Counties Act 1956
Counties Act 1956
Counties Act 1956
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Counties Act 1956
Public Act |
1956 No 64 |
|
Date of assent |
25 October 1956 |
|
Contents
An Act to consolidate and amend certain enactments of the General Assembly relating to counties and County Councils and road districts and Road Boards
BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1 Short Title, commencement, etc.
(1)
This Act may be cited as the Counties Act 1956.
(2)
This Act shall come into force on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and fifty-seven.
(3)
This Act is divided into Parts, as follows:
Part I—Constitution of Counties and Alteration of Boundaries. (Sections 3 to 28.)
Part II—County Councils. (Sections 29 to 45.)
Part III—Electors and Elections. (Sections 46 to 66.)
Part IV—The Chairman of the County. (Sections 67 to 70.)
Part V—Committees. (Sections 71 to 76.)
Part VI—Proceedings of Council and Committees. (Sections 77 to 92.)
Part VII—Officers. (Sections 93 to 95.)
Part VIII—The County Fund. (Sections 96 to 104.)
Part IX—Rates. (Sections 105 to 133.)
Part X—Expenditure. (Sections 134 to 144.)
Part XI—Accounts and Special Funds. (Sections 145 to 166.)
Part XII—Contracts. (Sections 167 to 169.)
Part XIII—Sale or Lease of Land. (Sections 170 to 182.)
Part XIV—Public Works. (Sections 183 to 190.)
Part XV—Roads, Bridges, and Ferries. (Sections 191 to 224.)
Part XVI—Land Drainage. (Sections 225 to 238.)
Part XVII—Sanitary and Stormwater Drainage. (Sections 239 to 264.)
Part XVIII—Waterworks. (Sections 265 to 283.)
Part XIX—Prevention of Fires. (Sections 284 to 289.)
Part XX—Lighting, and Supply of Electricity. (Sections 290 to 305.)
Part XXI—Public Health and Convenience. (Sections 306 to 318.)
Part XXII—Public Recreation, Instruction, and Amenities. (Sections 319 to 324.)
Part XXIII—Buildings and Other Places for Public Meetings, Etc. (Sections 325 to 334.)
Part XXIV—Markets, Weighing Machines, and Public Services. (Sections 335 to 344.)
Part XXV—Housing. (Sections 345 to 367.)
Part XXVI—Miscellaneous Powers. (Sections 368 to 380.)
Part XXVII—Private Works. (Sections 381 to 388.)
Part XXVIII—Offences and Legal Proceedings. (Sections 38 to 400.)
Part XXIX—Bylaws. (Sections 401 to 415.)
Part XXX—County Towns. (Sections 416 to 425.)
Part XXXI—Road Districts. (Sections 426 to 437.)
Part XXXII—Miscellaneous Provisions. (Sections 438 to 453.)
2 Interpretation
(1)
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
“Borough” means a borough constituted under the Municipal Corporations Act 1954, and includes a city:
“Borough Council” includes a City Council:
“Clerk”, in relation to a Road Board, includes any person for the time being appointed by the Board to perform the duties of Clerk thereof; and also includes the Chairman of the Board in any case where, under section four hundred and thirty-three of this Act, he is authorised to exercise the powers and discharge the functions and duties of the Clerk of the Board:
“Construction”, in relation to any work authorised by this Act, includes the execution, establishment, constitution, undertaking, or carrying out thereof; and “construct” has a corresponding meaning:
“Corporation” means the Corporation of a county or of a road district, as the case may be:
“Council” means the Council of a county:
“Councillor” means a member of the County Council:
“County” means a county under this Act:
“County Clerk” means the Clerk of the Council of a county, and includes any person for the time being appointed by the Council to perform the duties of Clerk thereto:
“County electors” or “electors” means persons qualified to vote at any election under Part III of this Act:
“Dependent town district” means a town district that forms part of the county within the boundaries of which it is situated:
“Engineer” means the Engineer appointed under this Act by the Council; and includes any person for the time being appointed by the Council to perform the duties of Engineer thereto:
“Financial year” means the period of twelve months ending with the thirty-first day of March in any year:
“Independent town district” means a town district that does not form part of the county within the boundaries of which it is situated:
“Local authority”, in relation to any county or borough or town district, means the Council thereof; in relation to any road district, means the Road Board; and, in relation to any other body, means the Board, Council, trustees, or other person or body (howsoever denominated) having authority by law to do the act or thing to which reference is made:
“Minister” means the Minister of Internal Affairs:
“Occupier” means the inhabitant occupier of any property:
“Owner”, in relation to any property, means the person for the time being entitled to receive the rack rent thereof, or who would be so entitled if the same were let to a tenant at a rack rent:
“Pollutant”, in relation to any water, means any substance that contaminates the water so as to change the physical or chemical condition thereof in such a manner as to make the water unclean, noxious, or impure, or as to be detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of persons using the water:
“Prescribed” means prescribed by this Act or by any regulation or bylaw made under its authority:
“Property” includes all real estate, and all personal estate, chattels, and effects, and all money and rates, whether in possession or reversion or recoverable by action or other legal proceeding, and the benefit of any contract or engagement, and every matter or thing the subject of property:
“Public notice” means a notice published in some newspaper circulating in the county or road district, as the case may be, or, where there is no such newspaper in general circulation, means a notice on printed placards affixed to public places in the county or road district, as the case may be; and “published”
and “publicly notified”
have meanings corresponding to the meaning of the term “public notice”
. A public notice setting forth the object, purport, or general effect of a document shall in any case be sufficient notice of that document:
“Public work” includes any public work within the meaning of the Public Works Act 1928:
“Rateable value”, in respect of any property, means its rateable value within the meaning of the Rating Act 1925:
“Rate book” means the rate book under the Rating Act 1925:
“Ratepayer” means a person whose name appears for the time being in the “Occupiers”
column in the rate book:
“Road district” and “Road Board” or “Board” mean respectively a road district and Road Board under Part XXXI of this Act:
“Special order” means a special order made in the manner provided by section eighty-seven of this Act:
“Town district” and “Town Council” mean respectively a town district and a Town Council constituted under the Municipal Corporations Act 1954:
“Treasurer” means the Treasurer appointed under this Act by the Council, and includes any person for the time being appointed by the Council to perform the duties of that office:
“Triennial election” means an election under section four of the Local Elections and Polls Act 1953:
“Valuation list” and “valuation roll” mean respectively the valuation list and the valuation roll under the provisions of the Rating Act 1925.
(2)
For the purposes of this Act, any two or more counties shall be deemed to be adjoining counties and any area shall be deemed to adjoin a county, notwithstanding that they may be separated by a road, any river or harbour, the sea, or any natural feature.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 2; 1920, No. 47, s. 2 A definition of “Sanitary Inspector”
was repealed by s. 139 of the Health Act 1956.
Part I Constitution of Counties and Alteration of Boundaries
3 This Part to be read subject to Local Government Commission Act 1953
The provisions of this Part of this Act shall be read subject to the provisions of the Local Government Commission Act 1953.
4 Counties in which Act is not in force
Except where this Act otherwise provides, this Act shall not apply to or be in force in the Counties of Sounds and Fiord.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 6; 1921–22, No. 64, s. 14(2); 1954, No. 36, s. 3(2)
Constitution of Counties
5 Existing counties
With respect to each county existing at the commencement of this Act the following provisions shall apply:
(a)
The county shall be deemed to be constituted a county under this Act:
(b)
The ridings of the county existing at the commencement of this Act are hereby declared to be ridings under this Act:
(c)
The county towns of the county existing at the commencement of this Act are hereby declared to be county towns under this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 7
6 Boundaries of counties divided by river or stream
Where a river or stream runs between two or more counties, wholly or in part, the boundaries of each such county shall, for the purposes of this Act, extend to the middle line of the river or stream, following its natural course.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 158(1)
7 Boroughs and independent town districts not to form part of counties
Boroughs and independent town districts shall not form part of any county, and any area of a county which becomes a borough or an independent town district, or part of a borough or of an independent town district, shall thereupon cease to form part of the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 8
8 Union of counties
(1)
The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, declare any two or more counties to be united and to form one county under such name as he thinks fit.
