon of the fourteenth day preceding the day appointed for any election or poll, and shall continue closed until the election is completed or the poll taken.

Except pursuant to appeal under this section in cases where the appeal was pending at the time when the roll was closed, no alteration or addition shall be made in or to the electoral roll for the district whilst it is closed as aforesaid.

Every person whose name appears on the electoral roll for the time being in force for the said district shall be an elector for the purposes of this Act, and shall be entitled subject to the provisions of this Act to vote—

Provided that if his qualification is residential he shall not be entitled to vote at any poll taken on a proposal relating to loans or rates.

Every elector shall have one vote and no more at each poll at which he is entitled to vote. The majority required to determine any such election or poll of ratepayers shall be a majority of the valid votes cast at the poll.

All elections and all polls on proposals other than elections shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of “The Local Elections Act, 1904” (which shall be deemed to be incorporated herewith):

Provided always that the majority required to determine any such election or poll shall in every case be a majority of the valid votes cast at the poll, and that all polls shall close at seven o’clock in lieu of at six o’clock in the afternoon of the day appointed.

The present members of the Board shall hold office until the next general election of members of the Board. The next general election of the whole of the members of the Board shall be held on the last Thursday in June in the year one thousand nine hundred and nine, and on the same day in every succeeding third year thereafter all members of the Board shall go out of office, and on every such day a fresh general election of members of the Board shall be held.

Whenever any casual vacancy shall occur in the Board, such vacancy shall be notified to the Board by the Secretary, and the Board shall at its next subsequent ordinary meeting proceed by nomination and ballot to fill such vacancy. No person shall be nominated or elected to fill a casual vacancy whose name does not appear on the electoral roll as herein defined; and the member so elected shall hold office until the next general election of the Board.

Every member of the Board going out of office shall be capable of being re-elected; but no person shall be capable of being elected unless his name shall, at the date of his nomination, be entered upon the electoral roll.

The following persons shall be incapable of being elected to or being members of the Board:—

Any disqualified person who shall act as a member of the Board shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds for each and every such act done by him whilst so disqualified, which penalty may be recovered, with costs of suit, in any Court of competent jurisdiction; and no person who shall be or become disqualified shall be capable of recovering from the Board any sum in respect of work done, or material supplied, or services rendered; and should the Board pay any such amount to any member, or on account or for the benefit of any member, the said amount shall be deemed to be moneys unlawfully paid away, and may be recovered at any time as a debt by the Controller and Auditor-General from any member or members of the Board who either directly or indirectly sanctioned the payment thereof with knowledge of such disqualification.

A member of the Board shall in and for each year be chosen by the Board as its Chairman, and there shall also be a Deputy Chairman chosen in the same way, who shall act in the absence of the Chairman or when his office is vacant; and the offices of Chairman and Deputy Chairman shall be from time to time filled by the Board as they become vacant, and at all meetings the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, or acting Chairman, as the case may be, shall have an original and casting vote. A Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively shall hold office until a new Chairman has been appointed.

The Board may from time to time vote and pay the Chairman of the Board a salary not exceeding the sum of one hundred and five pounds per annum.

The Board may from time to time vote and pay to each member of the Board, exclusive of the Chairman, a fee or sum of one pound one shilling in respect of each meeting of the Board, or a committee of the whole of the Board attended by him:

Provided always that no member shall be entitled to receive such payment in respect of any meeting unless he is present at the time appointed for the holding of such meeting or within fifteen minutes thereafter:

Provided also that no member shall be entitled to be paid or to receive a greater sum than fifty-four pounds twelve shillings during any year of office.

The whole of Parts VII and VIII of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1900,” shall apply, except in so far as the same are altered or modified by anything herein contained, and, mutatis mutandis, shall be read into and form part of this Act.

The Board may appoint, for such period and on such terms as it thinks fit, returning officers, engineers, secretaries, clerks, and other officers, servants, and workmen:

Provided that one person may, if the Board thinks fit, fill several offices.

The Board may from time to time make, alter, and repeal by-laws for all such purposes as are expressly provided for by “The Tramways Act, 1894,” or by this Act, and all such other by-laws as may in the opinion of the Board be reasonable, requisite, or necessary for the protection of its property and interests, or for the good government or management of its affairs.

Such by-laws shall be made only in the manner and subject to the conditions following:—

Every person guilty of a breach of any by-law made under this Act shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, or, where the breach is a continuing one, then to a penalty not exceeding ten shillings for every day during which such offence continues.

