This Act may be cited as the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Act, 1908, and it shall come into operation on the first day of November, 1908.

The City of Auckland, together with the Boroughs of Parnell, Grey Lynn, Newmarket, and Mount Eden, and the Road Districts of Remuera, Epsom, Mount Albert, Arch Hill, Eden Terrace, Point Chevalier, and the northern part of One-tree Hill, as the same is particularly described in the First Schedule hereto, shall, for the purposes of this Act, form one district, called the Auckland and Suburban Drainage District, which is referred to herein as the drainage district or the said drainage district, and which expressions shall extend to and include all extensions thereof.

In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

There shall be for the drainage district a Drainage Board, which shall consist of the Mayor and Councillors for the time being of the City of Auckland, and the respective Mayors and Chairmen for the time being of the several contributing bodies other than the City of Auckland.

Such Drainage Board shall be a body corporate under the name of the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board, with perpetual succession and a common seal, and with full power and capacity to purchase, take, acquire, hold, manage, and deal with lands and hereditaments of any tenure and all classes of personal property for all the purposes for which it is constituted (including the acquisition, holding, management, leasing, and otherwise dealing with endowments), and with full power to make all kinds of contracts connected with or incidental to the carrying-out of the objects of this Act.

The Mayor for the time being of the said city shall be Chairman of the said Drainage Board, and shall have a deliberative and, in case of equality of votes, a second or casting vote.

The first meeting of the Drainage Board shall be held within one month after the coming into operation of this Act, and shall be convened by the Town Clerk of the City of Auckland at such time and place as he may appoint; and if no quorum is present within half an hour of the time fixed for the holding of such meeting, the same shall stand adjourned from day to day at the same time and place until a quorum is assembled.

The Drainage Board shall cause to be kept minutes of its proceedings in a book in which shall be entered the names of the members attending each meeting; and every resolution, order, or other proceedings of the Drainage Board, and the minutes and proceedings of every meeting shall be read at the next meeting, and if approved by the Drainage Board, or when amended as directed by the Drainage Board, shall be signed by the Chairman of such succeeding meeting.

The minutes of the said proceedings, kept as hereinbefore provided, shall be received as evidence of such proceedings, and the validity of all such proceedings shall be presumed unless the contrary is proved.

All acts of the Drainage Board and of any committee thereof and all questions coming or arising before such Board or committee may be done or decided by the majority of such members of the Board or committee as are present and vote at a meeting held in pursuance of this Act.

The Drainage Board may from time to time make by-laws—

The Drainage Board may form committees of its own members, and may generally or in any particular matter confer upon and delegate to them such of its powers, duties, and functions as it from time to time thinks fit, and may associate with such committees such of its officers as it thinks fit, and may similarly define the powers, duties, and functions of such persons.

The Drainage Board may make by-laws for all such purposes as are expressly provided for by this Act, and all such other by-laws as are in the opinion of the Drainage Board requisite for the protection of the property and interests of the Drainage Board and the good government and management of its affairs; and the Drainage Board may by any such by-law provide a penalty for every breach thereof to an amount which shall be in the discretion of the Court inflicting the same, and shall in no case exceed the sum of five pounds for a single offence.

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

Every special order made hereunder may be made and proved in the same way, mutatis mutandis, as a special order of a Borough Council is required to be made and proved by the Municipal Corporations Act, 1908.

The Drainage Board may by resolution from time to time appoint and remove and reappoint a Drainage Engineer, a Secretary, and all such other officers, servants, and workmen as may in the opinion of the Drainage Board be necessary or desirable.

Any such appointment may be made for such period and on such terms as the Drainage Board may deem proper.

One person may be appointed to fill several offices or positions.

The Drainage Board may, when making any such appointment, or at any time afterwards, define the duties of any officer, servant, or workmen so appointed, and may from time to time revoke and redefine such duties.

The production of any document purporting to be a copy of a resolution appointing the person therein named to be an officer, servant, or workman of the Drainage Board, and to be sealed with the common seal of the Drainage Board, shall be conclusive evidence of the fact of such appointment and of such resolution having been duly passed.

It shall be lawful for the Drainage Board from time to time to agree with the Council of the City of Auckland, or of any borough or the Board of any road district, for the occupation and use of offices, workshops, appliances, and premises belonging to the said Council or Board, and for the amount to be paid for such occupation and use, and also for the services of officers and servants of such local authority, and for the amount to be paid for such services, and may appoint any such persons to hold the offices mentioned in section fourteen hereof either temporarily or for any term or generally; and all such officers and servants shall, with respect to and when engaged in the performance of duties for the Drainage Board, be deemed to be officers and servants of the Drainage Board, but in other respects shall remain the officers and servants of such local authority.

Every officer employed by the Drainage Board who exacts or accepts on account of anything done by virtue of his office, or in respect of the matters to be done under this Act, any fee or reward other than the salary or allowance allowed by the Drainage Board, or who is in anywise concerned or interested in any bargain or contract made by the Drainage Board, is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and shall be incapable of being afterwards employed by the Drainage Board. Such fine, together with full costs of suit, may be recovered by any person who sues for the same.