(2)
No Order in Council shall be made under this section unless—
(a)
Either—
(i)
The Council of each of the counties proposed to be united has passed a special order recommending that the counties should be united so as to form one county and thereafter a joint petition, under seal, of all the counties is presented to the Governor-General praying for the union of those counties; or
(ii)
The Council of any of the counties proposed to be united has passed a special order recommending the union of that county with the other county or counties, but the Council of any other such county has not within three months thereafter passed a special order recommending the union of the said counties, and a petition, under seal, by any Council that has passed the special order is presented to the Governor-General praying for the union of those counties; and
(b)
The petition has been referred to the Local Government Commission under subsection two of section fifteen of the Local Government Commission Act 1953; and
(c)
The Local Government Commission has recommended that the counties be united under this section so as to form one county.
Compare: 1925, No. 49, ss. 2, 3
9 United counties
(1)
Upon the constitution of a county formed by the union of two or more counties, the Governor-General shall divide the county into such number of ridings (not exceeding twelve), with such names and boundaries, as he thinks fit, fix the number of members to be elected for each riding and the day for the first election, appoint a Returning Officer for that election, and generally do all things he deems necessary in order to bring this Act into operation in the county.
(2)
The number of members to be elected for each riding shall be fixed so as to give due representation to the several ridings, after taking into account the rateable value and number of electors of each riding and such additional factors of any kind as the Governor-General considers relevant.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 10(2), 11, 67; 1925, No. 49, s. 4
10 Effect of union of counties
On the union of two or more counties the following provisions shall have effect, namely:
(a)
The Councils of the original counties shall be dissolved: Provided that the Governor-General may direct that until the Councillors elected at the first general election of Councillors held after the union come into office, such of the Councillors of the original counties (not exceeding twelve) as the Governor-General appoints shall be members of the Council of the united county:
(b)
All property, real or personal, belonging to any of the original counties shall become vested in the Corporation of the united county:
(c)
All rates and other money payable to the Council of any of the original counties shall become payable to the Council of the united county:
(d)
All the liabilities and engagements of any of the original counties shall become liabilities and engagements of the united county:
(e)
All proceedings pending by or against any of the original counties may be carried on and prosecuted by or against the Corporation of the united county:
(f)
All bylaws in force in any of the original counties at the time of the union which are applicable to the altered circumstances, and which can be restricted to the area in which they were in force before that union, shall become bylaws of the united county, and may be revoked or altered by the Council of the united county, but until so revoked or altered every such bylaw shall remain in force in the area only in which it was in force before that union:
(g)
All bylaws in force in any of the original counties at the time of the union which are not applicable to the altered circumstances, or which cannot be restricted to the area in which they were in force before that union, shall be deemed to have been revoked by that union.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 10(3)
11 Alteration of county boundaries
(1)
The boundaries of any two or more adjoining counties (whether or not this Act is in force in those counties) may from time to time be altered by the Governor-General by Order in Council under this section.
(2)
No Order in Council shall be made under this section unless—
(a)
A petition has been presented to the Governor-General praying the Governor-General to include in the county any defined adjoining area or, as the case may be, to exclude any area from the county and to include it in some other county; and
(b)
The petition has been signed by not less than one-fourth of the persons having a rating qualification in respect of land within that area or, in the case of any area situated within a county in which this Act is not in force, by not less than one-fourth of the persons whose names appear in the “Occupiers”
column of the valuation roll of the county under the Valuation of Land Act 1951 in respect of property situated within that area; and
(c)
The petition has been referred to the Local Government Commission under subsection two of section fifteen of the Local Government Commission Act 1953; and
(d)
The Local Government Commission has recommended that the boundaries of the counties be altered under this section.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 14; 1925, No. 49, ss. 5, 6
12 County not to include part only of road district or dependent town district
The boundaries of a county shall not be so altered that the county will contain part only of a road district or dependent town district.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 16(1)
13 County from which part is severed to remain the same county
Except where otherwise specially provided by this Act, where part of a county is severed therefrom to be included in another county or in a borough or independent town district, the remaining part of the original county and the remaining ridings and the remaining part of any riding shall be deemed to be the same county, ridings, or riding, and the Corporation of the original county to be the same Corporation, as before the severance, and the members of the Council of the remaining part of the county shall continue to be members thereof as though the severance had not been made.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 12
14 Governor-General may include neighbouring islands within county
(1)
The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council,—
(a)
On the petition publicly notified of the Council, alter the boundaries of the county so as to include therein any island or islands in the sea adjacent to the county which do not form part of any other county or of any borough or independent town district; or
(b)
On the petition of not less than two-thirds of the rate payers in respect of land in any island forming part of a county, exclude that island from the county, and declare that it shall not form part of any county.
(2)
Every such petition shall be referred to the Local Government Commission under subsection two of section fifteen of the Local Government Commission Act 1953, and no Order in Council shall be made under this section unless the Commission so recommends.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 15
15 Reclaimed land may be added to county, and certain land may be included or excluded, on petition of Council
(1)
The Governor-General may from time to time by Order in Council, on the petition of the Council of any county, publicly notified at least one month before presentation, alter the boundaries of the county so as to—
(a)
Include in the county any land reclaimed from the sea adjoining the county; or
(b)
Include in the county any land that does not form part of any other county or of any borough or town district or road district; or
(c)
Exclude from the county any land in respect of which there are no ratepayers.
(2)
Every such petition shall be referred to the Local Government Commission under subsection two of section fifteen of the Local Government Commission Act 1953, and no Order in Council may be made under this section unless the Commission so recommends.
16 Altered boundaries to be gazetted
Whenever a new county is constituted under section eight of this Act, or the boundaries of an existing county are altered, the boundaries of the county and of the district of every other local authority and of every riding or other subdivision affected by the constitution or alteration shall be defined by notice in the Gazette under the hand of the Secretary for Internal Affairs.
17 Creditors not affected by alteration of county or by union of counties
Neither the alteration of the boundaries of a county nor the constitution of any county by the union of two or more counties shall in any way affect the rights or interests of any debenture holder or other creditor of any county from which a part is thereby severed, or of any county united with any other county, or shall relieve the ratepayers for the time being in any such part, or of any county united with any other county, from their liability to pay any special or other rate made under this or any other Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 17
18 Financial adjustments on alteration of boundaries
(1)
Where the boundaries of any county are altered, the several local authorities affected may, by agreements executed under the common seals of their respective Corporations, make such an adjustment of property, liabilities, contracts, and engagements, and all rights and authorities of any nature whatever, between the local authorities affected by the alteration of boundaries, as those local authorities think fit, and every such agreement shall be enforceable accordingly; but, in default of any such agreement, it shall be lawful for the Governor-General to make the adjustment.
