Whereas it is necessary to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to Fencing within the Province

Be it therefore enacted by the Superintendent of the Province of Wellington with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council thereof as follows namely—The Ordinance of Session VIII. of the Legislative Council of the Colony numbered 8 called “The Fencing Ordinance” and the Act of the Provincial Council Session I. No. 13 are hereby repealed.

If any person after the passing of this Act shall have erected a sufficient fence dividing his land from the adjoining land the owner of the land adjoining shall be liable to pay the owner of the land who shall have erected such fence half the value thereof or such part of it as shall serve as a dividing fence between their respective land.

The owner of any land not having a sufficient dividing fence between it or any part of it and the adjoining land may by writing require the owner of such adjoining land (except such land as shall be held of the Crown by temporary occupation only) or his agent to assist in making any dividing fence between their respective lands in equal proportions If the owner of such adjoining land or his agent shall refuse or neglect for fourteen days to assist in making or having commenced shall not use due diligence in completing such dividing fence after a requisition as aforesaid shall have been given to him or left for him at his usual or last known place of abode or shall not give to the owner who shall have made such requisition a sufficient excuse for not having complied therewith it shall be lawful for the owner who shall have given or left such requisition and who shall have made or erected his share of such dividing fence to complete or contract with any other person to complete the other portion of it The owner who shall have neglected or refused or whose agent shall have neglected or refused to assist in making or completing such dividing fence shall be liable to pay to the owner of the land who shall have completed the same half of the costs of erecting or making the whole dividing fence Any necessary expense incurred in cutting a boundary line through bush for the purpose of erecting a boundary fence shall on the completion of such fence be deemed an additional part of the cost of the erecting of the same.

If any person shall heretofore have erected or shall hereafter erect a sufficient fence dividing his land or any part of it from any adjoining land which shall not have been duly granted by the Crown or otherwise be held as private property such person shall be authorized to claim and recover from the person to whom such adjoining land may hereafter be granted or leased for any term exceeding three years certain half the value of the said fence or of such part of it as shall divide their respective lands.

When any dividing fence which shall have been or shall be erected shall be out of repair or become insufficient the owners of the land on either side thereof shall be liable to the cost of repairing such fence in equal proportions Either owner may give notice in writing to the other or his agent to assist in repairing such fence and on neglect or refusal of such lastly mentioned owner or his agent so to do for the space of seven days the owner Who shall have given such notice may cause the same to be repaired and made a sufficient fence and shall be entitled to recover from the other owner half the costs thereof Provided however if any fence or any portion thereof shall be destroyed by any accident fire falling of timber or otherwise the occupier of land on either side may immediately repair the same without any notice and shall be reimbursed half the expense of so doing in manner herein provided.

In all cases where the dividing fence shall be a live gorse fence the occupiers of the adjoining lands shall each duly trim and keep in order the side of the fence next their own lands and in the event of either of them neglecting to do so then after seven days’ notice in writing it shall be lawful for the other owners or occupiers to trim and keep in order such fence at the expense of the party so neglecting For the purpose of making or repairing any boundary fence or for trimming any live gorse fence it shall be lawful for the occupier or owner of any land or any person duly authorized by him from time to time to enter upon that of the adjoining occupier or owner and no action shall accrue to such adjoining occupier or owner by reason of such entry or entries for the purpose of making or repairing any fence.

In case any dividing fence shall be destroyed or injured by reason of the falling of timber thereon or the firing of scrub fern toitoi gorse or flax the owner or occupier of the land on which such timber scrub fern gorse toitoi or flax shall be standing or growing shall be liable to the whole expense of repairing such fence Provided that to make such owners or occupiers liable under this clause it shall be necessary to prove that such owners or occupiers had neglected after due notice been given in writing to clear such timber scrub gorse toitoi fern or flax from off his or their lands adjoining such dividing fence to the distance of at least half a chain.