No member of the Drainage Board shall hold any office of profit under the Drainage Board.

The principal work hereby authorised is the construction of one or more main lines of sewers or drains, made of such dimensions and materials, and at such depth below or height above the surface of the ground, as the Drainage Board or its Engineer may consider advisable and proper, the route whereof is approximately shown by the red line or lines on the amended plan approved by the Chief Surveyor at Auckland on the eighteenth day of September, nineteen hundred and eight, and deposited in the District Survey Office at Auckland as No. 14596, and without any consent of any local authority or of the Auckland Harbour Board being first given or required thereto, and such other main sewers or drains as in the opinion of the Drainage Engineer are necessary or advisable to enable the contributing bodies to connect the drainage of their respective districts with the main line shown on the said plan, and in particular the following main sewers or drains:—

In addition to the works mentioned in the last preceding section, the Drainage Board shall, as soon as the reasonable requirements of the inhabitants of the present Remuera Road District demand it, construct in a proper and workmanlike manner a sewer—

The Hobson’s Bay Watershed Sewage Act, 1900, is hereby repealed, and the Board thereby constituted and incorporated is hereby dissolved. The sewer or drain and all other works in connection therewith constructed by the said Board, and all the assets and liabilities of the said Board, shall from such date be transferred and assigned to and vest in and be imposed upon the Drainage Board. All debentures issued by the first-mentioned Board under the powers created by the said Act shall from and after the date of the coming into operation of this Act be deemed to have been issued by the Drainage Board under the powers hereby conferred, and as though the drain or sewer constructed thereunder had been authorised and constructed hereunder, and all powers and remedies hereby given to secure the payment of the principal and interest moneys secured by any debentures issued hereunder shall operate, apply, and extend to secure the payment of the principal and interest moneys secured by any debentures issued by the first-mentioned Board under the said Act as though they had been issued under this Act by the Drainage Board hereby created.

The Drainage Board shall be deemed a local authority, and the construction of the main sewers, main drains, and works hereby authorised a public work, within the meaning of the Public Works Act, 1908, and in addition to its powers under the said Act. The Drainage Board may from time to time, by itself, its surveyors, engineers, agents, officers, and workmen, exercise the following powers, or any of them, and may execute, do, or cause to be executed or done, any of the following matters, works, or acts:—

The Drainage Board may also erect and use any buildings, structures, machinery, manholes and other entrances, light and lamp holes, ventilating-grids, furnaces, destructors, buildings, and places for the generation and distribution of electricity and electrical power, and other works and things of every description in connection with drainage, sewerage, and sanitation, in, upon, or under any public or private street or public place and other place within or without the drainage district, and may in like manner treat and deal with in such manner as to it shall seem best all sewage, refuse, and other matter, whether for the purpose of deodorising, or disinfecting, or destroying such sewage, refuse, or other matter, or of disposing of the same, and shall not be liable for any nuisance or injury necessarily created or caused in so doing; and in particular, and without restricting the general powers herein given, it shall have power to treat sewage refuse and other matter by the precipitation process, septic tanks, and by electricity.

The Drainage Board may lead any surface water into any stream or watercourse, whether covered or open.

The Drainage Board shall have power by by-law to regulate the management and use of inlet-appliances giving access to the sewers and drains of the Drainage Board, including grids, and to prevent the putting of anything into such sewers or drains, or allowing anything to enter such sewers or drains by means of such appliances, save such matter as may be carried in with water entering in the course of the legitimate use of such appliances.

The Drainage Board shall have further power to carry any ventilating shaft, pipe, or tube up or upon any external wall of any building, whether private or public, and affix the same thereto, provided that the mouth of every such shaft, pipe, or tube shall be at least six feet higher than any window situated within a distance of thirty feet therefrom, and where attached to a house shall be higher than the eaves or parapet thereof; and in like manner may, during the construction of its works, use any private drain or watercourse within or without the district to carry water from such works.

The Drainage Board shall cause all watercourses or drains from time to time vested in it or under its management to be constructed and kept so as not to be a nuisance or injurious to health, and to be properly cleared and cleansed and maintained in proper order; and in default shall be liable to the owners or occupiers of any land for damage done thereto in consequence of or through the disrepair of any such watercourse or drain.

No person shall fill in or cover over, or in any way (whether by filling in or otherwise) obstruct, or cause to be filled in, covered over, or obstructed, any natural watercourse, stream, creek, or gully, or part thereof, in the drainage district without having first made provision to the satisfaction of the Drainage Engineer for the disposal of the storm-water now flowing, or which under the conditions existing at the time of the passing of this Act would flow, or but for such obstruction would have flowed, in such watercourse, stream, creek, or gully.

If any natural watercourse, stream, creek, or gully, or part thereof, in the district is filled in, covered over, or obstructed without provision having been made to the satisfaction of the Drainage Engineer for the disposal of storm-water as aforesaid, the Drainage Board shall be at liberty to make provision for the disposal of such storm-water in, along, or through the land in which such watercourse, stream, creek, or gully, or part thereof, is situated, and either in the line thereof or in any other line, by such means and in such manner as the Board thinks fit.