(2)
Whenever, upon the alteration of the boundaries of a county, agreements for financial and other adjustments are required to be made as specified in subsection one of this section, those agreements shall provide, inter alia, for the following matters:
(a)
What part (if any) of the real and personal property of the local authority or local authorities directly affected by the alteration shall respectively become the property of the local authority acquiring the severed area:
(b)
What part of the rates payable to the local authority from which the added area has been taken shall be deemed payable to the local authority acquiring the severed area:
(c)
What part (if any) of the debts, liabilities, or engagements of the local authority from which the added area has been taken, whether absolute and outstanding at the date of the severance or then contingent or prospective (if the same be capable of estimation), shall be liabilities or engagements of the local authority acquiring the severed area:
(d)
What part (if any) of the interest and sinking fund of any loan raised by the local authority from which the added area has been taken shall be payable by the local authority acquiring the severed area.
(3)
If no such agreements as aforesaid are made within three months from the date of the alteration of boundaries as aforesaid, the following provisions shall apply:
(a)
Upon the written application (addressed to the Minister) of any of the local authorities directly affected by the alteration, the Governor-General may appoint a Commission to inquire and report to him upon any matters which he shall deem necessary to enable him to make an adjustment of property, liabilities, contracts, and engagements between the local authorities:
(b)
The Commission shall report to the. Governor-General, after such inquiry as it thinks necessary, its opinion as to the matters inquired into, but it shall not be obligatory on the Governor-General to act in accordance with any opinion or recommendation expressed or made by the Commission:
(c)
The Commission shall have all the powers of a Commission appointed by the Governor-General in Council under the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908:
(d)
After consideration of the report of the Commission, the Governor-General may, by Warrant under his hand, make such adjustment or award as he deems just, and the same shall be notified to the parties by the Minister.
(4)
Any such adjustment or award may provide for all or any of the matters mentioned in subsection two of this section and may declare in whom any property shall be vested, and for what estate, and by whom any money shall be paid, or other acts and things done (including the payment by either party of the whole or any part of the costs and expenses of the inquiry), and generally may give such directions as may be necessary for giving full effect to this section relating to financial adjustments.
(5)
Every such adjustment or award shall be final and conclusive as between the parties.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 16(2)–(5)
19 Borrowing powers of Council to meet liability on financial adjustment
Where, pursuant to any adjustment made under section eighteen of this Act on the severance or addition of any area from or to a county, any liability is imposed upon the Corporation of the county or of any road district, it shall be lawful for the Council or the Board, as the case may be, to raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 by special order and, notwithstanding anything in section thirty-four of that Act, without the consent of the ratepayers, for the purpose of meeting the liability so imposed.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 16(6)
20 Rates made as security for loan raised to meet liability on financial adjustment
Where, on the addition of any area to a county or road district, any liability is imposed under section eighteen of this Act on the Corporation of the county or road district, any special rate made and levied as security for any loan raised under section nineteen of this Act may be made and levied over the whole county or road district or, if the special order to raise the loan so provides, over the area so added.
Ridings
21 County to be divided into ridings
(1)
Every county shall be divided into ridings.
(2)
The number of ridings in any county shall not exceed twelve.
(3)
The ridings shall have such names and boundaries as are assigned to them under the provisions of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 18
22 Riding not to contain part only of dependent town district
(1)
A riding shall not comprise any area which is part only of a dependent town district.
(2)
Where by reason of the alteration of the boundaries of a dependent town district or by any other cause, any one or more of the ridings of the county are not in conformity with the provisions of subsection one of this section, the Council shall, within one month from the happening of that event, proceed by way of special order to alter the riding or ridings accordingly.
(3)
If no such special order is made, the Governor-General, by Order in Council gazetted, may make such alteration as he thinks fit to give effect to this section.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 19, 24
23 Council may alter ridings
The Council may from time to time by special order alter the number of the ridings within the county, and the name and boundaries thereof, or of any of them, subject to the condition that the number of ridings shall not be more than twelve.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 23
24 Powers of Governor-General as to ridings on alteration of county boundaries
(1)
Where the boundaries of a county are altered by the inclusion therein of any area, the Governor-General may, if he thinks fit, by Order in Council, redivide the county or any part thereof into ridings, or declare that any area or part of an area added to the county shall be included in one or more of the existing ridings thereof, or shall form one or more new ridings.
(2)
Where the boundaries of any county are altered by the exclusion therefrom of any area, the Governor-General may, if he thinks fit, by Order in Council, redivide the county or any part thereof into ridings, or declare the remaining portion of any riding, part of which has been so excluded from the county, to form part of any one or more other ridings of the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 21
25 Riding abolished when three-fourths included in borough or independent town district
Where not less than three-fourths of the area originally included in a riding has been included in any one or more boroughs or independent town districts, the riding shall cease to be a riding of the county, and the member or members representing the riding shall cease to be a member or members of the Council; and any portion or portions of the riding not included in a borough or independent town district shall be added to any one or more of the ridings of the county, in such manner as the Council, by special order, determines.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 22
26 Rights of creditors secured by special rates not affected by alterations of ridings
Nothing in this Act shall in any way affect the rights or interests of any creditor of a county or of the Council thereof, if the creditor is secured by a special rate on the rateable property in any riding from which a part has been taken either to form a new riding or to be added to an existing riding, or shall relieve the ratepayers for the time being in the area comprised in any such first-mentioned riding from their liability to pay any special rate made under any Act as a security for a loan.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 26
Merging Dependent Town Districts in County
27 Dependent town districts may be merged in county
The Council may, if it thinks fit, by special order declare the Town Council of any dependent town district forming part of the county to be dissolved, and the town district to be merged in the county, subject to the following conditions:
(a)
That a petition is presented to the Council signed by a majority of the ratepayers of the town district possessing in the aggregate not less than half the rateable property in the town district, praying the Council to abolish the district;
(b)
That notice of the petition is published in the town district not less than one month before presentation;
(c)
That the petition has been referred to the Local Government Commission under subsection two of section fifteen of the Local Government Commission Act 1953; and
(d)
That the Local Government Commission has recommended that the merger be effected under this section.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 27
28 When town district merged, assets, liabilities, and powers to vest in county
When any dependent town district is merged in a county—
(a)
All property, real or personal, belonging to the Corporation of the town district shall become vested in the Corporation of the county:
(b)
All functions, powers, rights, and duties theretofore vested in or imposed upon the Town Council shall become vested in and imposed upon the County Council:
(c)
All rates or other money payable to the Town Council shall become due and payable to the County Council:
(d)
All actions, suits, and proceedings pending by or against the Corporation of the town district may be carried on and prosecuted by or against the Corporation of the County:
(e)
The duties, powers, and functions of the Chairman and Town Clerk of the Town Council (if any) shall be exercised by the Chairman and County Clerk of the county respectively:
(f)
All the liabilities, contracts, and engagements of the Town Council shall become liabilities, contracts, and engagements of the County Council:
(g)
All bylaws in force in the town district at the time of the merger which are applicable to the altered circumstances shall become bylaws of the county, and may be revoked or altered by the County Council, but until so revoked or altered every such bylaw shall remain in force in the area only in which it was in force prior to that merger; and every bylaw which cannot be restricted to that area shall be deemed inapplicable, and all bylaws which are inapplicable to the altered circumstances shall be deemed to have been revoked by that merger.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 32
Part II County Councils
Incorporation
29 Incorporation of counties
The inhabitants of every county shall be a body corporate, under the style of “The Chairman, Councillors, and Inhabitants of the County of [Name of County],”
with perpetual succession and a common seal, with power for the Council by special order to alter and change the seal; and shall, for the purposes and subject to the provisions of this Act, be capable of purchasing or otherwise acquiring, holding, disposing of, and alienating real and personal property, and of doing and suffering all such other acts and things as bodies corporate may by law do and suffer.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 35
Capacity of Council
30 County Councils
(1)
In every county there shall be a governing body, consisting of a Council elected as hereinafter mentioned and described as “The [Name of County] County Council”
.