No fence erected after the passing of this Act shall be considered a sufficient fence unless it consists of mortised posts and four rails the top rail whereof shall not be less than four feet from the ground or shall if it be made in any other way be equal in efficiency to such a fence and after the first day of June one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one no fence shall be considered a sufficient fence unless made in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

When any stream or ditch being less than half a chain in its average width which does not form a sufficient fence shall divide two properties and the owner of the land on one side of the stream or ditch shall after having given the requisite notice to the owner of the land on the other side of the stream or ditch have erected a fence on his own land for half the distance between the said properties and the owner of the land on the opposite side shall have refused or neglected to complete a dividing fence by erecting a fence on his own land for the other half of such distance then it shall be lawful for the owner of the land who shall have given such notice and erected such fence as aforesaid and his workmen to enter upon the land on the opposite side of the stream or ditch and erect or cause to be erected thereon a fence in continuation of the fence he shall have erected on his own land for the remainder of the distance between his land and the land on the opposite side of the stream or ditch and connect the said fences in such a way as occasion may require and he may deem most advisable.

If the owner or occupier of any lands either before or after the passing of this Act shall have planted upon any dividing line a live fence the owner or occupier so planting and rearing such live fence shall be enabled to recover from the adjoining occupier or owner half the expense of planting and rearing such dividing fence so soon as the same shall become a sufficient fence between their respective lands within the intent and meaning of clause eight of this Act Provided always that any sum which may ’ be so recovered shall not exceed the sum of fifteen shillings per chain and the notices as hereinbefore required to be given shall not be deemed requisite nor apply to the planting of live fences.

When the owner of any land who shall have erected or shall be desirous of erecting a fence dividing his own from the adjoining land cannot after due inquiry ascertain who is the owner of such adjoining land or when the owner of any adjoining land shall be absent from the Province or when such owner or his agent cannot be found the insertion in a newspaper published in the district in which such land is situate and if no newspaper be published in such district then in a newspaper published in the City of Wellington of a notice addressed to the owner of such adjoining land requiring him to make or assist in making such fence shall be a sufficient requisition or notice for the purposes of this Act and the owner giving the same may proceed to erect or complete such fence and be entitled to recover half of the value of making completing or repairing the same fence or any portion thereof in like manner as if such requisition as aforesaid had been given to and received by the owner of such adjoining land Such insertion shall be made for four successive weeks if the newspaper be published weekly for two successive numbers if published once in every fourteen days In case the district newspaper be published at longer intervals than fourteen days the notice shall be inserted for four successive weeks in a newspaper published in Wellington No such notice or insertion shall be necessary where assistance or contribution towards repairing any fence shall be required.

The amount to be recovered under this Act for either making or repairing any fence shall in no case exceed a sum equal to the half of a fair contract price for erecting a post and four-rail fence.

Where land shall be in bona fide and beneficial occupation but the occupier thereof shall not have a greater interest therein than for two years from the time when a contribution towards making any dividing fence shall be demanded the occupier of the freehold shall be the party liable to contribute towards the expense of making any such fence as aforesaid And the owner of such land shall at the expiration of the lease of such occupier pay to such occupier a sum equal to the value of the fence so erected at the time of the expiration of such lease.

The beneficial occupier for any period shall be the party liable to contribute towards the repairs of any fencing.

Provided always that nothing in this Act contained shall avoid or affect any covenant contract or agreement relative to fencing existing at the time of the passing of this Act between any landlord and tenant.

In order to avoid the cost and inconvenience of summoning witnesses to a distant Court in all cases where there shall be natural boundaries and disputes or differences shall arise as to the sufficiency thereof for the purpose of fences or when any disputes or difference shall arise as to the amount of costs to be paid for completing or repairing any fence or the value of or of the sufficiency of any fence for the purpose of recovering contribution towards the making or erecting thereof or any part thereof such differences and all questions and disputes that may arise upon any other question whatsoever under this Act shall be referred to and determined by the arbitration of two persons one of whom shall be named by each party in difference and in case such arbitrators shall not agree upon the matter referred to them within one month it shall be referred to an umpire to be named by such arbitrators previously to entering upon the reference and the decision of such two arbitrators or their umpire shall be final and binding upon the parties in difference The arbitrators or umpire as the case may he shall also have power to award by whom and in what proportions the costs of the reference shall be borne If either of the parties in difference shall neglect or refuse for the space of one month after notice in writing shall have been given to him or left for him at his usual or last known place of abode to name an arbitrator it shall be lawful for the arbitrator named by the party giving or leaving such notice to make an award upon his own judgment and such award shall be as conclusive as if the party refusing or neglecting had named an arbitrator who had joined and concurred therein.

