Minutes of the proceedings of the Council shall be kept in a book which shall be kept in the office of the Council, and shall be open to inspection without fee during all office hours by any Councillor or elector or by any creditor of the Corporation.

The minutes of the proceedings of the Council or of any committee, duly entered and authenticated as prescribed by the Council, shall be prima facie evidence of the proceedings and of the validity thereof.

The Council may from time to time make by-laws or pass resolutions prescribing the form and manner of keeping and authenticating the minutes.”

Any by-law that provides for the payment of fees for inspections and other services may also provide that, where the inspections and other services in respect of which a fee has been paid have not been made or given, the Council may refund any such fee or portion thereof as it may determine.”

Where a new county is formed by the union of two or more counties, the Council may, by special order made before any general rates have been levied in the new county, and notwithstanding anything in section two of the Counties Amendment Act 1931, resolve that general rates shall be made and levied separately in each of the former counties for such period not exceeding five years as is specified in the special order. In any such case the provisions of this Act as to the levying of rates separately in each riding of the county, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply as if each such former county were a riding of the new county.

Where a new county is formed by the union of two or more counties any of which immediately before the union made and levied general rates separately in each of its ridings, the Council, instead of making and levying general rates in accordance with subsection one of this section, may, by special order made before any general rates have been levied in the new county, and notwithstanding anything in section two of the Counties Amendment Act 1931, resolve that general rates shall be made and levied separately in each riding of the new county.

Subject to the provisions of any special order under subsection one or subsection two of this section, the Council of any such new county shall make and levy all general rates over the county as a whole, and the provisions of subsection four of section two of the Counties Amendment Act 1931 shall apply accordingly.”

The Council shall, unless the Audit Office otherwise directs, annually transfer to the General Account from each separate account kept by it such sum as in the opinion of the Council represents the proportionate part attributable to that separate account of the amount charged to the General Account in respect of the office, clerical, legal, and other expenses of the Council of any nature whatsoever.

If the Audit Office considers that any sum so transferred is excessive or insufficient, or that no sum should be transferred from any particular separate account, the Council shall forthwith retransfer from the General Account the whole, or so much thereof as the Audit Office directs, of the sum transferred from that separate account, or, as the case may require, shall transfer to the General Account from the separate account such sum as the Audit Office directs.”

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Land Transfer Act 1952, an agreement for sale under section one hundred and ninety-three of this Act or under section five of the Statutes Amendment Act 1951 (whether made before or after the commencement of this section) may be registered under the Land Transfer Act 1952 against the title of the Council to the land, in the same manner, subject to any modifications prescribed by regulations made under this section, as a lease may be so registered.

Where the District Land Registrar is satisfied that any such agreement has not been executed in duplicate, he may accept as a duplicate of the agreement a copy of the agreement duly authenticated to his satisfaction as a true copy, and every such authenticated copy shall, for the purposes of Part III of the Land Transfer Act 1952, be deemed to be a duplicate of the agreement.

Where any such agreement has been registered as aforesaid, every transfer, mortgage, lease, transmission, and other disposition of the land comprised therein may be registered in the same manner, subject to any modifications prescribed by any regulations made under this section, as a similar transfer, mortgage, lease, transmission, or disposition of a registered lease.

The same fee shall be payable on the registration of any transfer, mortgage, lease, transmission, or other disposition of the land comprised in any such agreement as on the registration of a similar transfer, mortgage, lease, transmission, or other disposition of an estate in fee simple in land.

The registration of any such agreement or of any assignment or other disposition thereof shall have the same effect in conferring priority of title as against any unregistered right, title, or interest, as if it were the registration of a transfer or other disposition of the legal estate in the land:

“Provided that registration shall not be necessary for the validity, either at law or in equity, of any such agreement or any assignment or other disposition thereof.

Where the Council rescinds any such agreement which has been registered under this section it may send a notice of rescission to the District Land Registrar, who, without further notice or inquiry and without fee, shall enter a memorial thereof upon the register.