(2)
The body corporate of a county shall act by the Council of the county, and the Council shall exercise all powers vested in the Corporation by this Act or otherwise.
(3)
Every contract, debt, or other liability entered into or incurred, and every act or thing done or suffered, by the Council under this or any other Act, shall for all purposes be deemed to be the contract, debt, liability, or act of the Corporation represented by the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 36
Joint Action by Several Councils
31 Councils may unite in joint contracts and works
(1)
The Council may unite with other Councils or with any other local authorities within the meaning of Part I of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 in the execution and maintenance of any works, or the performance of any matter or thing, deemed by all the local authorities concerned to be of benefit to their respective districts, and being within their several powers, and may agree as to the joint control or management of anything that concerns in any way their respective districts, or as to the control or management by one or more of those local authorities of any such thing.
(2)
For any such purpose the local authorities may enter into contracts between themselves, and into contracts between themselves or some or one of them on behalf of all of them on the one hand, and any other corporation or person on the other hand, and generally may join in any act.
(3)
Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by section four hundred and forty-nine of this Act, regulations may be made under that section prescribing the manner in which local authorities may unite in any joint act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 148, 161, 180
32 Councils may unite in joint purchase, hire, operation, and maintenance of plant and machinery
The Council may unite with other Councils or with any other local authorities within the meaning of Part I of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 in the purchase, hire, operation, and maintenance of plant and machinery upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon, and for that purpose those local authorities may enter into contracts (being within their several powers) between themselves or some or one of them on behalf of all of them on the one hand and any other corporation or person on the other hand, and generally may join in any act.
Constitution of the Council
33 Constitution of Council
(1)
The Council shall consist of not fewer than six nor more than twelve Councillors.
(2)
There shall be at least one Councillor for each riding.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 58
34 Candidate not eligible for nomination for more than one riding
If any candidate consents to be nominated for more than one riding, his nomination shall in every case be void.
Compare: 1920, No. 46, s. 66
35 Readjustment of representation in general election year
The Council shall, on some day in March preceding every triennial election, hold a meeting for the purpose of considering the representation of the different ridings, and shall, if necessary, adjust the same so as to give due representation to the several ridings after taking into account the rateable value and number of electors of each riding and such additional factors of any kind as the Council considers relevant.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 60; 1946, No. 27, s. 2(9); 1955, No. 66, s. 2
36 Alteration of representation
(1)
The Council may from time to time by special order alter, within the limits aforesaid, the number of members of the Council and the number of Councillors to be elected by each riding, as it thinks fit, after taking into account the matters specified in section thirty-five of this Act.
(2)
Every such special order shall come into full force only at a general election of the Council, except in so far and to such extent as may be necessary for providing for that election.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 59
37 Election of Councillors
Members of the Council shall be elected, in manner provided in Part III of this Act, by the electors of each riding of the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 61
38 Electors qualified for election as Councillors
Subject to section thirty-nine of this Act, every elector shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 62(2)
39 Disqualification for office of Councillor
The following persons shall be incapable of being elected to be a Councillor, that is to say:
(a)
Any person who does not possess a qualification as an elector:
(b)
An alien:
(c)
A mentally defective person within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1911:
(d)
A bankrupt who has not obtained his order of discharge, or whose order of discharge is suspended for a term not yet expired, or is subject to conditions not yet fulfilled:
(e)
A person convicted of any offence punishable by imprisonment, unless he has received a free pardon, or has served his sentence, or otherwise suffered the penalty imposed on him.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 62(1); 1932, No. 30, s. 28; 1934, No. 17, ss. 3, 9; 1944, No. 6, s. 10; 1953, No. 16, s. 103(1)
40 Extraordinary vacancies
(1)
If any person, while holding office as Councillor,—
(a)
Ceases to possess a qualification as an elector; or
(b)
Becomes a mentally defective person within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1911; or
(c)
Is adjudged a bankrupt; or
(d)
Is convicted of any offence punishable by imprisonment,—
his office shall be thereby vacated.
(2)
If any person does any act as a Councillor, being incapacitated under subsection one of this section except under paragraph (b) thereof, or before he has made and subscribed a declaration in the form in the First Schedule to this Act, he commits an offence against this Act:
Provided that the act of taking or attesting the declaration of any Councillor, as required by section forty-one of this Act, or the act of appointing an officer of the Council to act in place of the County Clerk for the purpose of that section, shall not be deemed to be an act as a Councillor within the meaning of this subsection.
(3)
It shall be the duty of the Audit Office to institute proceedings under this section, but nothing herein shall be so construed as to prevent such proceedings from being taken by any other person.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 62(1), 63; 1932, No. 30, s. 28; 1934, No. 17, ss. 3, 9; 1944, No. 6, s. 10; 1953, No. 16, s. 103(1)
41 Declaration by Councillor
No person shall be capable of acting as Councillor until he has made and signed a declaration in the form in the First Schedule to this Act. That declaration shall be attested by the Chairman or by any Councillor or by the County Clerk, or, in case of the illness or other incapacity of the County Clerk, by some other officer of the Council appointed for the purpose.
42 Vacation of office by Councillor
Any Councillor may resign his office by writing under his hand delivered to the Chairman or to the County Clerk; and in that case, or in case of his death, incapacity, or ouster from office, or his absence without the leave of the Council from four consecutive ordinary meetings thereof, his office shall become vacant.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 64; 1949, No. 27, s. 8; 1953, No. 16, s. 103(1)
43 Fresh elections to be held in certain cases
On the happening in a county of any of the events mentioned in this section, fresh elections of Councillors shall be held, as hereinafter provided, in like manner as if extraordinary vacancies had occurred in the offices of the Councillors by resignation in the respective cases mentioned, that is to say:
(a)
Where the county or any part thereof is redivided into new ridings, all the Councillors in office in the original ridings affected by the redivision shall go out of office, and an election of Councillors shall be held in respect of the new ridings, or such of the original ridings as are affected by the redivision:
(b)
Where any riding is subdivided into two or more ridings, the Councillors in office for the riding shall go out of office, and the Council shall, subject to the limits imposed by this Act, fix the number of Councillors for the new ridings, and an election of Councillors for each of the new ridings shall be held:
(c)
Where an adjoining district or area is added to the county and is added to an existing riding, or any area being part of an abolished riding is added to an existing riding under section twenty-five of this Act, then, on the petition of a majority of the electors having a qualification in respect of the district or area so added, lodged with the Council within two months of the addition of that district or area to the riding, or if within that period the Council so decides without any such petition, all the Councillors in office for that riding shall go out of office, and an election of Councillors for that riding shall be held: Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall apply unless there are ten or more electors having a qualification in respect of the district or area so added:
(d)
Where any such district or area is incorporated with a county and forms one or more new ridings, the Governor-General may, subject to the limits imposed by this Act, fix the number of Councillors for the new ridings, and an election of Councillors shall be held for those ridings. In any case where the increased number of Councillors will increase the total number beyond the maximum, the Governor-General shall adjust the representation of the several ridings, and a fresh election of Councillors shall be held to represent the several ridings affected.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 69
44 Governor-General may adjust representation to comply with Act
Where, on the alteration of the boundaries of a county the number of ridings is reduced, the Governor-General may, by Order in Council, increase the number of Councillors to represent all or any of the ridings of the county so as to comply with the requirements of section thirty-three of this Act, and in any such case an election of any additional member or members shall be held.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 70
Ouster of Office
45 Ouster of office of Councillor
(1)
Upon proof in the first instance by affidavit or otherwise that any Councillor is or has become incapable under this Act of holding his office, any Magistrate’s Court in the county, or, if there is no such Court, then the Magistrate’s Court nearest to the public office of the Council, may grant a summons calling upon the person holding the office of Councillor to show cause why he should not be adjudged to be ousted of the same.