The cost of all works, materials, and things executed, provided, or done by the Drainage Board under or by virtue of this section, together with interest thereon after the rate of six pounds per centum per annum, shall be paid to the Drainage Board by the owner of the land on which the watercourse, stream, creek, or gully, or part thereof, is situated.

Supervision of any such works by the Drainage Engineer, or the execution thereof by the Drainage Board, shall not impose upon the Drainage Board any liability whatever in respect of such watercourse, stream, creek, or gully, or storm-water, or the provision made for the disposal of such storm-water; and any such works if executed by the Drainage Board shall be deemed to be executed as agent for and on behalf of the owner of the land on which such watercourse, stream, creek, or gully, or part thereof, is situated.

In addition to any other remedies, the Drainage Board shall be entitled to apply to the Supreme Court to restrain any person from doing or causing to be done anything in contravention of this section, and the said Court may on any such application make such order as it deems just.

If the Drainage Board at any time makes use of the works executed by virtue of this section for the purpose of conveying sewage therein, the Drainage Board shall thereupon pay to the owner of the land on which such works are executed the then value of such works, such value in case of dispute to be decided by a Magistrate’s Court in the same manner as is provided by section twenty-nine hereof.

Every person having any estate or interest in any land or water taken or used by the Drainage Board for the purposes of this Act, or injuriously affected thereby, or suffering any damage from the construction or maintenance of any works by that Board or the exercise by that Board of any of the powers given by this Act, shall be entitled to full compensation for the same from that Board; but no compensation shall be payable by reason only of the construction of an underground covered sewer or drain under any private land, provided that such sewer or drain when carried under any building shall be constructed of iron, brick, concrete, or stone.

Every claim for compensation shall be made in writing to the Drainage Board within twelve months from the time when such claim arose, and no claim for compensation shall be allowed unless made within that period.

Subject to the next succeeding section the amount of compensation shall, unless the parties agree thereon, be ascertained in the manner provided by the Public Works Act, 1908, and the provisions of that Act shall accordingly apply.

In claims for compensation in respect of the exercise by the Drainage Board of any of the powers conferred by paragraphs (d) and (e) of section twenty-one hereof, if the parties are unable to agree as to the amount of compensation, the claimant may sue for the same in the Magistrate’s Court, and the same proceedings may be had and taken in any such suit as are applicable in cases within the ordinary jurisdiction of such Court, notwithstanding that the amount claimed may exceed such jurisdiction or that title to land may be involved.

The Drainage Board shall cause all sewage discharged from its sewers into the Waitemata Harbour to be so discharged at least twelve feet below the surface of low water at ordinary spring tides.

The Drainage Board shall prevent the discharge of sewage into the said harbour at any other time than during the period of two and a half hours before and four hours after high water, or at such other times or periods as shall be mutually agreed upon by the said Drainage Board and the Auckland Harbour Board.

The Drainage Board shall prevent the creation of any nuisance upon the adjacent shores of the said harbour through such discharge.

The Drainage Board shall cause such sewage to be properly screened before its discharge into the said harbour.

The Drainage Board shall, at its own cost, as and when required by the Auckland Harbour Board, dredge and remove all silt deposited within the said harbour at or from the mouth of the outfall-pipes at Okahu Point, or pay to the said Harbour Board the costs of such removal.

The Drainage Board shall erect, and at all times maintain, a beacon at the outfall of the Drainage Board’s sewer in the said harbour to the satisfaction of the Marine Department and the said Auckland Harbour Board.

Navigation in the said harbour shall not be interfered with by any operations of the Drainage Board hereunder further than is absolutely necessary by the construction and maintenance of the works hereby authorised. The working-plans showing the proposed line of sewer across any part of the Waitemata Harbour and the outfall-pipes to be first submitted to and approved of by the Marine Department and the Auckland Harbour Board.

Should it be found at any time that the discharge of sewage by the Drainage Board into the said harbour creates a nuisance the said Drainage Board shall take such steps as may be necessary to treat the sewage before being discharged into the said harbour.

The Drainage Board shall so construct the sewer across Hobson Bay, on the foreshore of such harbour, up to the western side of the Orakei Basin Channel, as to form such a reclamation wall as will enable the Auckland Harbour Board to reclaim land inside such wall.

The Drainage Board shall be entitled to recover from the Auckland Harbour Board, and the said Harbour Board shall, and will, upon demand, pay to the Drainage Board one-half of any amount that may be paid by the Drainage Board to any person on account of any injury to or interference with riparian rights or rights of access to water on the foreshore of the said harbour by any of the operations of the Drainage Board hereunder and of any costs that may be incurred by it in connection with any such claim; but the Drainage Board shall not, without the previous written consent or approval of the Auckland Harbour Board, make any such payment unless the amount has been fixed and determined by some competent tribunal.