But the Board may, after conviction for the continuing breach of any by-law, apply to the Supreme Court for an injunction to restrain the further continuance of such breach by the person or persons so convicted.

The continued existence in a state contrary to any by-law of any work or thing shall be deemed a continuing offence within the meaning of this section.

A copy of any such by-law sealed with the seal of the Board shall be received in all Courts as evidence thereof, and that the same has been made in accordance with this Act.

If any elector of the said district desires to question the validity of any by-law or part of a by-law made by the Board under this Act, and pays to the Registrar of the Supreme Court the sum of five pounds as security for the costs of proceedings hereinafter mentioned, it shall be lawful for such elector to apply to the Court or a Judge thereof for an order calling upon the Board to show cause why such by-law or part thereof should not be quashed or varied for some ground or grounds to be stated in such order.

Upon the hearing of the matter the Court or Judge may quash or amend the by-law, or make such order with or without costs as to the Court or Judge seems fit.

Nothing in this section shall be applicable to an elector being appellant from any conviction or order under any by-law under this Act.

The Board shall cause printed copies of all by-laws to be kept at the office of the Board, and to be sold to any elector or ratepayer applying for the same at a reasonable charge.

For the purpose of rating, the valuation roll and the ratebook for the said district shall be compiled in separate subdivisions, one for each subdistrict as defined in section two of this Act, from the valuation rolls and rate-books respectively of the said City of Christchurch and the boroughs and road districts within the district; and a copy of any valuation roll or rate-book, or part thereof, in force in any such city, borough, ward, or road district, certified as correct by the Mayor or Town Clerk of such city or borough, or by the Chairman or Clerk of such Road Board, shall be conclusive so far as it extends, and shall be receivable as evidence in proof of the facts therein appearing.

The Board may, at its option, and from time to time, either make, levy, and collect its own rates in manner provided for the making and collection of rates by “The Rating Act, 1894,” which for all purposes of this Act is deemed to be incorporated herewith, or the Board may by special order fix the amount of any rate or rates, and direct the same to be made, levied, and collected by the several local bodies named in such special order, and it may exercise the option or options hereby given in different ways as to the several city, boroughs, or road districts within the district.

When the Board shall by special order have directed any rate to be levied, and shall have fixed the amount in the pound of such rate according to the provisions hereof, and shall have determined that the same shall be collected by the said city or boroughs or road districts respectively, or any of them, within its or their respective districts, it shall cause a copy of such special order to be forwarded separately to each such local authority within the district which it desires to make or collect such rates, whereupon the following duties shall arise, and the following consequences shall ensue:—

In respect of contracts and works authorised by this Act, the Board may exercise all the powers and authorities conferred upon the Councils of cities and boroughs by Part XX of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1900,” which said Part of the said Act shall, mutatis mutandis, be read into and form part of this Act.

Subject to the provisions of “The Tramways Act, 1894,” the Board shall have full power and authority to construct, equip, maintain, and work tramways within the said district, and to carry goods and passengers thereon, and for such purposes and every or any of them the Board shall be and be deemed to be a “local authority” within the meaning of the said last-mentioned Act and “The Public Works Act, 1894.”

The Board may also—

In respect of passengers carried on any tramway or in any vehicle belonging to or under the control of the Board, or carried by the Board under the provisions of paragraph (b) of the last preceding section, the Board shall have the same liability, obligations, rights, and protection as in the case of common carriers of passengers:

Provided nevertheless as follows, that is to say:—

All the rights, powers, duties, and authorities which are now and which would or may at any time hereafter (but for the passing of the Acts hereby repealed and of this Act) be vested in or exercisable by the said Councils of the said city or boroughs, or the Board of the said road districts, or any or either of them, in relation to tramways, or the authorising, constructing, maintaining, working, leasing, ordering, governing, or controlling tramways or persons or things in relation to tramways within the said city, boroughs, or road districts respectively, shall now and henceforth vest in and be exercisable only by the said Board throughout the said district.

For the purposes of the said tramways and of any other tramways which it may acquire or construct or propose to construct, and for any other purpose connected with or incidental to the ownership or use of the tramways, or the exercise of any power or performance of any duty devolving upon the Board under this Act, the Board shall have full power and capacity to purchase, take, acquire, hold, manage, buy, sell, rent, lease, and deal with lands and hereditaments within or without the district of any tenure, and all classes of personal property (including therein the acquisition, holding, management, leasing, and otherwise dealing with endowments), and with full power to make all kinds of contracts connected with or incident to the carrying-out of the objects of this Act.

