The Short Title of this Act is “The Public Works Act, 1880.”

This Act and the several Acts previously passed in amendment of “The Public Works Act, 1876” (hereinafter referred to as “the said Act”), shall be read and construed together with the said Act, and subject to the definitions and interpretations contained in the said Act.

The said Act is hereby amended as follows:—

In section three the following words are added to the definition of “Certificated surveyor,” as appearing in the said section: “and authorized by him to certify plans for the purposes of any Act relating to the conveyance or transfer of land.”

In section thirty-two, after the words “under this Act,” the words “or any Act repealed by this Act” are hereby added;

In section fifty the following words are hereby added: “but no execution of judgment shall be enforced, nor shall interest commence, until thirty days after the award has been made and the costs taxed.”

In section eighty-five the words following are hereby added to the first subsection thereof: “and where ‘The Counties Act, 1876,’ is not in operation, such bridge, ferry, or ford shall be under the control of such one of the two districts as the Minister may from time to time direct.”

In section one hundred and forty-five, the words following are hereby added to the first paragraph of the first subsection thereof: “or for fixing the rates of wharfage to be charged on all goods loaded or unloaded from or into lighters into or from ships lying at any wharf, pier, or jetty in connection with a railway.”

Subsection two of section one hundred and fifty-seven is hereby repealed and the following subsection is substituted in its place:—

Causing or allowing any animal to wander on any portion of any railway where such portion is fenced on both sides.

In section sixty of the said Act, the following subsection is hereby added:—

The ninety-third section of the said Act is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof the following is enacted, that is to say,—

No road shall be stopped except in the manner and upon the conditions following:—

The ninety-fourth section of the said Act is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof the following is enacted, that is to say,—

The land occupied by any road so stopped as aforesaid may be sold under the following conditions:—

The ninety-fifth section of the said Act is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof the following is enacted, that is to say,—

Notwithstanding anything contained in the nineteenth section of “The Public Works Act 1876 Amendment Act, 1878,” the Governor may abolish such offices as are therein referred to, and may create such other offices in the Public Works and Railway Departments as he may deem advisable.

When any land shall at any time heretofore have been or shall at any time hereafter be taken by any County Council, Road Board, or Municipal Corporation under the authority of any Act, or Provincial Ordinance, for the construction of any water-race, aqueduct, reservoir, or other waterworks, such County Council, Road Board, or Municipal Corporation shall not thereby be deemed to have heretofore acquired or hereafter to acquire any right to any mines of coal or other minerals whatsoever under any land so already taken or to be taken hereafter, except only such part or parts thereof as shall be necessary for the proper and effectual support of such water-race, aqueduct, reservoir, or other waterworks. And all such mines and minerals (excepting as aforesaid) shall be deemed to have been excepted out of the Proclamation or other instrument under the authority whereof the land shall heretofore have been taken, or shall hereafter be taken.

When it is found necessary to execute such repairs to any public highway or bridge as will prevent the use of the same for traffic, it shall be lawful for the County Council or Road Board under whose control the said public highway or bridge may be to close the same, for such period as may be deemed advisable.

In respect of any railway authorized by a special Act, as prescribed by the one hundred and twenty-second section of the said Act, the Minister may direct that any part of such line of railway may be constructed on and along any part of any public highway; and no person or body shall be entitled to any compensation for any road or land so used or occupied, or for or in respect of any inconvenience or damage arising out of the execution of such works to any lands fronting or adjoining any such public road.

All Orders in Council and Proclamations made and issued, or purporting to be made and issued, under the authority of the said Act, “The Public Works Act 1876 Amendment Act, 1878,” and “The Public Works Act, 1879,” or “The Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870,” or Acts amending the same, are hereby declared to be and to have been as from the respective times of making and issuing thereof good, valid, and effectual to all intents and purposes whatsoever, and shall be final and conclusive with respect to the existence of all requisites thereto, and shall not be impeached or disturbed at law or in equity or otherwise on any ground whatsoever: Provided always that nothing herein shall affect any claim or matter for or concerning which any action or proceeding has been brought or taken in any Court.

In any claim for compensation for lands taken for any Government work out of Native reserves vested in the Governor under any Act relating to Native reserves, the Governor, for the purpose of such claims being determined by a Compensation Court under Part III. of the said Act, or otherwise by arbitration, shall be the claimant, and the Minister the respondent.

The Minister may enter into agreements with the Governor for the purchase of any such lands in the manner prescribed by section twenty-one of “The Public Works Act 1876 Amendment Act, 1878.”

Notwithstanding anything contained in section seventy-two of the said Act, the said section shall apply to all claims arising out of or under the several Acts repealed by the said Act.