The Drainage Board shall be entitled to occupy, free of rent to any person or corporation, all lands in the said Auckland Harbour on, over, or under which any of the said sewers are constructed or laid and all land reclaimed by the Drainage Board to the east of Pokenoa Point that may, in the opinion of the Drainage Board, be required for use by the Drainage Board in connection with any of the works hereby authorised. But any land reclaimed by the Drainage Board and not so required, and not being to the east of the said Pokenoa Point, shall be the property of the Auckland Harbour Board and under its sole control.

From and after the first day of November, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three, no local authority of any district within the drainage district shall be entitled to discharge any drainage or sewage into the said harbour, except through the main drains or sewers of the Board.

Should any dispute or difference arise or occur between the Drainage Board and the Auckland Harbour Board as to the observance or performance by either Board of any of the provisions of this section, the same shall be referred to and determined by arbitration under the Arbitration Act, 1908, and this section shall be deemed a submission within the meaning of that Act.

Notwithstanding anything in the Harbours Act, 1908, it shall be lawful for the Auckland Harbour Board and for the Drainage Board to reclaim any land in the Waitemata Harbour between the line of sewer hereby authorised and the mainland on the south side of such Harbour without obtaining a special Act, but either of the said Boards so desiring to reclaim any such land shall before commencing operations deposit at the office of the Marine Department in Wellington a plan, on a scale of not less than three chains to the inch, prepared by a competent surveyor authorised by the Surveyor-General for the time being or some person discharging his duties, showing all tidal waters coloured blue and the extent of the land proposed to be reclaimed, and obtain the consent of the Marine Department to such reclamation.

The Drainage Board from time to time may enter into such contracts with any such persons as it thinks fit for the execution of any works directed or authorised by this Act to be done by the Drainage Board, or for furnishing materials, or for any other thing necessary for the purposes of this Act.

No contract the amount whereof exceeds fifty pounds, except in cases of urgent necessity, shall be made except after public tender, of which due public notice shall be given; but the Drainage Board shall not be compelled to accept the lowest or any tender.

Any contract made by the Drainage Board which, if made between private persons,—

shall, when made by the Drainage Board, in the first case be in writing under the seal of the Drainage Board; in the second case be signed by two members of the Drainage Board or some officer, agent, or delegate of the Drainage Board, on behalf and by direction of the Drainage Board; in the third case may be made verbally by the Drainage Board or any committee or two members thereof, or by the Drainage Engineer on behalf and by direction of the Drainage Board; but, save in the case of evident emergency, no verbal contract shall be made for any sum exceeding twenty pounds.

The Drainage Board shall cause books to be provided and kept, and true and accurate accounts to be entered therein of all sums of money received and paid under the authority of this Act, and of the several purposes for which such sums of money have been received and paid.

Such books shall at all reasonable times be open to the inspection of any member of the Drainage Board, or of any contributing body or any person appointed by it, who may take copies of or extracts from the same; and any person having the custody of the said books who does not, on the reasonable demand of any member of the Drainage Board, or of any contributing body or any person appointed by it, permit him to inspect or take copies of or extracts from the same shall for every such offence be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

All moneys received by the Treasurer of the Drainage Board shall be paid by him into such one of the public banks of the Dominion as shall be appointed by the Drainage Board, and no part of such moneys shall be drawn out of such bank except by cheque signed by the Chairman or two members and by the Treasurer of the Drainage Board.

The accounts of the Drainage Board for the past year shall be audited in the month of May in each year by the Controller and Auditor-General.

The Drainage Board shall, before the end of April in each year, cause the accounts of the Drainage Board for the past year, up to and including the last day of March, to be balanced, and also a full and true statement and account of all contributions paid to and of all moneys received and expended by the Drainage Board during the past year, and also of all debts owing by and to the Drainage Board; and such statement and account, signed by the Chairman and Treasurer of the Drainage Board, shall be submitted by such Chairman to the Controller and Auditor-General.

The Treasurer shall forthwith after such audit make out a full abstract of the accounts for the year as audited, and cause a copy thereof to be submitted to each contributing body.

A, fund shall be established called the Aggregate Fund of the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board, an account for which shall be kept at a bank from time to time selected by the Drainage Board, into which shall be paid all income and revenues received by the Drainage Board, and the proceeds of all debentures issued by it, and all sums paid to it on whatsoever account, and proper accounts shall be kept in form to be approved by the Controller and Auditor-General, which shall, amongst other things, show clearly what sums are available for the Drainage Board’s general expenditure and indebtedness, and what sums are not so available, which two classes of sums shall be respectively designated the Drainage Board’s General Fund and the Drainage Board’s Trust Fund; but the Drainage Board shall be entitled to keep both funds in one account at the said bank.