(2)
If on the return of that summons it appears to the Court, on affidavit, or oral evidence on oath, that that person is incapable under this Act of holding the said office, the Court may adjudge that person to be ousted of the same, and he shall be ousted of his office accordingly.
(3)
In any such proceedings the Magistrate’s Court may exercise all the powers and authorities which it may exercise in its ordinary jurisdiction in civil cases; and the procedure of the Court shall, so far as applicable, apply generally to the proceedings.
(4)
No matter in relation to a disputed election shall be heard by the Magistrate’s Court under this section.
(5)
No question which may be tried under this section shall be tried in the Supreme Court; and no proceedings in the Magistrate’s Court hereunder shall be removable into the Supreme Court by certiorari or otherwise.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 74
Part III Electors and Elections
Electors
46 County electors
Every person of the full age of twenty-one years whose name appears on the roll of electors of a riding that is for the time being in force shall be entitled to vote at any election.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 37(1)
47 Elector’s name to appear only once on riding roll
The name of any person shall not appear more than once on the roll of electors of any riding.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 43
48 Ratepayer’s qualification
Every person whose name appears in the “Occupiers”
column of any valuation roll in respect of rateable property within a riding (including any dependent town district forming part of a riding) shall be entitled to be enrolled as a county elector for that riding.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 37(2)
49 Joint occupiers
In any case where there is more than one person appearing on the valuation roll as the occupier of any one property, then, for the purpose of voting, only the person whose name appears first on the roll in respect of that property shall be entitled to vote in respect thereof.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 39
50 Residential qualification
(1)
Every person of the full age of twenty-one years shall be qualified to be a county elector and to have his name entered on the roll of electors of any riding who possesses a residential qualification, meaning thereby—
(a)
That he is or has the status of a British subject or is an Irish citizen, as defined in the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948; and
(b)
That he has resided for one year in New Zealand; and
(c)
That he has resided in the riding for not less than three months immediately preceding his enrolment or claim for enrolment as a county elector:
Provided that, where any person entitled under this subsection to have his name entered on the roll of electors of any riding is also entitled to have his name so entered by virtue of his being a ratepayer, his name shall be entered on the roll in respect of that rating qualification only.
(2)
For the purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to reside in the place in which he has his permanent home.
(3)
Where any area has been added to a riding, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, every person who has resided in that area during any period before it was so added shall be deemed for the purposes of paragraph (c) of subsection one of this section to have resided during that period in the riding.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 39a; 1952, No. 75, s. 2(1)
51 Number of votes to which elector entitled
(1)
Every person of the full age of twenty-one years enrolled as a county elector pursuant to section forty-eight of this Act shall be entitled to vote at every election of a member of the Council for each riding in which he is so enrolled according to the following scale:
(a)
If the rateable value of his rateable property in the riding, whether in one or more tenements, as appearing on any valuation roll is not more than one thousand pounds, he shall have one vote:
(b)
If the rateable value of his rateable property as aforesaid is more than one thousand pounds but not more than two thousand pounds, he shall have two votes:
(c)
If the rateable value of his rateable property as aforesaid is more than two thousand pounds, he shall have three votes.
(2)
Subject to the provisions of the Act under which the poll is held, the number of votes to which any person enrolled as a county elector pursuant to section forty-eight of this Act is entitled at any poll (other than an election) held under this Act or any other Act shall be calculated in accordance with the scale specified in subsection one of this section, and as if all his rateable property in the area over which the poll is held were situated within one riding.
(3)
Every person enrolled as a county elector pursuant to section fifty of this Act shall have one vote only at every election of a member of the Council for the riding in which he is so enrolled.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 38, 39a(3); 1952, No. 75, s. 2(1), (3)
Rolls of Electors
52 Preparation of rolls
(1)
The County Clerk shall, on or before the thirty-first day of July in any year in which a triennial election of Councillors is to be held, cause a roll to be prepared for each riding in the county in the prescribed form and containing the names, arranged in alphabetical order of their surnames, of—
(a)
Every occupier within the meaning of the Rating Act 1925 of rateable property in the riding:
(b)
Every person who makes a claim in the prescribed form that he is entitled by reason of a residential qualification to have his name entered on the roll, unless to the County Clerk’s knowledge any statement made by the applicant in his claim is untrue:
(c)
Every other person who to the County Clerk’s knowledge is entitled by virtue of section fifty of this Act to have his name entered on the roll,—
and he shall enter thereon the number of votes to which each elector is entitled at an election of a member of the Council, and he may also enter thereon the number of votes to which each elector is entitled at any other election for which the roll is used:
Provided that the County Clerk, if the Council so directs, shall not, except pursuant to a claim in the prescribed form, place on the roll the name of any person whose name appeared by virtue only of a residential qualification on the roll of the riding in force for the last general election of Councillors, if that person, not being a candidate, did not vote at that election or at any one of any subsequent elections of a Councillor or Councillors at which he was entitled to vote.
(2)
Every person who wilfully makes a false statement in any claim for enrolment under this section commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(3)
It shall be the duty of every County Council to keep at its office and at such other places as it thinks fit a supply of forms of claims for enrolment on any roll of electors prepared by the Council and to make them available for the free use of claimants.
(4)
The rolls of electors of the several ridings shall together constitute the county electors roll.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 41; 1952, No. 75, s. 4(1)
53 Deposit of rolls for public inspection
A copy of the county electors roll shall be kept at the office of the Council; and a copy of the roll of electors of each riding shall be kept at some place in the riding of which the Council shall cause public notice to be given; and those rolls shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable hours for a prescribed period in each year in which a triennial election of Councillors is to be held.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 44; 1946, No. 27, s. 2(9); 1952, No. 75, s. 5(1)
54 Objection to county electors roll
(1)
Any person may, in the prescribed time, manner, and form lodge with the Council an objection in writing under his hand to the county electors roll on any of the following grounds:
(a)
That any person whose name is on the roll in respect of any qualification does not possess that qualification at the time when the objection is lodged;
(b)
That any person whose name is not on the roll possesses the necessary qualification at the time when the objection is lodged and is entitled to have his name enrolled; or
(c)
That the number of votes allotted to any person is greater or less than that to which he is entitled.
(2)
The Council shall forthwith, after receipt of any such objection, inquire into the objection and determine whether or not it shall be allowed.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 45; 1946, No. 27, s. 2(9); 1952, No. 75, s. 6(1)
55 Amendment of county electors roll
(1)
The Council shall from time to time, upon allowing any objection as aforesaid or of its own motion, amend the county electors roll by adding to the roll of electors of any riding the name of any person who then in fact possesses the necessary qualification but is not entered thereon, and by removing the name of any person who does not then in fact possess the necessary qualification but is entered thereon.
(2)
The Council shall also from time to time make in the county electors roll any necessary corrections in the statement of the names, occupations, addresses, and qualifications of persons enrolled thereon, and of the number of votes to which any such person is entitled.
(3)
The functions conferred upon the Council by this section shall be exercised by the County Clerk when the Council is not actually sitting.
(4)
Where the name of any person is removed from the roll for any reason other than the death of that person, notice in writing of the removal shall forthwith be given by the County Clerk by letter addressed to the person whose name is so removed.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 46; 1952, No. 75, s. 7
56 Appeals to Magistrate in respect of county electors roll
(1)
Any person aggrieved by any decision or act of the Council or of the County Clerk touching or concerning the county electors roll may, in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time, appeal therefrom to a Magistrate, who shall hear and determine the appeal, and may order such alterations in and additions to the roll to be made as he thinks just.