Whereas by “The Immigration and Public Works Act, 1875,” it is, amongst other things, enacted that, to give effect to a certain agreement therein mentioned, the Governor should cause the Kawakawa Railway to be constructed, and, upon the completion and construction thereof, for or in the name or on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, should make and execute a valid lease to the Bay of Islands Coal Company, Limited, of a certain piece or parcel of land in the Bay of Islands in which the Kawakawa Coal Mine is situate, and also a lease of the said railway, at the rents and royalties, and subject to the conditions, stipulations, and restrictions, as by the said agreement is provided, subject, however, to the provisions of the last-named Act:

And whereas differences having arisen between the Minister for Public Works and the said Company, in reference to the interpretation of the said agreement, and upon an arbitration an award was made, rendering it necessary that a fresh agreement should be entered into between the Governor and the aforesaid Company: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

Notwithstanding anything contained in sections nineteen to twenty-two of “The Immigration and Public Works Act, 1875,” the Governor, in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, may, subject to the right of emption in accordance with the original agreement, enter into a fresh agreement with the Bay of Islands Coal Company, Limited, for a mining lease of certain Crown land situate in the Ruapekapeka Block, in the Bay of Islands, and also a lease of the railway in the course of construction from the said land to a certain point in the Harbour of the Bay of Islands, upon such conditions, stipulations, and restrictions as he may deem advisable: Provided that any proposed agreement shall be laid before both Houses of the General Assembly within thirty days after the beginning of the next session of Parliament, and shall be binding if the same is not disapproved of by both Houses during such session.

It shall be lawful for the Council of the Thames County to contribute out of the County Fund such sums as they may from time to time think fit, towards the expenses incurred by any company or person in draining any gold mines, situate either within the county or adjacent thereto.

The Council of the Borough of the Thames shall have a like power of contribution out of the Borough Funds.

Notwithstanding anything contained in section twenty-five of the said Act, any land which has heretofore been taken or which may hereafter be taken under the said Act for the purposes of any harbour works, shall be vested in the Harbour Board of such harbour, instead of in Her Majesty, as in the said Act provided.

Upon the application of the Minister to a Judge of the Supreme Court, accompanied by an offer of the amount of compensation in the matter, and upon such proof as shall be satisfactory to such Judge that any person who has any right or title to prefer a claim for compensation arising under the said Act, or any Act repealed thereby, is absent from the colony, or is not known or has no known agent in the colony, such Judge shall direct such claim to be heard by a Compensation Court constituted under Part III. of the said Act, and shall appoint an Assessor to act in such Court on behalf of such person.

Thereupon such Court may proceed in the examination of such claim as in ordinary cases where the claimant is present.

In every such case the Public Trustee shall represent the claimant, and may act in his behalf in all matters incident to the claim or the hearing thereof; and the moneys payable as compensation shall be paid into the Public Trust Office, and shall there remain subject to the provisions of section sixty-five of the said Act.

Whereas the Grahamstown and Tararu Tramway was authorized to be constructed on certain conditions, and, among others, on the condition that the said tramway, with all the rights and interests pertaining thereto, should be assigned to the Superintendent of the Province of Auckland at the expiration of ten years from the first day of August, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in good order and condition, with the exception of the rolling-stock, which was to be paid for at the then valuation:

And whereas the Council of the Borough of the Thames have applied that the said tramway should, at the expiration of the aforesaid term, be handed over to the said borough in consideration of the expenses they have incurred in connection with the said tramway, and it is expedient that the said tramway should be vested in the said borough: Be it therefore enacted as follows:—

At the time proper for fulfilling the hereinbefore recited condition relating to the assignment of the Grahamstown and Tararu Tramway to the Superintendent aforesaid, the said tramway may and shall be assigned, by the parties proper to make the assignment, to the Corporation of the Borough of the Thames; and such assignment shall be deemed to be a good and valid fulfilment of the aforesaid condition, provided that such assignment is made in accordance with all other conditions relating thereto.

From and after the date of such assignment, the said tramway shall be deemed to be a tramway constructed by the said borough under the powers of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876.”

Whenever it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the Governor that any contract has been entered into for the sale or exchange of any land for the purposes of a road, and whether such land consists wholly or in part of closed road lines, it shall be lawful for the purpose of completing and perfecting such agreement, sale, or exchange, to do execute and perform all acts, matters, and things contemplated by the twenty-sixth section of “The Public Works Act 1876 Amendment Act, 1878,” as is thereby provided with respect to roads stopped in pursuance of any Act or Ordinance.

The power conferred upon the Crown by the one hundred and sixth section of “The Native Land Act, 1873,” of taking land held under Crown grant for roads, shall extend to land owned by Natives under certificate of title or memorial of ownership, but subject to the same limitations.

For the purpose of completing the reclamation of a portion of Dunedin Harbour for a railway station at Dunedin, now in progress, it shall be lawful for the Minister to construct a temporary line of tramway from the said station to the sand-hills at the Ocean Beach, along and across the intervening public roads and streets, and to use the said tramway so long as may be necessary for the purposes of the said reclamation without being subject to the payment of compensation for the occupation or use of such roads and streets: Provided that any damage occasioned by the construction of such tramway to any public road or street be made good by the Government on the removal of such tramway.