Subject to the opinion and decision of the Auditor-General, the Drainage Board shall determine what items or proportion of its expenditure are or is properly payable out of loan-moneys, and what items or proportion are or is properly chargeable against annual revenue: Provided that it shall be entitled to pay out of loan-moneys all the cost of drainage or sewerage works and other permanent works, and of the purchase of land, and all preliminary and other expenditure incident to the construction of such works, including the cost of experiments; such part of the salaries of officers and servants as it considers applicable to such works, and such legal and other expenses as are incurred in connection therewith, or with matters incidental thereto, including legislation; such rents and other expenses connected with land as relate to the temporary occupation thereof for the purpose of such works, and also the first two years’ interest on the cost of all works, together with such further interest as the Auditor-General in his discretion, on the representation of the Drainage Board, allows to be so charged. And the Drainage Board shall pay out of annual revenue all expenditure on account of the annual work of the Drainage Board, and its operations, and its officers, including repairs and maintenance of works, and interest not chargeable against loan-moneys.

Notwithstanding anything herein contained, all the costs and expenses of and in connection with obtaining this Act, and the surveys and reports of and in connection with the works hereby authorised, and all other expenses incurred in any way in connection with or in anticipation of the passing of this Act, and after such passing until the coming into operation thereof, and paid by the Auckland City Council, shall be paid by the Drainage Board to the said Council out of the principal moneys of any loans obtained by the Drainage Board under the provisions hereof, and shall be charged and considered as part of the cost of construction.

It shall be lawful for the Board to obtain in anticipation the opinion of the Auditor-General on any question as to the incidence of any expenditure, and to act on such opinion.

The financial year of the Board shall commence on the first day of April and end on the thirty-first day of March in every year.

The income and revenue of the Drainage Board shall consist of contributions to be levied upon and paid by the contributing bodies as hereinafter provided, but no contribution shall be payable by any contributing body during the first two years after the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and nine.

The Drainage Board shall, on or before the thirtieth day of April in each year, cause an estimate to be prepared by the Drainage Engineer of the proposed expenditure of the Drainage Board for the ensuing year, showing—

All expenditure incurred between the coming into operation of this Act and the thirty-first day of March, one thousand nine hundred and nine, may be included in the first estimate. And any deficiency or surplus at the end of any year shall be carried forward as an asset or liability, as the case may be, into and calculated or allowed for in making and assessing the next year’s requirements.

Upon the last Wednesday of May in each year, the Drainage Board shall hold a meeting, at which the contributions payable for the current year, commencing on the first day of April, by the contributing bodies shall be assessed, and written notice shall forthwith be given to each contributing body showing the amount to which every contributing body is assessed, together with a copy of the estimate of expenditure for the year.

Such assessment of the amount of such contribution shall be calculated, arrived at, and made in the following manner:—

If any contributing body is dissatisfied with such estimate or assessment, such contributing body may, within twenty-eight days after notice of such assessment has been given to it, appeal to the Judge of the Supreme Court at Auckland against such assessment. Such appeal shall be commenced by notice of appeal being given to the Registrar of the said Court, who shall fix a day for the hearing thereof; and the contributing body appealing shall give notice in writing to the Drainage Board and to each of the other contributing bodies stating the date when the same is to be heard and the grounds of such appeal, and thereupon the whole of such estimate and assessment shall be deemed to be set aside, and the estimate of the contribution to be paid by every contributing body shall be settled by the said Judge, whose decision shall be final and binding upon the Drainage Board and all the contributing bodies.

The said Judge shall have power from time to time to make regulations for the conduct of such appeals and the costs thereof.

The Drainage Board may, notwithstanding that the amount sought to be recovered is in excess of the jurisdiction of any Magistrate’s Court, sue for and recover the amount of any such contribution in any such Court as a debt.

The production in any Court of documents purporting to be—

The aggregate amount of contributions shall not in any year be less than the permanent appropriation, together with the additional sum required as set forth in the estimates referred to in section forty-seven of this Act for the same year.

The local authority of each city, borough, or road district the whole or part of which is comprised within the drainage district shall, within thirty days of receiving the written notice mentioned in section forty-eight hereof, unless an appeal has been lodged under section fifty hereof, and if any such appeal has been so lodged, then within thirty days after the Court’s decision thereon, pay to the Secretary of the Drainage Board one-half of the amount of such assessment; or, if appealed from, one-half the amount as fixed by the said Court, and shall pay the other half thereof within six calendar months of the date when the first half thereof became payable. In case either half is not so paid, such local authority shall be liable to, and shall pay, interest on any and every amount so remaining unpaid at the rate of six per cent per annum until the same be paid

Every such local authority shall, for the purpose of enabling it to make, and making, such payment, have the following powers:

If any such local authority, after notice of the said assessment is delivered to it, or in case of appeal after the decision of the said Court, fails to pay the first or last half thereof, or any part thereof, for the period of thirty days after the day on which it should be paid, or the interest thereon, it shall be lawful for the Drainage Board, in addition to any other powers or remedies hereby given, to make, levy, and collect such rate, and to pay or retain the amount of such assessment or contribution and interest and all costs and charges it has been put to in consequence of such default or neglect.

The local authority so in default shall, on request, hand over and supply to the Secretary of the Drainage Board correct lists of rateable properties, rate-books, assessment rolls, and all other documents and books of any and every kind necessary, or considered so by the Drainage Board or its officers, for the purpose of enabling the Board to, and it is hereby authorised and entitled to, make, levy, and collect such rate as aforesaid.