All notices given under this Act shall be given in writing previous to the commencement of any of the work as herein authorized to which they respectively relate and no person shall be compelled to erect or construct any of the fences or work for which such notices are given till the parties giving such notice shall have performed his share of the work for which they are respectively given.

In the construction of this Act the word “owner” shall be taken to include the tenant in fee-simple a tenant in tail a tenant for life and a tenant for any term of years not being less than two years subject to the enactments referring to the persons liable to contribute to the making or repairing of fences.

The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Fencing Act 1867.”

Be it enacted by the Superintendent of the province with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council thereof as follows

The Acts of the Provincial Council Session III. No. 4 Session IV. No. 16 Session IX. No. 10 Session X. No. 4 and Session XIII. No. 4 are hereby repealed Provided that all districts already proclaimed shall continue such for the purposes of this Act till altered under the provisions hereof And all Wardens elected under such mentioned Acts shall after the passing hereof be and become Wardens under this Act and shall hold office as such Wardens till the expiration of the term for which they were originally elected and they may exercise all the powers of this Act for the purpose of levying and collecting rates already imposed and for carrying into effect anything partially executed under the repealed Acts or for the election of and transfer of their powers to a new Board of Wardens to be elected under this Act at the expiration of their term of office or for the convening of meetings of ratepayers or for the performance of any other thing authorized to be done under this Act as fully as if they had been originally elected Wardens under this Act.

In the construction of this Act the word “highways” shall signify road bridge cartways horseways bridleways causeways footpaths and all other works forming part thereof or being accessory thereto The word “Board” shall mean “Board of Wardens for the management of Highways” The word “owner” shall mean any person other than the occupier having any interest in the land rated and when by this Act any notice or other document shall be directed to be posted it shall signify “conspicuously posted in some public place” within the district to which such notice or document shall relate.

The Superintendent with the advice of his Executive Council may for the purposes of this Act from time to time by proclamation divide the Province or any part thereof into districts and may in like manner subdivide alter or reunite the same Provided always that in ease of any alteration being proposed in the boundaries of districts already proclaimed six months’ notice shall be given in the Government Gazette and at least one newspaper published in the Province of the intention to issue such proclamation and the various boards affected shall be communicated with in order to obtain an expression of the opinion of the ratepayers of such districts.

Every person who shall have to his own use in any proclaimed district a freehold estate not let for two years and upwards or a leasehold estate not underlet for two years or upwards and every occupier of land within such district shall be a qualified voter for the district for the purposes of this Act Provided that no ratepayer shall be allowed to vote at any meeting general or special unless he shall have paid all rates which may have been assessed on him or on his land in this district.

Any Justice of the Peace of any proclaimed district upon the requisition of any five such voters shall (by notice posted and inserted four times at least in some newspaper published within or as near the district to be called “the first annual meeting” who having met at some convenient place within or near the district shall in the first place elect a chairman in the second place elect a Board of Wardens in the third place fix the amount of the rate to be levied severally for the construction repair and maintenance of the highways of such district and in the fourth place shall appoint two auditors of accounts provided that no member of the Board shall be eligible to be an auditor And it shall be lawful for any Justice of the Peace at any time on the requisition of five voters of the district to convene a general meeting of the voters such meeting to be called by notice posted and inserted four times at least in some newspaper published within or as near the district as may be and to be held at some place within the district at which meeting the voters may in case no Board of Wardens shall have been legally elected or a valid rate imposed at any annual or previous meeting elect a Board of Wardens or impose a rate and do and determine any other act matter or thing which may be necessary or expedient for the purpose of carrying out any of the provisions of this Act.

At all meetings held in pursuance of this Act the chairman shall have an original and casting vote and every question shall be decided by a majority of votes Every voter must be present in order to enable him to record his vote or votes and the number of votes to which each voter is entitled shall be calculated according to the Schedule of this Act but in all meetings of the Board each Warden shall only have one vote except the chairman who shall have an original and casting vote.