Where the purchaser’s estate or interest under any such registered agreement is subject to any registered encumbrance, lien, or other interest, the District Land Registrar, before registering the purchaser as the proprietor of an estate in fee simple in the land, shall make all entries necessary to record on the certificate of title every existing registered encumbrance, lien, and interest, in the order of their registered priority; and the purchaser’s estate or interest in the land shall be subject to every such encumbrance, lien, and interest as if it had been created in respect of that estate.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make all such regulations as may in his opinion be necessary or expedient for regulating the mode of registration of instruments under this section. All such regulations shall be laid before Parliament within twenty-eight days after the date of the making thereof if Parliament is then in session, and, if not, shall be laid before Parliament within twenty-eight days after the date of the commencement of the next ensuing session.”

On being satisfied that any building in the county is in such a condition as to be dangerous to persons therein or in any adjoining building or to passers-by, the Council may—

The Council, on being satisfied that any building in the county is a deserted building, and is used, or has for the greater part of two months then past been Used, as a disorderly house, or as a refuge for thieves or prostitutes, or to the annoyance of the neighbourhood, may, after giving fourteen days’ notice in that behalf to the owner and to every person having a registered interest in the land under any mortgage or other encumbrance, cause the building to be pulled down, and may destroy, or sell and retain the proceeds of, the materials composing the same.

The Council, on being satisfied that any building (other than a dwellinghouse) in the county is in a dilapidated or ruinous condition, may give notice to the owner of the building to repair or take down the building within a time specified in the notice, and shall send a copy of the notice to every person having a registered interest in the land under any mortgage or other encumbrance.

If the owner of the building does not, within the time specified in any notice under subsection one or subsection three of this section, remove all danger by securing or taking down the building or, as the case may be, repair or take down the building, or commence to do so within that time and proceed therein with all reasonable expedition, a Magistrate’s Court may, upon the application of the Council and after notice to the owner and to every person having a registered interest in the land under any mortgage or other encumbrance, order the building to be secured or taken down or, as the case may be, to be repaired or taken down, as the Court thinks fit, within a time specified in the order.

If the order is not obeyed, the Council may cause the building to be secured or taken down or repaired in compliance with the order.

The Council may recover from the owner the cost of any hoarding or fence put up under subsection one of this section and the cost of securing or taking down or repairing any building under this section, together with all expenses incurred by the Council under this section.

Any such notice or order to the owner may, in the absence of the owner, be given by being posted by registered letter addressed to him at his last known address, or by being served upon his agent or upon the occupier (if any) of the building, or, if the owner’saddress is not known and he has no known agent and the building is unoccupied, by fixing the same on the building.

Any such notice to any other person having an interest in the land may be given to him by serving the same upon him personally or by posting it by registered letter addressed to him at his last known address or by serving it upon his agent.

If the building is taken down by the Council, the Council may destroy or sell the materials or any part thereof, and apply the proceeds in or towards payment of the expenses incurred under this section, and shall apply the residue (if any) in payment of any registered encumbrances on the land in the order of their priority, and shall upon demand pay the balance (if any) to the owner.

In any case in which immediate danger is apprehended arising from the condition of any building the Chairman may, upon the report of some competent person appointed by the Chairman, by warrant under his hand cause any measures to be taken necessary in his judgment to secure the safety of the public, until the next meeting of the Council.

The Council may recover from the owner all expenses incurred in taking any measures under subsection ten of this section to secure the safety of the public.

The term ‘building’ in this section includes any part of a building, or anything affixed thereto, and also a wall or fence, whether forming part of a building or not.”

In any case where an order has been made under section two hundred and four b hereof requiring any dangerous building to be secured or taken down or any dilapidated or ruinous building to be repaired or taken down and any money is recoverable by the Council under the provisions of that section, the Council may deposit with the District Land Registrar or the Registrar of Deeds, as the case may be, in the land registration district in which is situated the land whereon the building was erected, a certificate under the hand of the Clerk or other responsible officer of the Council describing the land and specifying the amount recoverable as aforesaid, and the Registrar shall thereupon register the certificate in respect of that land.

The money specified in a certificate registered under this section in respect of any land shall, until the payment thereof, be a charge on the land. The charge shall be deemed to have been created at the time of the registration of the certificate, and that registration shall be deemed to be registration of the charge for the purposes of the Statutory Land Charges Registration Act 1928.

Every charge created by this section shall, save as hereinafter provided, have priority over all existing or subsequent mortgages, charges, or encumbrances howsoever created. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other Act, if any land subject to a charge created by this section is also subject to a charge created by that other Act, the charges shall rank equally with each other unless by virtue of that other Act the charge created thereby would be deferred to the charge created by this section.”