Such local authority and its officers and servants shall give every assistance to the Drainage Board and its officers to make, levy, and collect such rate as aforesaid.

For the purpose of enabling the Drainage Board to collect and recover the amount of such contribution or assessment, interest, and costs, the Supreme Court or any Judge thereof shall, on application by or on behalf of the Drainage Board, have the same power, mutatis mutandis, with reference to such contributing body as is given to it by this Act on any default being made by the Drainage Board in payment of any principal or interest due on any debenture issued by the Drainage Board, and also full power to order, authorise, and empower the Drainage Board and its officers to strike, levy, and collect such rate in the same way and to the same extent as such local authority so in default would be entitled to do.

For the purpose of carrying off any sewage from any part of its district within the drainage district, every contributing body may from time to time connect sewers and drains with the said main sewers or main drains; provided that twenty-eight days’ notice in writing be given to the Drainage Board of the intention of the contributing body to exercise the powers conferred by this section, and provided also that attached to such notice shall be complete plans and specifications of the sewer or sewers referred to in such notice, and that the Drainage Engineer shall be satisfied that the sewer or sewers referred to therein are fit and proper to be so connected and to form part of the drainage system.

In making any such connection the contributing body shall cause the same to be done in a skilful, efficient, and workmanlike manner, and so that the efficiency and construction of such main sewers or main drains may be in nowise impaired, and to the approval of the Drainage Engineer.

The Drainage Board may permit any local authority outside the drainage district to connect any drain or sewer within the district of such local authority with any drain or sewer constructed by the Drainage Board, upon such terms as may be agreed upon between the Drainage Board and such local authority.

The Drainage Board shall be deemed to be a local authority within the meaning of the Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1908, and the Minister of Finance may, under the said Act, grant any loan to the Drainage Board upon being satisfied that the provisions of this Act have been complied with.

The Drainage Board may for the purposes of this Act from time to time borrow such money, not exceeding in the whole the sum of five hundred thousand pounds, as it from time to time by special order in that behalf determines.

A copy of the special order of the Drainage Board authorising the borrowing of the said sum, purporting to be sealed with the seal of the Drainage Board and signed by the Chairman and two members, shall, without further authentication, be sufficient authority for the raising of the loan hereby authorised or any part thereof, and shall bind the Drainage Board accordingly. A copy thereof shall be published in the Gazette, and shall be conclusive evidence that the raising of the loan to which it refers is duly authorised, and that all proceedings and things under this Act in relation thereto and in the making of such special order have been lawfully taken and done.

Before borrowing any money the Drainage Board shall make provision for the repayment thereof by the creation of a sinking fund of not less than ten shillings per centum per annum, and by making the whole loan repayable at a stated period, or any parts thereof at stated periods.

The Drainage Board shall permanently appropriate out of its income a sum sufficient for the periodical payment of interest and the creation of such sinking fund, and no such, appropriation shall, without the consent of the lenders, be afterwards rescinded or lessened; but the Drainage Board may, if it thinks proper, from time to time appropriate further sums towards the sinking fund in order to maintain the accumulation thereof at proper rates.

The Drainage Board shall appoint, and may from time to time remove and reappoint, Commissioners to whom they shall pay all moneys so appropriated as a sinking fund, and such Commissioners shall dispose of such moneys by investing the same, together with all interest and profits accruing therefrom, in such securities as the Drainage Board from time to time directs, and the Commissioners to be appointed under this section may be interpreted to mean the Public Trustee.

The said Commissioners (other than the Public Trustee) appointed under the last preceding section hereof shall be deemed to be a body corporate under the name of the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Loan Commissioners, with perpetual succession and a common seal, and power to do and suffer all things which bodies corporate may do and suffer, and with authority for any two of such Commissioners to exercise the functions of the corporate body.

All vacancies arising in the office of any Commissioner of sinking funds under this Act shall be filled up as they arise by new appointments to be made by the Drainage Board.

Such Commissioners shall send to the Drainage Board, at such time as the Drainage Board directs, accounts of all moneys and all securities in their hands, and shall immediately after the thirty-first day of March in each year send to the Drainage Board a balance-sheet showing all transactions in respect of such moneys or securities during the year ending on such day. Such Commissioners shall, together with such balance-sheet, send to the Drainage Board a certificate under the hand of the Controller and Auditor-General, or such person as he may appoint for the purpose, of all securities held by the Commissioners.

The following provisions shall apply to any loan raised under the provisions hereof:—

The Drainage Board may, by resolution, to be evidenced by an instrument purporting to be under its seal, appoint any bank or company, or any person or persons, in England or elsewhere, to be an agent or agents, for the purpose of raising any loan authorised by this Act or any future Act giving the Drainage Board power to borrow money, and doing all things necessary in connection therewith, and each such agent may exercise all such authority as is hereby conferred on the Drainage Board, unless the Drainage Board limits the authority of such agents.