The Board shall consist of not less than four nor more than six persons being such qualified voters as aforesaid Each of them shall hold office for two years from the day of his election or till he shall die become bankrupt or insolvent a public defaulter or a convicted felon or shall cease to be qualified as a voter for the district or shall resign or shall not have attended any meeting of the Board for three consecutive meetings held at intervals of not less than one month or shall directly or indirectly be interested in any contract under the Board and if from any such cause the Board shall be reduced to less than four members the surviving or continuing members shall so often as the same may happen by notice given as aforesaid convene a meeting of voters who shall forthwith by election fill up the vacancies and the persons so elected shall hold office until the following general election of wardens The names of the Board when elected and of all persons elected to supply vacancies therein and of the chairman shall be communicated by the chairman to the Provincial Secretary who shall publish the same in the Government Gazette.

Three members of the Board shall be a quorum but no business shall be transacted by any Board unless at a meeting summoned by written notice under the hands of two Wardens or of the chairman of the Board and left at the usual place of abode of every other Warden at least three clear days before such meeting Provided that when all the members of any Board consent such Board may transact business at any meeting fixed unanimously without being summoned by written notice left at the usual place of abode of every Warden at least three clear days before any such meeting.

The Wardens shall so soon as may be after their election choose one of their body to be their chairman who shall hold that office till the termination of the two years for which the Board shall have been elected unless he shall die resign or become disqualified for the office of Warden as aforesaid in which case the surviving or continuing Wardens shall forthwith elect another chairman and so from time to time as occasion may require.

The duty of the Board shall be to make maintain and repair all highways other than main roads within the district and generally to carry the provisions of this Act into effect Whenever any road district shall have been proclaimed and any roads constructed within it out of funds contributed wholly or in part by rates levied on the land within that district it shall thenceforward be the duty of the Board to maintain all such roads in an efficient state of repair The Board may at any time call a special meeting of the ratepayers for the purpose of imposing a rate to repair any accident which may have occurred to a road within the district or for any other purpose requiring immediate attention one week’s notice of such meeting being posted in the district and the ratepayers at any such meeting may fix and impose and the Board of Wardens may assess and levy the rate so fixed in such and the same manner as they are hereby empowered to fix impose assess and levy a rate fixed at any annual meeting Should the Board fail to keep the roads in the district in an efficient state of repair it shall be competent for any three qualified voters within the said district whose land shall have been heretofore taxed for the construction of any such road to summon the chairman of the Board to appear before the nearest Bench of Magistrates who are hereby empowered after hearing the case to make out an order to the said chairman to have the requisite repair made without further delay Should the Board fail to comply with this order the Superintendent may withhold any contribution to such Board until the necessary repairs shall have been effected by them Should the ratepayers neglect to appoint a Board or refuse to impose a rate the Superintendent is authorized to impose and cause to be levied on the lands of such district a repairing rate not exceeding ninepence per acre and expend the same on the said repairs Such rate to be levied in accordance with the proportions that may have been heretofore fixed by the Board to be levied on the respective lands of the district.

All contracts appointments and other matters authorized by any resolution of the Board shall be entered into made and done by the chairman on behalf of the Board and shall thereupon be taken to be the acts of the Board and all suits or other legal proceedings other than for the recovery of rates by or against the Board shall be in the name of or against the chairman thereof and if no chairman then in the name of or against any one of the Wardens but execution shall only be levied on the effects of the Board and shall not in any manner charge or effect the person or private property of the chairman or other member of the Board It shall be sufficient in all cases to describe the property of the Board as such and no suit or other proceeding against the Board. shall abate or be otherwise affected by any change of the members of the Board or the Chairman thereof.

The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings and accounts of all moneys paid and received by it during the year and the accounts shall be audited by the auditors who shall submit the past year’s accounts as audited to every successive annual meeting of the ratepayers before they are called on to vote any fresh rate.

All balances of money assets books and papers belonging to the Board shall at the expiration of their term of office be landed over to the chairman of the new Board immediately on the election of the latter.