The Board shall pay the costs, charges, and expenses of preparing, promoting, and passing this Act.

The Board may from time to time, as it thinks fit, make and levy a general rate, not exceeding in any one year threepence in the pound, on all rateable property within the district, on the annual rateable value thereof, or three-sixteenths of a penny in the pound on the capital value thereof, as respectively defined in “The Rating Act, 1894.”

Before making any general rate the Board shall cause an estimate to be prepared of the proposed expenditure of the Board during the period for which the rate is to be made, showing any sums already available for such purpose, the additional sum required, the total rateable value of the property on the valuation roll, and the general rate thereon necessary to raise the money required; and such estimate, being approved by the Board, shall be publicly notified in the district one week before making the proposed rate.

No rateable property in that part of the district included in the Second Schedule hereto, or the owner or occupier of any such property, as such owner or occupier, shall be liable to be rated for the loans of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds and one hundred thousand pounds, or either of them, raised under the provisions of “The Christchurch Tramways District Act, 1902”; and all such property and the owners and occupiers thereof are hereby absolutely exempted from liability in respect of any and every such loan or loans.

No rateable property in that part of the said district included in the First Schedule hereto, or the owner or occupier of any such property, as such owner or occupier, shall be liable to be rated for the loan of fifty-five thousand pounds raised under the provisions of “The Christchurch Tramways District Act 1902 Amendment Act, 1903”; and all such property, and the owners and occupiers thereof, are hereby absolutely exempted from liability in respect of such loan.

For the purpose of using electricity as a motive power where authorised by any authorising order, the Board may, in addition to any powers conferred on it by or in virtue of section eighteen of the Second Schedule to “The Tramways Act, 1894,” do any of the following things:—

Section twelve of “The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1901,” shall not apply to any special loan proposed to be raised by the Board, and in lieu thereof the following provision shall apply to every special loan proposed to be raised by the Board under the powers contained in the said Act:—

For the purpose of providing the interest and sinking fund upon any loan raised or to be raised, or debentures issued or to be issued, under the provisions of the Acts hereby repealed or of this Act, the Board shall have power, subject to the provisions of section forty-one hereof, notwithstanding the provisions of any existing or future general Act, by special order or orders, to make and levy a special rate or special rates upon all lands, buildings, and other rateable property within the said district, according to the annual rateable value thereof or the capital value thereof, as the Board shall from time to time determine.

It shall be lawful for the Board in any year, notwithstanding the provisions of section five of “The Local Bodies’ Loans Amendment Act, 1902,” to pay the interest on and sinking fund of any such loan out of its ordinary or general revenue; and in such case it shall not be necessary to levy such special rate, and every such loan and the amount of every debenture and coupon representing the same shall be a debt of the Board.

There shall be created a sinking fund of ten shillings per centum per annum for the redemption of each and every loan raised under any Act hereby repealed or under this Act.

No Judge shall solely on account of his liability to pay rates be deemed to be interested in any proceeding in which he is judicially concerned.

No objection shall be allowed in any Court to any rate which the Board or a Receiver shall purport to strike, make, or levy under the provisions of the Acts hereby repealed or of this Act, or which shall or may form the security for the debentures or coupons issued thereunder; and no informality or irregularity, whether in form or in substance, in the making, striking, or levying of such rate, or in the election or appointment of any body or person acting in connection therewith, shall be allowed by any Court as a defence to any action or proceedings for the recovery of such rate, or be entertained as a ground for quashing such rate or restraining the recovery thereof.

The Board may, in anticipation of its revenue receivable under its general account and from any special or separate account, from time to time borrow moneys from its banker by way of overdraft, or from any corporation or persons by way of temporary loan.

It shall not be lawful for the Board to borrow or receive moneys as in this section mentioned at a higher yearly rate of interest than six per centum, or to enter into any engagements or contracts whereby the total liabilities of the Board (exclusive of all loans lawfully raised and debentures lawfully issued) shall, at the end of the month of March in any year, exceed, exclusive of any moneys borrowed, the amount of the income of the Board for such year.

During the first year’s currency of any loan raised under any Act hereby repealed or under this Act, or whilst any work for which such loan has been or shall hereafter be raised is being constructed, interest upon such loan may be paid out of loan-money; and it shall not be necessary during that period to set aside the sinking fund:

Provided that in no case shall more than three years’ interest be so paid out of any such loan.