The Drainage Board shall have power for its temporary accommodation to obtain advances by way of overdraft or otherwise from any bank or other institution upon the credit of its debentures, but not to a greater extent than the amount of the debentures deposited to secure such advance, and shall keep a separate account of such advances:

The Drainage Board may in like manner, in anticipation of its ordinary revenue, from time to time borrow from any bank, by way of overdraft, any amount not exceeding the amount of the contributions for the time being outstanding:

Provided that in anticipation of the first contributions which it is hereby empowered to assess, and prior to assessing or receiving the same, it may borrow up to two thousand pounds for temporary purposes.

In the event of any bank making any advance to the Drainage Board by way of overdraft and failing to obtain payment thereof, such bank may, after obtaining a judgment for the amount owing to it, make a demand in writing for the amount of such judgment, and thereafter it shall have the same rights and remedies for the recovery thereof as are by this Act given to debenture-holders in case of default: Provided that the provisions of this section shall not prejudice the priorities of any secured creditors, and any such judgment shall be subject to be questioned by any other creditor upon the ground that such overdraft exceeded the amount which the Drainage Board was empowered to borrow.

The moneys borrowed under this Act shall be appropriated as follows:—

No lender of any money borrowed under the provisions of this Act, whether by the issue of debentures or otherwise, shall be concerned to inquire as to the purpose for which the same is raised, nor as to the proposed expenditure thereof, and the issue of a debenture or of the receipt of the Drainage Board therefor shall effectually discharge the lender from being concerned to see to the application thereof.

In every case in which default is made in the payment of any interest on any of the debentures issued under the provisions hereof, and in every case in which default is made in the payment of any principal secured by any of such debentures, the following provisions shall have effect:—

All moneys received by the Receiver in respect of rates, contributions, and other revenues, and declared by the Court or a Judge to be properly available for the payment of the indebtedness in respect of which he is appointed and acting, shall be applied under the order of the Court or a Judge thereof—

When all sums then overdue are paid, or at any time by an order of the Court or a Judge thereof on the application of the Drainage Board or local authority, if it appears to the said Court or a Judge thereof that such order should be made, the rates and revenues and contributions, as the case may be, vested in the Receiver Shall revest in the Drainage Board or local authority, as the case may be, and the powers of the Receiver shall cease, and he shall forthwith pay any money in his hands to the Drainage Board or local authority, as the case may be, who shall again be capable of exercising the powers and remedies of which his appointment had deprived them, without prejudice, however, to an appointment of a Receiver subsequently if occasion arises.

Any Judge or Magistrate may, notwithstanding that he is a member of any contributing body, or an owner or occupier of land within its district and liable for the payment of rates to any such contributing body, hear, adjudicate upon, and determine all matters, proceedings, and things which such Judge or Magistrate might hear, adjudicate upon, and determine if he were not such member, or such owner or occupier of land, and liable for the payment of rates as aforesaid.

No objection shall be allowed in any Court to any rate or contribution which the Drainage Board or any local authority or a Receiver shall purport to assess, strike, make, or levy under the provisions of this Act; and no informality or irregularity, whether in form or in substance, in the assessing, making, striking, or levying of such contribution or 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 proceeding for the recovery of such contribution or rate, or be entertained as a ground for quashing such rate or contribution or restraining the recovery thereof.

When all the borrowed money shall have been repaid, in case there shall be any surplus after such payment the same shall be distributed among the contributing bodies in the proportion that the aggregate of the contributions of each contributing body bears to the aggregate of the contributions of all the contributing bodies.

A writ or process shall not be issued against or served on the Drainage Board or any member thereof, or any officer or servant or workman thereof, or any person acting under its or his directions or in its or his aid, for anything done or intended to be done or omitted to be done after the passing of this Act, under the provisions of this or any other Act, or of any by-law or regulation made or in force hereunder, until one month after notice in writing has been served on the Drainage Board, or such member, officer, or person, clearly stating the cause of action or grounds of proceeding, and the name and address of the intended plaintiff or prosecutor, and his solicitor or agent in the action or proceeding; and on the trial or hearing of any such action or proceeding the plaintiff shall not be permitted to go into any cause of action or ground of proceeding which is not stated in the notice so served, and unless such notice is proved there shall be judgment for the defendant.

Every such action or proceeding shall be commenced within twelve months next after the accruing of the cause of action or proceeding, and not afterwards, and shall be tried in the drainage district, and not elsewhere. In any such action or proceeding the defendant may plead generally that the act or thing complained of was done or omitted under the authority or in the execution or intended execution or in pursuance of this Act, or of any by-law or regulation made or in force hereunder, and may give all special matter in evidence.

Any person to whom such notice of action is given as aforesaid may tender amends to the plaintiff, his solicitor, or agent, at any time within one month after service of such notice, and in case the same be not accepted may plead such tender in bar; and in case amends have not been tendered, or in case the amends tendered are insufficient, the defendant may within the time allowed for filing a statement of defence, or thereafter at any time before trial, by leave of the Court, pay into Court, in accordance with the practice of the Court in which the action is pending, and in the case of an action in a Court in which no defence need be filed, at any such time as may be allowed by the practice of such Court, such sums of money as it or he may think proper, whereupon such consequences shall ensue as, under the practice of the Court in which the action is brought, ensue in an ordinary action.