There shall be an annual meeting in every district at such time and place as the Board shall fix notice thereof being given by the Board by posting and advertisements in some newspaper published in or near the district if such there be at least one month before the day of meeting at which annual meeting the voters shall fix the amount of the rates for the construction maintenance and repairs severally of the roads in the district during the ensuing year not exceeding one shilling per acre for construction and ninepence for maintenance and repairs as the majority of voters present at the meeting may decide and transact all other business necessary to be done at such meeting under this Act.

At every alternate annual meeting a new Board shall be elected the members of the old Board being eligible for re-election.

The Board of Wardens shall assess and levy the rates upon the land within the district in the form of an acreage rate but not necessarily an uniform acreage rate and may assess and levy the same at such rate per acre not exceeding the sum of one shilling for construction and ninepence for maintenance and repairs as to the Board may seem equitable with full power to exonerate either wholly or in part any land from such rate.

The rates may be levied on all lands within the district except demesne of the Crown Lands granted to or set apart for Aboriginal Natives unoccupied or in their own occupation or lands except by proclamation of the Superintendent and that whether the same shall or shall not have been surveyed or granted.

The Board shall assess the rates imposed as aforesaid on the land liable to the same and post a statement of such assessment specifying the names of the ratepayers so far as the Board can ascertain the same the amount payable and the number of acres for which the same is assessed in each case and shall append to such statement notice of some place within or near the district and some time not less than fourteen days after the posting thereof when and where all objections to such assessment shall be heard and determined by the Board.

The Board shall appoint a treasurer and a collector to collect all rates imposed under this Act and pay the same over so soon as practicable after they are collected into the hands of the treasurer who shall hold all moneys until appropriated by the Board It shall be the duty of the Board to take sufficient security from the collector.

All rates levied under this Act shall be paid on demand to the collector by the occupier or if there be no occupier by the owner of the rated land and shall be recoverable by summary proceedings at the suit of the collector or by distress of chattels on the premises made by the Board or bailiff appointed in writing But if any such rate or part thereof with the cost of recovering the same cannot be recovered by such proceedings or distress for the space of one month after posting of the assessment the same shall be recovered as directed by “The Sale for Non-payment of Rates Act 1862.”

In any proceedings to levy and recover or consequent upon the levying or recovering of any rate under the provisions of this Act if any error in the assessment so far as the quantity of land assessed shall appear the burden of proof that the quantity assessed is in excess of the quantity of land held by the owner thereof shall be with such owner and the notice in the Government Gazette of the appointment of Wardens shall be sufficient evidence of their appointment and the book of rates of the Board and all entries made therein by the production thereof and without any evidence of the notices and other requirements of this Act having been given or complied with or proof of the signature of the Wardens whose names appear subscribed therein shall be received as evidence of such rates and of the contents thereof and a map or plan certified by some surveyor to be a true map or plan of the district shall be sufficient evidence of the boundaries of such district In all cases whenever a distress is lawfully authorized by the warrant to levy any sum mentioned therein shall upon being required by the collector aid in making a distress or sale pursuant to such warrant.

When the Board shall intend to make any new or divert any existing highway or construct any work connected therewith it shall respectively have power to enter any land for the purpose of enabling it to accomplish its object and shall make and deposit at the office of the Provincial Secretary a survey plan and section of the intended works and a book in which shall be recorded the names of the owners or occupiers of the land on which such highway is or is intended to be with an estimate of the expense thereof and of the land required for the same and a statement of the amount of compensation proposed to be paid to each of the owners and occupiers of such lands both in respect of the value of the same and also of the damage (if any) done to the adjacent lands of any person by severance or otherwise and where the owner and occupier are not the same person distinguishing the amount of compensation payable in respect of the interest of each. The Board shall also deposit at the house or office in which it usually meets to transact business duplicate survey plans section books and estimates which, shall be open for inspection at all reasonable hours The above-mentioned original documents shall be open for inspection and extract without charge at the office of the Provincial Secretary at all usual office hours and notice of the same being so deposited shall be inserted in the Government Gazette and a notice of the same tenor and date shall be published in one or more of the local papers by order of the Provincial Secretary and a place and time not less than one month from the publication of such Gazette shall be fixed for a meeting of the Board to whom any person whose property is affected by such intended work may send in writing any objections or suggestions relative to such works or to the amount of compensation proposed to be paid to such persons and may attend at such meeting personally to enforce such objections or suggestions.

