This Act may be cited as the Dunedin District Drainage and Sewerage Amendment Act, 1921, and it shall form part of and be read together with the Dunedin District Drainage and Sewerage Act, 1900.

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

The Board may reborrow such moneys as may from time to time be required for the purpose of paying off any moneys raised or borrowed by the Board under or by virtue of the said Acts or any of them.

The power given by this section shall be exercisable only by special order.

This section is in lieu of subsection seven of section fifty-eight of the principal Act and of subsection one of section twelve of the Amendment Act, 1909, which said subsections are hereby repealed.

The Board may from time to time, for the purposes of the said Acts other than the purposes mentioned or referred to in section seventy of the principal Act, borrow any sum or sums of money not exceeding in the whole eighty thousand pounds in addition to any moneys heretofore authorized to be borrowed.

Subject as is provided in this Act, all the provisions of the said Acts shall apply to moneys borrowed or reborrowed under or by virtue of this Act in like manner as if the same formed part of the loan authorized by section fifty-six of the principal Act.

Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary contained in the principal Act or any other Act, it shall be lawful for the Board to borrow all or any of the moneys by this Act authorized to be borrowed or reborrowed at a rate of interest not exceeding five pounds ten shillings per centum per annum, but nothing in this section contained shall affect or prejudice any authority which may be granted under or by virtue of section eleven of the Finance Act, 1921, or any other Act hereafter passed giving power to authorize payment of a rate of interest exceeding five pounds ten shillings per centum per annum.

Subsection two of section fifty-eight of the principal Act shall, as to the moneys so borrowed or reborrowed, be read and construed with such modifications in regard to the rate of interest on such moneys as may be necessary for giving effect to this section.

The proviso to subsection four of the said section fifty-eight is hereby repealed.

The provisions of section ninety-five of the Trustee Act, 1908, and of any Act hereafter passed in amendment thereof or in substitution therefor shall, in respect of trusts heretofore and hereafter created, apply to all bonds, debentures, or other securities issued or to be issued by the Board and forming the whole or any portion or portions of any loan which has been or may hereafter be raised by the Board under the authority of the said Acts or any of them. This section is in lieu of subsection nine of section fifty-eight of the principal Act, which subsection is hereby repealed.

For the purpose of securing the repayment of any moneys borrowed or reborrowed under the authority of this Act, and the interest thereon, the Board may from time to time appropriate and pledge as such security a special rate made and levied for the purposes of such loan. Such security shall be in addition to the rights and remedies conferred on holders of debentures under or by virtue of the said Acts, and in particular sections fifty-eight and sixty-five of the principal Act.

If and whenever the Board shall determine to borrow or reborrow any moneys under the authority of this Act, the Board may by resolution make, levy, and collect, or direct to be made, levied, and collected, a special rate to provide for the payment of interest, or interest and sinking fund, or interest and principal, as the case may be.

Such special rate shall be made and levied by resolution gazetted in the form or to the effect of the form in the First Schedule hereto, whether the same be made and levied by the Board or by a delegate of the Board, pursuant to sections fifty-three and fifty-four of the principal Act:

Provided that if the option given by the said section fifty-three is exercised in different ways the said form may be varied accordingly.

Every special rate shall be an annually recurring rate, and shall be payable at intervals as specified in the resolution, and shall be levied year by year, without further proceeding by the Board or its delegate, until the loan in respect of which the special rate was made is paid off.

Every special rate shall be so calculated as to yield, if necessary, ten pounds per centum more than the annual or other charges in respect of the loan.

All the rateable property within the district shall be liable to the special rate.

Where after the special rate is made any property within the district becomes rateable property within the meaning of the Bating Act, 1908, such property shall become liable to the special rate, and shall be rated accordingly.

All special rates shah be applicable to the loan as security for which they were made and to no other purpose.

The provisions of sections fifty-three and fifty-four of the principal Act shall, mutatis mutandis, extend and apply to every such special rate.

The power conferred upon the Board by this section shall be in addition to its general rating-powers as prescribed by section forty-nine of the principal Act.

Sections fifty-three and fifty-four of the principal Act are hereby amended by omitting the words “local bodies” wherever such words occur in such sections respectively, and substituting therefor the words “local authorities.”

Section fifty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following proviso:—

Section fifty-four of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

This section shall be deemed to have been in force as from the passing of the principal Act.

The Board may by resolution decide to pay, and may pay accordingly, out of its General Fund all or any part of the interest, or interest and sinking fund, on the loan as security for which any special rate shall be levied.

To the extent to which the payments authorized by this section are made as therein mentioned it shall not be necessary to collect the special rate.

The Board may from time to time by resolution amend a special rate by increasing or diminishing it, if necessary, so that the annual produce thereof shall suffice to provide the payment of interest, or interest and sinking fund, on account of the loan secured thereon. Such power of amendment shall be exercisable whether the rate is made and levied by the Board or its delegate, and each delegate shall be bound by such resolution.

No special rate shall be diminished unless the Audit Office previous to any such reduction approves thereof in writing, and such reduction shall continue only for so long a period as the Audit Office approves in writing.

Section sixty-nine of the principal Act shall extend and apply to any special rate purporting to have been made or levied by the Board or its delegate under or by virtue of the provisions of this Act, and to any informality or irregularity in the proceedings for the pledging of such rates.