(2)
All such alterations and additions shall be made by the County Clerk and initialled by the Magistrate.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 47; 1952, No. 75, s. 8(1)
57 When roll in force
(1)
The roll of electors of each riding shall be corrected, completed, and authenticated in the prescribed manner and time, and shall come into force on the first day of October next ensuing, and shall remain in force until another roll of electors comes into force for the same riding.
(2)
All corrections and additions required to be made after the completion of the roll of electors of any riding shall be made on a supplementary roll of electors of that riding, which shall be corrected, completed, and authenticated in the same manner as in the case of the roll of electors, and thereupon shall form part of the roll of electors of the riding.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 48; 1952, No. 75, s. 9(1)
58 New rolls on redivision of county or alteration of riding
Where a county or any part thereof is redivided into new ridings, or where the boundaries of any existing riding or ridings are altered so as to render it desirable to make up new rolls, the County Clerk shall forthwith make up from the rolls of electors in force in the several ridings of the county new rolls of electors for each such new riding, or for each riding affected by any alteration as aforesaid, and shall enter on the new roll of each such riding the name of each elector who appears from the respective rolls in force to be entitled to be placed thereon, and the number of votes to which he is entitled under this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 50
59 New rolls on addition of area to county
Where the boundaries of a county are altered by the inclusion therein of any area, the County Clerk shall forthwith make up new rolls of electors for the several ridings affected by the alteration, including any new ridings, and shall assign to each elector the number of votes to which he is entitled under this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 51
60 Rolls for new counties
Where a new county is constituted by the union of two or more counties, such person as the Governor-General appoints shall forthwith make up rolls of electors of the several ridings of the new county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 52
61 Rolls signed by the County Clerk to be rolls until new rolls made
The rolls of electors made under section fifty-eight or section fifty-nine or section sixty of this Act when signed by the County Clerk, or by such person as the Governor-General appoints, as the case may be, shall be the rolls of electors of the riding or ridings until new rolls are made up in accordance with this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 53
62 Proof of rolls
Any written or printed copy attested by the County Clerk, or by such person as the Governor-General appoints as aforesaid, to be a correct copy of the roll of electors of any riding, or of any roll of electors formed under this Act, shall, unless the contrary is proved, be proof that the roll has been duly made, and no defect in the title to office of any person making, correcting, or signing any such roll shall invalidate the roll.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 54
63 Duration of rolls
Where from any cause the roll of electors of any riding is not made out and completed so as to come into force at the time prescribed by this Act, the then existing roll of electors of that riding shall continue in force until a new roll is made out and completed.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 55
64 Rolls for purposes of polls
(1)
For the taking of a poll on any proposal that is to be submitted to the votes of all or some of the electors of a county, the County Clerk shall prepare from the county electors roll a roll comprising the names of all the electors entitled to vote at the poll and the number of votes to which they are entitled, but so that the name of any person shall not appear more than once on that roll.
(2)
The roll of electors to be prepared under subsection one of this section shall be prepared—
(a)
By preparing a new roll for the purpose; or
(b)
By striking out from an official copy of the county electors roll or of the appropriate roll or rolls of electors of any one or more ridings the name of every person who is not entitled to vote at the poll, and the name of every other person whose name appears more than once (except where that name first appears); or
(c)
By indicating by appropriate words, abbreviations, or marks on an official copy of the county electors roll or of the appropriate roll or rolls of electors of any one or more ridings the name of every person whose name appears on any such roll and who is entitled to vote at the poll.
(3)
Where the roll of electors is prepared under paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of subsection two of this section, the County Clerk may make such alterations in the official copy of any roll used for the purpose of preparing the roll as may be necessary to indicate the number of votes to which any electors are entitled at the poll.
(4)
The roll shall be corrected, completed, and authenticated in the manner hereinbefore provided in the case of the roll of electors of a riding.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 56
65 Use of rolls by other local authorities
All local authorities or other public bodies entitled to use the county electors roll or the roll of electors of any riding for the purposes of the election of their members or for polls taken by them shall pay to the Council a fair proportion of the cost of making and printing the roll. That proportion shall, in case of dispute, be fixed by the Audit Office.
Elections and Polls
66 Local Elections and Polls Act 1953 applied
(1)
All elections under this Act, and all polls taken on any proposals that under this Act or any other Act are submitted to the votes of the electors or ratepayers of the county, or of any riding or other defined portion thereof, shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be held and conducted under the provisions in that behalf of the Local Elections and Polls Act 1953:
Provided that in proceedings for the raising of loans the provisions of this section shall be read subject to the provisions of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
(2)
Except where otherwise expressly provided in any case, the majority required to determine any election or carry any proposal shall be a majority of the valid votes cast at the poll.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 61
Part IV The Chairman of the County
67 Election of Chairman
(1)
The Chairman of the county shall be elected by the Council from amongst its members at its first meeting, and thereafter at the annual meeting in every succeeding year.
(2)
At every meeting for the election of a Chairman the County Clerk shall preside, and in any case of an equality of votes shall determine the election by lot in such manner as the Council directs.
(3)
The Chairman shall come into office on his election, and shall hold office until the election of his successor.
(4)
The County Clerk shall, upon every election of a County Chairman, forthwith give notice thereof to the Secretary for Internal Affairs.
(5)
The County Chairman, not being the holder of a publican’s or accommodation or tourist house or wholesale licence under the Licensing Act 1908, shall be a Justice of the Peace during the time he holds the office of Chairman.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 75
68 Resignation of Chairman
The Chairman may resign his office by writing under his hand delivered to the Council or the County Clerk; and in that case, or in case of his death, incapacity, or ouster from office, or if he becomes incapacitated under section forty of this Act, his office shall become vacant, and the County Clerk shall forthwith call a meeting of the Council, who shall elect a Chairman in his stead.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 76
69 Annual allowance to Chairman
(1)
The Chairman may be paid such annual allowance, not exceeding five hundred pounds, out of the County Fund as the Council from time to time fixes, but no alteration in the amount of that allowance shall take effect during the term of office of any Chairman.
(2)
For the purposes of subsection one of this section a person re-elected as Chairman shall be considered a new Chairman.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 84; 1949, No. 27, s. 12
70 Appointment of Deputy Chairman
(1)
The Council may, if it thinks fit, appoint one of its members to be Deputy Chairman, who, with the consent of the Chairman, or, in the event of the Chairman becoming incapable of acting, without that consent, shall, until the Chairman resumes his duties or a new Chairman comes into office, have all the authority of the Chairman, except the authority to act as a Justice of the Peace by virtue of his office.
(2)
Every Deputy Chairman so appointed shall, so long as he continues to be a member of the Council, hold office until the appointment of his successor.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 76a; 1949, No. 27, s. 11(1)
Part V Committees
71 Council may appoint standing or special committees
(1)
The Council may from time to time appoint standing or special committees consisting of two or more persons, and may refer to any such committee any matters for consideration, or inquiry, or management, or regulation; and may delegate to any such committee any of the powers and duties conferred or imposed upon the Council by this Act or any other Act, except—
(a)
The powers and duties conferred or imposed upon the Council by the Public Works Act 1928, the Housing Improvement Act 1945, or the Town and Country Planning Act 1953, except in so far as a power of delegation is conferred by any of those Acts:
(b)
The power to borrow money, to make a rate, to make a bylaw, to enter into a contract, or to institute an action.