If any such owner or occupier shall not be satisfied with the amount of compensation proposed to be paid to him and cannot agree with the Board in respect thereof he may at the meeting of the Board lastly mentioned give notice in writing that he desires to refer the matter to arbitrators naming one person in such notice as the arbitrator on his behalf and thereupon the matter shall be referred to the arbitrament of such person and one other chosen by the Board and a third by the two so chosen and such referees shall have power to call for and examine any documents relating to the land in question and to examine witnesses on oath to be administered by any one of them and the award of such referees or any two of them being put in writing and signed shall be final and the same shall be filed in the Supreme Court and upon application by either party be made a rule of Court provided that if either the Board or owner or occupier fail or neglect to appoint an arbitrator for a space of one month from the day of meeting of the Board fixed for receiving objections then the Superintendent shall have power to appoint an arbitrator or arbitrators as the case may be.

If a larger amount of compensation shall be awarded than was assessed by the Board it shall pay all the costs of the reference If the same or a less sum shall be awarded the party disputing the assessment shall pay the costs Such costs in every case to be subject to taxation if required by either party by the Registrar of the Supreme Court and if payable by the Board may be paid out of the rates levied under this Act if payable by the other party may be deducted by the Board out of the amount of compensation if any awarded by the referees or may be recovered by legal process summons or otherwise according to the amount.

When any land required by the Board shall be owned by a person having only a partial or qualified interest in the freehold or by a married woman infant idiot lunatic or by a trustee or other person without power to sell the amount to be paid for such land shall be settled by arbitration as hereinbefore provided and the person entitled to receive the rents the guardian committee or trustee as the case may he shall be the party entitled to appoint referees and conduct the reference and the purchase money compensation to be paid for any land taken from any such party shall be deposited in the Treasury of the Province and on the petition of any person interested therein be applied or paid as the Supreme Court at Wellington may direct The cost in all such cases shall be paid by the Board.

When any land shall be required for the purposes aforesaid the owner whereof shall not be resident in the Province the Board shall advertise their intention of taking such land twice in some newspapers published within the Province calling on any agents of such owner to appear and act in the matter and if no agent shall appear within one week after the second insertion of such advertisement the Superintendent may appoint some person to act as such agent for the purpose of determining the compensation to be paid to such owner and his acquiescence or reference to arbitration shall bind the owner The amount agreed upon or decided by arbitrators less the reasonable costs of such agent shall be paid into the Provincial Treasury to the credit of the owner of such land who shall be entitled to receive the same with interest on demand.

Before commencing the works of any such highway as aforesaid the Board shall lay before the Superintendent a statement of all objections or suggestions which may have been made to them as aforesaid and shall satisfy him that the several persons on or over whose land it is purposed to construct the same have consented to the direction of any proposed new line of road and have either acquiesced in the assessment of compensation made by the Board or have had the amount thereof settled by arbitration under the provisions hereinbefore contained And thereupon the Superintendent may in writing authorize the Board to construct the intended works and they may enter upon the lands proposed to be taken by them and lay off the site of such works after which the said lands shall become a public highway and vest in the Board for the purposes of this Act.

When a right of making roads shall have been reserved without the lines of roads having been defined and laid down by the Crown in the grant of the land through which any road shall be made such reservation shall apply to one principal road and one cross road and no more.

No road or occupation way made or hereafter to be made by or at the expense of any individual or private person body politic or corporate nor any road already set out or to be hereafter set out as a private footway or horsepath shall be deemed or taken to be a highway which the inhabitants of any district shall be compellable or liable to repair unless the person body politic or corporate shall give three calendar months’ notice in writing to the Board of his intention to dedicate such highway to the use of the public describing its situation and extent and shall have made or shall make the same in a substantial manner and of the width of thirty-three feet at the least and to the satisfaction of the Board and after the said highway shall have been used by the public and duly repaired and kept by the said person body politic or corporate for the space of twelve calendar months such highway -shall for ever thereafter be kept in repair by the Board Provided nevertheless that if the said Board shall not deem the said highway of sufficient utility to the inhabitants of the district to justify its being kept in repair at the expense of the district the said Board may so determine and refuse to accept the dedication of the said highway to the public and keep the same in repair.