In any case arising out of injury to property, the property injured, and the accounts and vouchers in respect of the injury may be examined by any person appointed by the Drainage Board, and all proceedings shall be stayed until any application for such examination has been complied with.

If the plaintiff is nonsuited, or discontinues his action, or if judgment is given against him, then and in any of the said cases the defendant shall recover, at the discretion of the Court, a sum not exceeding double costs, for which he shall have the like remedy as where costs are awarded by law.

If any action is commenced or prosecuted touching or concerning the right, title, or interest of any owner or proprietor of or in any lands taken or injuriously affected by anything done in pursuance of this Act, or in execution of the powers or authorities herein, such action shall not impede, delay, or hinder the Drainage Board from proceeding in the execution of the powers vested in it by this Act.

The Drainage Board and the officers and servants of the Drainage Board may enter upon any premises in the drainage district for the purpose of examining as to the existence of any nuisance thereon, or as to the breach of any of the provisions of this Act or the by-laws (with power to examine any drain or other sanitary apparatus or appliances), or for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this Act and the by-laws, or for the purpose of executing, providing, or doing any works, materials, or things which the Drainage Board is authorised or empowered to execute, provide, or do under or by virtue of this Act or the by-laws.

Any owner or occupier of premises who refuses to permit or allow the Drainage Board or any of its officers or servants to enter thereon for any of the purposes mentioned in the last preceding subsection, and every person who obstructs the Drainage Board or any of its officers or servants in the exercise of any of the powers mentioned in the last preceding subsection, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds for each such offence.

The power to acquire land given hereby shall include the power to acquire by license permission to use the same for the purposes for which land may be acquired, and any land so acquired may be let or leased by the Drainage Board by public auction, or public tender, or private contract, as it deems proper, for such term or terms, and at such rent or rents, upon and subject to such terms and conditions in every respect, as the Drainage Board thinks fit.

In any lease of any lands acquired as last aforesaid, or any part thereof, the Drainage Board may stipulate that the lessee shall, on such terms and subject to such conditions in every respect as the Drainage Board thinks fit, receive all or any part of the sewage matter discharged at such lands or at any part thereof, and dispose of the same upon all or any part of such lands for fertilisation or other purposes.

The Drainage Board shall have the same power of leasing any land vested in it as is for the time being possessed by the Council of the City of Auckland.

All fines imposed by this Act or by any by-law made under the authority hereof may be recovered in a summary manner under the Justices of the Peace Act, 1908.

The provisions of this Act, and of all by-laws made by the Drainage Board, shall be enforced by the Drainage Board or its officers.

No property of the Drainage Board owned or used by it for the purposes for which it is incorporated shall be liable to be rated by any local body.

Any sewer or drain constructed or maintained by the Drainage Board shall be deemed to be the property of the Drainage Board, and any person doing any act whereby such sewer may be injured or its efficiency impaired is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, without prejudice to the right of the Drainage Board to recover by action damages for any trespass or injury to the said sewer.

Any person doing anything contrary to the provisions of this Act, or any by-law or regulation made hereunder, or omitting or failing to perform any duty imposed on him by or arising under this Act, or any such by-law or regulation, shall be guilty of an offence, and in cases where no other penalty is provided, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, and whenever such act or omission is of a continuous nature a further offence shall be deemed to be committed on each day on which it is continued; and whenever power is given by any Act, by-law, or regulation to order anything to be done or omitted, an offence shall be deemed to be committed on each day on which any person disobeys or fails to comply with any such order; and in all cases in which property is damaged, destroyed, or lost, or pecuniary loss is suffered, by reason of an offence, the Court may add to the fine compensation for any loss the Drainage Board may have sustained; provided that such compensation, unless awarded at the express request of the Drainage Board, shall not, excepting as to the amount thereof, relieve such person of any civil liability in respect of his act or omission.

Within the period of twenty-one days before or after the day appointed for the holding of any meeting of the Drainage Board, or for the doing of any act, matter, or thing by this Act required to be done on or before a day certain, it shall be lawful for the Governor to extend the time allowed or fix a later day for the holding of such meeting or for the doing of any such act, matter, or thing as aforesaid, notwithstanding the day may have passed on which the same ought to have been held or done, and to adopt or cause to be adopted such measures as may be necessary to remove any obstacle of a technical or formal nature by which the carrying-out of the provisions of this Act may be impeded, and to supply any deficiency which may be required to be supplied in order to enable the said provisions to be carried out.

The Governor shall have power, upon the requisition of the Drainage Board, by Proclamation to declare that any area described in such Proclamation not now included within the drainage district shall form part thereof; provided that no such Proclamation shall issue until the Governor is satisfied that the inclusion of such area within the drainage district will prove beneficial to the inhabitants and the owners of property therein.