(2)
It shall not be necessary that any person appointed to be a member of a committee under this section shall be a member of the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 93
72 Chairman of committee
(1)
The Council may appoint a member of any committee to be the Chairman thereof, and that power may be exercised by the committee where the Council, on the appointment of the committee, does not appoint a Chairman.
(2)
Any committee may from time to time appoint a deputy Chairman to act in the absence of the Chairman.
(3)
The Council may at any time remove the Chairman of any committee from office, whether he was appointed by the Council or the committee, and appoint any other member of the committee to be the Chairman.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 93(1)
73 Discharge, etc., of committee
(1)
The Council may at any time, and from time to time, discharge, alter, continue, or reconstitute any committee or discharge any member of a committee, and, if it thinks fit, appoint another member in his stead.
(2)
Every committee shall, unless sooner discharged by the Council, be deemed to be discharged on the coming into office of the Councillors elected at the triennial or other general election of the whole Council next after the appointment of the committee.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 93(1)
74 Committee may exercise delegated powers
Every committee to which any powers or duties are delegated as aforesaid may, without confirmation by the Council, exercise or perform the same in like manner and with the same effect as the Council could itself have exercised or performed the same.
75 Committee to be subject to direction by Council
Subject to the provisions of section seventy-four of this Act, every such committee shall be subject in all things to the control of the Council, and shall carry out all directions, general or special, of the Council given in relation to the committee or its affairs.
76 Joint committees
(1)
The Council may unite with any one or more local authorities within the meaning of Part I of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 in appointing a joint standing or special committee for any purpose in which the Council and the local authority or local authorities are jointly interested, and all such local authorities are hereby authorised to unite with the Council for that purpose.
(2)
The Council may fix the total number of members to be appointed to any such joint committee, and may delegate the appointment of a specified number of members to the other local authority, or, as the case may be, to each of the other local authorities.
(3)
Any committee appointed under this section shall be deemed to be both a committee of the Council and (subject to the law for the time being applicable to committees of any other participating local authority) a committee of the other local authority.
(4)
So far as the committee is a committee of the Council the provisions of subsection two of section seventy-two and of section seventy-three of this Act shall apply thereto, save that the powers to discharge any individual member and appoint another in his stead shall be exercisable by the Council or other local authority that made the appointment.
(5)
The power conferred upon the Council by section seventy-two of this Act to appoint a Chairman of a committee shall not apply to a committee appointed under this section, but the committee may from time to time appoint and remove its own Chairman.
Part VI Proceedings of Council and Committees
Proceedings Generally
77 Annual meeting
The Council shall hold an annual meeting at the office of the Council on a day to be fixed by the Council, being not later than thirty days after the day on which a triennial election of members is held, or, in any year in which no such election is held, within thirty days after the anniversary of the last triennial election of County Councils, and shall hold ordinary meetings for the transaction of general business at such stated times as the Council from time to time appoints.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 77; 1953, No. 16, s. 102
78 Chairman to preside at meetings
(1)
At every meeting of the Council or of any committee the Chairman of the Council or of the committee, as the case may be, if present shall preside.
(2)
If the Chairman of the Council or of any committee, as the case may be, is absent from any meeting, the Deputy Chairman (if any) of the Council or committee, as the case may be, shall preside, but, if no Deputy Chairman has been appointed or if the Chairman and Deputy Chairman are both absent, the Councillors or, as the case may be, the members of the committee present shall elect one of their number to be the Chairman of that meeting, who shall have and may exercise at that meeting all the functions of the Chairman.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 79, 93(3); 1949, No. 27, s. 11(2)
79 Quorum of Council and of committee
(1)
A quorum of the Council shall consist of half the total number of the members of the Council (irrespective of any casual vacancies) when that number is even, and a majority of the members when the number is odd.
(2)
The Council may fix the quorum of any committee appointed by it, and in default of the Council’s so doing the committee may fix the quorum.
(3)
No business shall be transacted at any meeting of the Council or of any committee unless at least a quorum of members is present thereat during the whole time at which the business is transacted.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 81, 93(4)
80 Open voting
Every question coming before the Council or any committee shall be decided by open voting.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 80
81 Member of Council or committee not to vote on question in which he has pecuniary interest
(1)
A member of the Council or committee shall not vote or take part in the discussion of any matter before the Council or committee in which he has, directly or indirectly, any pecuniary interest apart from any interest in common with the public.
(2)
A member who knowingly offends against this section commits an offence against this Act, and upon conviction his seat in the Council and in any committee shall become vacant
(3)
It shall be the duty of the Audit Office to institute proceedings under this section, but nothing herein shall be so construed as to prevent such proceedings from being taken by any other person.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 82
82 Questions to be decided by majority of votes
All acts of the Council and of any committee, and all questions before the Council or any committee, may be done and decided by the majority of such members of the Council or committee as are present and vote at a meeting held under this Act or any regulation or bylaw made thereunder.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 80, 93(5)
83 Chairman to have casting vote
The Chairman of any meeting of the Council or of any committee shall have a deliberative vote, and in case of equality of votes shall have a casting vote also.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 80, 93(5)
84 Proceedings not to be invalid by reason of irregularities in election of Councillors, etc.
No act or proceeding of the Council, or of any committee, or of any person acting as a member of the Council, shall be invalidated in consequence of there being a vacancy in the number of the Council at the time of that act or proceeding, or of the subsequent discovery that there was some defect in the election or appointment or a failure to make the prescribed declaration or a defect in the declaration of any person so acting, or that he was incapable of being such a member.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 94
85 Minutes of proceedings of Council
(1)
Minutes of the proceedings of the Council shall be kept in a book the pages of which shall be numbered consecutively, and that book 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.
(2)
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 those proceedings and of the validity thereof.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 98(1)(2); 1954, No. 35, s. 2
Special Meetings and Special Orders
86 Special meetings
(1)
A “special meeting”
means a meeting called pursuant to a resolution of the Council or to a requisition in writing delivered to the County Clerk and signed by the Chairman, or by any number of Councillors being not less than one-third of the total membership of the Council, specifying the time and place at which the meeting is to be held and the business to be brought before the same.
(2)
Notice in writing of the time and place of the meeting, and of that business, shall be given under the hand of the County Clerk to every member of the Council not less than three clear days before the day appointed for the meeting.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 92
87 Making of special orders
The power given by this or any other Act to a County Council to do anything by special order shall be exercised only as follows:
(a)
The resolution to do such a thing shall be passed at a special meeting:
(b)
The resolution shall be confirmed at a subsequent meeting (either ordinary or special) held not sooner than the twenty-eighth day after the day of that special meeting and not later than the seventieth day after that special meeting:
(c)
Public notice of the date, time, and place fixed for the subsequent meeting and of the purport of the resolution shall be given twice during the period of twenty-eight days immediately preceding the date of the subsequent meeting, with an interval of not less than fourteen days between the two notifications:
(d)
Written notice under the hand of the County Clerk of the date, time, and place of the subsequent meeting shall be given to each member of the Council not less than three clear days before the subsequent meeting, which notice shall refer to the said resolution:
(e)
The notice directed to be given by paragraph (d) of this section shall suffice, even though the subsequent meeting be a special meeting:
(f)
A copy of the proposed special order shall be deposited at the office of the Council and, if the Council thinks fit, at some other place or places in the county or part of the county specified in the notice referred to in paragraph (c) of this section, and shall be open to the inspection of the public during office hours for at least twenty-one days immediately preceding the day appointed for the holding of the subsequent meeting.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 99: 1949, No. 27, s. 13
88 Special orders altering ridings or merging town districts
(1)
A copy of every special order making any alteration in the boundaries of a riding or in the name of any riding, with a certificate signed by the Chairman or the County Clerk to the effect that the same has been duly made, shall be sent to the Secretary for Internal Affairs, and shall be immediately gazetted by him, and shall take effect on the date on which it is gazetted, or on such later date as is specified in the special order:
Provided that no such special order altering the boundaries of a riding shall be gazetted as aforesaid unless previously sent to the Chief Surveyor of the district accompanied by a plan showing the boundaries of the riding affected by the special order, nor unless the description contained in the special order is approved by the Chief Surveyor of the district, or some person appointed by him, as sufficient to render the new boundaries capable of identification:
Provided also that if the description is defective, but the Chief Surveyor or person aforesaid certifies that the same can be amended without making any change in what was evidently intended to be the area comprised in the description, then the same may be so amended at any ordinary meeting of the Council, and it shall not be necessary to commence anew the proceedings to obtain the special order.