The provisions contained in Part XV of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1900,” relating to accounts and audit, shall apply, and, mutatis mutandis, shall be read into and form part of this Act:

Provided always that the following clause shall apply in lieu of section one hundred and sixty-four of such Act:—

The Board’s fund shall consist of the following moneys, that is to say:—

All moneys belonging to the Board shall be paid into such bank as the Board from time to time appoints and publicly notifies (hereinafter called “the bank”).

Capital moneys in connection with special loans shall be paid into separate bank accounts.

The Board shall keep a separate account of all moneys raised or levied for or appropriated or allocated to the special purposes of constructing a tramway for that part of the said district described in the Second Schedule hereto from the point known as the Hospital Corner in the City of Christchurch along the Riccarton Road to Riccarton and the Riccarton Racecourse, and such loop lines and extensions of such tramway and other works incidental thereto as the Board may deem necessary or expedient; and such accounts shall be credited with the income, profits, or moneys arising or resulting from the working of the said line of tramway and other works aforesaid, and shall be debited with the costs and expenses of maintaining and working the said line of tramway and other charges incidental thereto (including such proportion as the Board may from time to time determine of the rent of offices, remuneration of members of the Board, salaries and wages of officers, servants, and workmen, and office expenses generally), and also with the interest and sinking fund of the loan of fifty-five thousand pounds authorised by “The Christchurch Tramways District Act 1902 Amendment Act, 1903”; and if in any year there shall be a surplus after payment of all such payments and charges as aforesaid, such surplus may at the option of the Board be used or applied as to the whole or any part or parts thereof in one or both of the following ways, that is to say:—

Notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-four hereof, it shall be lawful for the Board by special order to discontinue the keeping the separate account mentioned in the said section, and thereafter to include the accounts of that part of the said district described in the Second Schedule hereto, both as to capital and income, in and in the same manner in all respects as the accounts of the other portions of the said district; and immediately on the passing of such special order the following provisions shall take effect:—

No moneys shall be drawn out of the bank except by authority of the Board, and all moneys shall be paid by the Board in cash, or by cheque signed by the Secretary of the Board and countersigned by any two of such members of the Board as the Board from time to time authorises to sign cheques, and shall not be paid otherwise.

All moneys paid or purporting to be paid by the Board by promissory note or bill shall be deemed to have been moneys unlawfully paid within the meaning of section one hundred and seventy-one, Part XV, of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1900,” and may be recovered in manner as in the said section mentioned.

The provisions of sections numbered four hundred and twenty-five, four hundred and twenty-six, four hundred and twenty-seven, four hundred and twenty-eight, and four hundred and thirty of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1900,” shall apply, and, mutatis mutandis, shall be read into and form part of this Act.

The following Acts are hereby repealed: “The Christchurch Tramways District Act, 1902,” and “The Christchurch Tramways District Act 1902 Amendment Act, 1903,” but the repeal of the said Acts or either of them shall not affect—

Notwithstanding the repeal of the Acts mentioned in the last preceding section hereof, every by-law and regulation made under the repealed Acts or either of them shall remain and be in force until superseded by by-laws made under this Act, and shall, moreover, be as valid and effectual as if made under this Act, and shall be proved, tested, and enforced in manner herein provided; and all proceedings, acts, matters, and things taken or begun in respect of the said loan of one hundred thousand pounds before such repeal may be completed; and every power and act which may be necessary to complete, carry out, or compel the performance of any subsisting contract or agreement which may have been lawfully made, entered into, or commenced under the said Acts or either of them may be exercised and performed in all respects as if the said Acts had not been repealed; and all offences committed, or penalties or forfeitures incurred, before such repeal may be prosecuted, punished, and enforced as if the said Acts had not been repealed.

The Board shall at all times when so required by the local authority of the district, and to the satisfaction of the local authority, provide and maintain a lamp attached or near to the pole at the terminus of any branch, and shall keep the said lamp alight at all hours required by the local authority.

The Board shall at all times when so required by the local authority of the district, and to the satisfaction of the local authority, provide and maintain a lamp attached or near to the pole at the junction of the South and Yaldhurst Roads, and one at the furthermost pole on the Yaldhurst Road, and one at the furthermost pole on the Main South Road, on the Riccarton-Sockburn Branch, and shall keep all such lamps alight at such hours as is required by the local authorities.