When any road shall have been or shall be reserved by the New Zealand Company the Crown or the Provincial Government over any lands held under a Crown Grant and not included within the limits of any proclaimed road district it shall be lawful for the Superintendent by writing to authorize the owner of the land over which the same shall pass to occupy and use such road for pastoral purposes only as if it were part of the land belonging to such person and to erect gates across such road whereon the same may be crossed by any fence Provided that such gates be so hung and fastened that any traveller on horseback can conveniently open and shut the same without dismounting The Board shall also have the power of erecting gates across any road within the limits of any proclaimed district subject to such special regulations as they might find suitable to the state of the traffic.

Whenever the Board of any district which shall have been proclaimed a road district under this or any former Act for a period of eight years shall have passed a resolution to the effect that no additional lines of road are required within the district beyond those already laid off surveyed and proclaimed as hereinafter provided for all right to lay off any new lines of road within the district that may have been created in consequence of certain allowances in land given for roads under any land regulations shall cease and determine Provided that a copy of such resolutions shall have been first submitted to and approved of by a majority of the ratepayers at a meeting specially convened for the purpose and another copy thereof so approved and signed by the Chairman of the Board shall have been forwarded to the Provincial Secretary for publication in the Government Gazette Provided further that a period of six months shall elapse after the said publication in the Government Gazette before this clause shall take effect in order that the Government may have notice to provide if necessary access through such proclaimed districts to any back country and in order that the situation and direction of all existing roads may be better ascertained and determined it shall be the duty of the Board to have all the roads under their management within the district ccurately surveyed with a plan thereof lodged in the Crown Lands Office.

Should any such plan not be found sufficiently accurate by any Government Surveyor appointed to examine the same the Crown Lands Commissioners may order the Board to have a more accurate survey made.

Should the Board neglect or delay to perform this duty the Superintendent may withhold any contribution of money in aid of any such Board until a proper survey shall have been made and lodged So soon as convenient after such survey plans have been lodged as above directed the Superintendent shall issue a proclamation in the Government Gazette proclaiming all roads to be public highways.

Before any owner or occupier of land abutting on such proclaimed road shall proceed to fence he shall give one month’s notice in writing of his intention to the Board.

Whenever for any of the purposes of this Act any fencing shall be interfered with whether temporarily or permanently the land protected by such fencing shall be as securely protected by fencing to be made by and at the expense of the Board as it was before.

When any new road shall be constructed through any lands previously enclosed by a substantial fence as required by the Fencing Act the Board before opening the same to the public shall fence with a good and substantial fence both sides of such road so far as it shall run upon such fenced lands Provided always that the Board shall not be called upon to fence any line of road laid off under the provisions of clause 29.

The Board may enter upon any land near to any highway in course of construction or repair (not being a garden orchard yard or ornamental pleasure ground) and use the same as a temporary road and also may in such lands seek for take and carry away any materials required for repair of such highway and also therein may construct any drains or necessary works in connection therewith Provided that when such land shall be occupied but not otherwise the Board shall at least one week before so doing serve upon the owner of such land or his agent or the occupier thereof notice of their intention so to do and shall when such materials have been taken fill up or securely fence off all holes pits or cuttings and efface as nearly as may be all irregularities and damage done by using such temporary road or by taking such materials and shall pay to the owner or his agent or the occupier (according to the character of the damage) the value of the materials taken and injury done to the premises as may be agreed upon between them or if they cannot agree then as may be awarded by arbitration in like manner as hereinbefore provided in case of land taken for a new highway And provided also that the Board shall not in seeking for or taking such materials divert or dam up the course of any stream or damage the banks thereof so as to cause it to overflow or injure any building road or ford or take materials out of the bed of any stream within one hundred and fifty feet of any bridge.

If any tree growing on land adjoining any highway shall be injurious to the same by overhanging it shall be in the power of the Board to require the owner to lop all that portion of such tree so overhanging such highway if any tree growing on land adjoining any highway be dangerous to passengers thereon or shall fall thereon from such land the Board may require the occupier of such land or the owner if it be unoccupied to remove the same within two days after notice in writing left at the usual place of abode of such occupier and if such tree shall not be removed accordingly the Board may remove the same at the cost of such occupier or owner to be summarily recovered.