Debentures and coupons respectively shall be transferable by delivery, and payment of the sum named therein to any person in possession of any such debenture or coupon shall discharge the Board of all liability in respect of such debenture or coupon.

Any debenture may also be transferred by endorsement, in or to the effect of the form in the Second Schedule hereto or by separate form of transfer to the like effect, and such transfer or a notarially attested copy thereof may be presented for registration in the books of the Board at its public office.

Such transfer or the registration thereof shall not prevent such debenture from subsequently passing by delivery alone, or affect the right of the holder thereof for the time being to demand from the Board payment of the moneys secured thereby in terms thereof, or his right to receive any conversion or other new debenture or compensation in exchange therefor under any scheme for such exchange, or otherwise to deal as the owner thereof with the Board; nor shall such transfer or registration preclude the Board from so dealing with such holder.

This section shall apply to all debentures and coupons issued by the Board, whether before or after the passing of this Act.

Pending the raising of any loan, the Board or its agents may borrow any sum or sums of money not exceeding the whole amount authorized to be borrowed by the hypothecation, pledge, mortgage, or charge of any debentures authorized to be issued under or by virtue of this Act on such terms as the Board shall think fit, but all moneys so borrowed shall be a first charge upon and shall be repaid out of the loan when raised.

The amount of compensation payable to any adjoining owner, occupier, or other person interested in consequence of any exercise of the rights or powers vested in the Board by section twenty-four of the Amendment Act, 1909, may be settled, ascertained, or determined by the Board by agreement with such adjoining owner, occupier, or other person interested, or by arbitration in manner provided by the Arbitration Act, 1908, all the provisions whereof shall apply; and the provisions of section seventy-four of the Land Drainage Act, 1908, shall apply to compensation ascertained or determined pursuant to this section.

Subsection three of the said section twenty-four is hereby amended by omitting the word “opened,” and substituting the words “laid or constructed.”

Where the premises comprised in a lease shall have been subdivided by way of sublease of any part or parts thereof it shall be lawful for the Drainage Engineer, if he in his discretion shall think fit so to do, to certify separately in respect of the premises comprised in the sublease or each sublease, as the case may be, the cost of any works, materials, or things executed, provided, or done by the Board and affecting such premises exclusively, or the share and proportion of the said cost where any such works, materials, or things do not affect such premises exclusively, in like manner as if the sublessee were the owner within the meaning of the said Acts of the premises comprised in his sublease; and the cost or share and proportion, as the case may be, so certified shall be conclusive as between the head lessor and the sublessee or each sublessee, as the case may be, and as between the sublessees respectively for the purposes of section eighteen of the Amendment Act, 1913, and section thirty-three of the principal Act. This section is in extension, and not in restriction, of the provisions contained in such sections respectively.

The Board may, in lieu of requiring works to be executed pursuant to section twenty-five of the principal Act and connected to a drain in common pursuant to subsection four of section five of the Amendment Act, 1912, elect to do the whole of the works without any notice to the respective owners of the premises other than is by this section required.

Whenever the Board has entered into an agreement with the owner of premises in the district for the execution of any works the Board may connect such works to a drain in common, whether such connection be provided for in the agreement or not, and the cost thereof shall be deemed to be part of the cost of the works.

Notice in writing of such election shall be given to the owner of the premises served or to be served by the works, except where such works are to be executed at the request of such owner.

Notice in writing of the Board’s intention to connect the works to the drain in common shall be given to the respective owners within the meaning of the said Acts of the premises served by the drain in common.

If and whenever the Board shall make a connection to a drain in common as aforesaid the provisions of subsection five of section five 44 of the Amendment Act, 1912, shall, mutatis mutandis, apply in like manner as if the connection were made pursuant to a requisition under or by virtue of the said subsection four, but the charge shall take effect from the date of the agreement or the notice of election given pursuant to subsection three hereof, as the case may be.

The interest payable under or by virtue of paragraph (c) of subsection five of section five of the Amendment Act, 1912, shall be at the rate of seven pounds ten shillings per centum per annum, and be computed from the date of the certificate of the Engineer as provided in the said subsection.

Paragraphs (a) to (f) of section six of the Amendment Act, 1906, but excepting paragraph (c), shall apply to works executed by the Board pursuant to this section and the cost thereof. The word “owner” in such paragraph shall for the purpose of this section mean the owner of the premises served or to be served by the works.

If and whenever a drain in common shall be connected to a single private drain, or a single private drain to another single private drain, or a single private drain to a drain in common, in each case the whole shall become and be a drain in common.

A drain in common constructed or laid wholly or partly by the Board, or under or by virtue of any order or direction of the Board, or wholly or partly under or by virtue of any agreement made pursuant to section twenty-five of the Amendment Act, 1909, and whether constructed or laid as one operation or at different times, may be used by the owners for the time being of the respective premises to serve which the same was constructed or laid as an easement binding and appurtenant to such premises respectively, notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act. This subsection is in lieu of subsection five of the said section twenty-five, which subsection is hereby repealed.

It shall be lawful for the Board to execute works in accordance with any election made by the Board pursuant to the said Acts. This section shall be deemed to have been in force as from the passing of the principal Act.