It shall be lawful for the Board at any time to discontinue the whole or any part of any highway either as being unnecessary for the convenience of the public or because a better highway can be substituted and on giving three months’ notice of their intention so to do by posting and publishing in the Government Gazette (in the former case) and on giving such notice and opening such substituted road for public use (in the latter case) the original highway shall cease and the owner or owners of the land over or adjoining which the same may he may take possession of the same on paying to the Board such price as may be agreed upon between them or if they cannot agree as may be assessed by arbitration in like manner as in the case of a disputed assessment hereinbefore provided and a conveyance by the Chairman of the Board of Wardens shall vest the same in the purchaser free from encumbrance But in case the owner of the land adjoining shall decline to purchase such abandoned highway the Board may sell the same to any other person.

Any person convicted of the following acts and omissions shall be offenders under this Act and all persons convicted thereof shall be liable to the penalties severally attached thereto.

Wardens or their servants or any contractor or other person engaged in repairing road in use leaving stones or other things on such road at night or unprotected holes therein so as to endanger life or limbs Penalty not exceeding five pounds.

Any person obstructing or attempting to obstruct Wardens or persons authorized by them in the performance of anything under this Act Penalty not exceeding forty shillings.

Any person wilfully damaging or destroying highway or any other work connected therewith shall be liable to double the amount of the damage done to be recovered on information of the Board.

Suffering any horse ass mule cattle sheep goats or swine to be at large on the highway Penalty to be computed according to the rates per head fixed in the Schedule to the Impounding Act to be recovered on the information of the Board or any constable or the same may be impounded by the Board or any person authorized by it in writing.

All penalties imposed by this Act to be recovered summarily.

The Sheriff or any other person effecting any sale by auction under this Act shall not be liable to a penalty although he may not be licensed as an auctioneer.

This Act shall come into operation from the passing thereof and may be referred to as “The District Highways Act 1867.”

Whereas it is expedient to make further provisions to prevent the spread of disease amongst sheep called scab and for other matters

Be it therefore enacted by the Superintendent of the Province of Hawke’s Bay by and with the consent of the Provincial Council thereof as follows—

The return directed to be furnished by owners of sheep by clause No. 4 of an Act of the Superintendent and Provincial Council of Hawke’s Bay No. 2 of Session No. 6 shall in addition to other particulars contain the sex of each sheep included in such return and every owner of sheep neglecting to give such further particulars shall be liable to the penalty inflicted by the said clause.

Every person driving sheep into the Province of Hawke’s Bay by land from any other Province shall previous to so driving brand the said sheep with a legible tar brand and any person driving sheep without such tar brand shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds and not less than five pounds.

Before any person shall drive sheep into the Province of Hawke’s Bay from any other Province he shall give twenty-one days’ notice in writing of his intention so to do to the Inspector of the district through which he may propose to drive any such sheep and such notice shall state from what place such sheep have been originally driven and on what day and at what place adjacent to the boundary of the said Province such sheep will be mustered for the inspection of the said Inspector and such notice shall also state the particulars of the tar brand with which such sheep shall be branded every such notice shall be served personally on the said Inspector or left at his usual place of abode.

Any person driving Sheep into the said Province of Hawke’s Bay without serving or delivering the notice provided for by the last clause shall be liable to the penalty of one pound per head for every sheep so driven into the said Province.

All sheep driven into the said Province of Hawke’s Bay from any district in any other Province and which district shall be known or reputed to be infected with the disease called the scab shall be deemed to be infected with the said disease and the owners of the said sheep shall forthwith be liable to all penalties now imposed by law on persons owning infected sheep and to the provisions and penalties contained in and imposed by clauses eighteen and nineteen of an Act of the Superintendent and Provincial Council of Hawke’s Bay No. 2 of Session No. VI.

All penalties imposed by this Act which are within the jurisdiction of Resident Magistrate’s Courts shall be recoverable by summary proceedings.

The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Sheep and Scab Amendment Act 1867.”