(2)
A copy of every special order merging in a county any dependent town district, together with a certificate signed by the Chairman or the County Clerk to the effect that the special order has been duly made, shall be sent to the Secretary for Internal Affairs, and shall be gazetted by him, and the special order shall take effect from the date of the gazetting thereof, or from such later date as is specified in the special order.
(3)
Every such special order shall be inserted in the Gazette free of charge.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 100; 1921–22, No. 24, s. 3(1)
89 Evidence of special orders
A document purporting to be a copy of any special order, sealed with the common seal, shall be received as evidence for all purposes that the special order of which the document purports to be a copy has been duly made in accordance with this Act, unless the contrary is proved.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 101
90 Proceedings for quashing of special orders
No special order shall be quashed by any proceedings in any Court or otherwise unless the proceedings are commenced within six months from the making of the special order.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 102
91 Council failing, on petition, to make special order
Where the Council is empowered and directed to make any special order upon petition, and a petition is duly presented to the Council praying it to make any such special order, then, if for three months after the presentation of the petition the Council refuses or neglects to make the special order, except on the ground that the special order is not one that may be lawfully made under this Act, or that the procedure of this Act as to petitions has not been complied with as regards the petition, the Governor-General, on being satisfied that a petition such as is required by this Act has been duly presented to the Council, and that the special order prayed for may be lawfully made, may, by Order in Council, give effect to the prayer of the petition, and the Order in Council, when gazetted, shall have the same force and effect as if it were a special order made by the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 103
Rules of Procedure
92 Bylaws as to proceedings of Council
The Council may, subject to the provisions of this Act, make bylaws or pass resolutions—
(a)
Regulating the proceedings of the Council and of committees, and the conduct of meetings thereof respectively:
(b)
Prescribing the time and manner of holding meetings, and regulating the business that may be transacted thereat:
(c)
Regulating the adjournment of meetings:
(d)
Directing notices of meetings to be given, and prescribing the form, mode, and time of service thereof:
(e)
Regulating debates:
(f)
Prescribing the manner and conditions of revoking or altering resolutions:
(g)
Providing for the custody of documents, and regulating the custody and use and prescribing the mode and form of attestation of the common seal:
Provided that no bylaw or resolution made under this paragraph shall affect any person, acting in good faith, taking or to take any estate, interest, or advantage under any document having or about to have the common seal affixed thereto:
(h)
Prescribing the duties of officers and servants:
(i)
Prescribing the form and manner of keeping and authenticating minutes:
(j)
Prescribing forms of and in connection with any proceedings:
(k)
Concerning anything incidental to any of the matters hereinbefore referred to.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 78, 86–92, 95, 98(3); 1954, No. 35, s. 2
Part VII Officers
93 Council may appoint officers
(1)
The Council may by resolution from time to time appoint fit persons to be County Clerk, Treasurer, Engineer, and all such other officers and servants as it thinks necessary to assist in the execution of this Act, and may pay those persons such salaries and allowances as it thinks fit (including allowances and travelling expenses in respect of their attendance at any conference or meeting or course of study or training that in the opinion of the Council will render them better fitted to carry out their duties for the Council).
(2)
The Council may in like manner, if it thinks fit, from time to time appoint a duly qualified medical practitioner as medical officer at such remuneration and with such duties as the Council prescribes.
(3)
One person may hold two or more of such offices.
(4)
Subject to section ninety-five of this Act, any officer or servant of the Council may be at any time removed from office by the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 95, 107; 1953, No. 16, s. 103(1); 1949, No. 27, s. 14
94 Acting officers
(1)
During the absence from the offices of the Council of any officer of the Council by reason of illness, leave of absence, or other cause, the duties and powers of that officer may be performed and exercised by an acting officer to be appointed and removed by resolution of the Council; and any such appointment may be either general or for some occasion only:
Provided that in any case of emergency an acting officer may be appointed by the Chairman to hold office until the next meeting of the Council.
(2)
A minute made and authenticated in the prescribed manner, or, as the case may be, an appointment in writing under the hand of the Chairman shall be sufficient evidence of the validity of the appointment of any person as an acting officer and of his continued authority to act as such, and shall relieve all persons concerned from the necessity of making any inquiries in the matter.
95 Council may contract with officers and servants as to tenure of office
(1)
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act or in any rule of law, the Council may enter into an agreement in writing with any person whom it proposes to appoint, or who has been appointed, an officer or servant of the Council to the effect that he shall not be removed from office save as provided in the agreement or except for conduct justifying summary dismissal—
(a)
During such period (not exceeding three years from the date of his appointment or the date of the agreement, as the case may be) as is specified in the agreement; or
(b)
Except after such notice, not exceeding three months, as may be specified in the agreement in that behalf.
(2)
Any agreement to which paragraph (a) of subsection one of this section relates may from time to time be renewed for any period not exceeding three years at any one time from the date of that renewal.
Part VIII The County Fund
96 County Fund
There shall be for every county a fund to be termed “the County Fund”
, consisting of the following money:
(a)
All money received by way of grant from the Government, or by appropriation of Parliament, or pursuant to any Act:
(b)
All fees, fines, forfeitures, tolls, levies, and other like sums whatsoever received under this or any other Act:
(c)
The proceeds of all rates made and levied by the Council under this or any other Act:
(d)
All rents and profits received from property of any kind vested in the Corporation:
(e)
All money received on account of waterworks, electricity works, transport services, cemeteries, crematoria, reserves, recreation grounds, houses, and public buildings and institutions:
(f)
All money received by way of loan otherwise than under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956:
(g)
All money received by way of subscription or voluntary contribution:
(h)
All money received and held by the Council by way of deposit or in trust for any person or for any special purpose:
(i)
All other money which may become the property of the Corporation or of the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 115(1)
97 Mining revenue
(1)
Where any mining district or part thereof is within a county, all revenues collected within that district or part, and accruing under any Act relating to mining for gold, shall form part of the County Fund after deducting therefrom all lawful charges connected therewith, other than the cost of collecting the same, in accordance with any regulation in that behalf made by the Governor-General in Council:
Provided that nothing herein shall apply to revenues derived from the sale of land or the leasing of land for agricultural purposes.
(2)
The Governor-General in Council may from time to time delegate to any local authority all or any of the powers he possesses for collecting the revenues to which this section applies, and that delegation may be subject to such conditions and regulations as the Governor-General in Council thinks fit to prescribe.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 116
98 Levy on timber produced in county
(1)
In respect of standing trees cut in any county and converted from the log into sawn timber there shall be payable in each financial year to the Council a levy on timber so converted in that year of such amount as is fixed by the Council but not exceeding the sum of one halfpenny per hundred feet board measure.
(2)
The levy shall be recoverable by the Council as a debt due to it from the miller of the timber at such times and in such manner as the Council directs.
(3)
The Council may require any such miller to furnish returns of timber converted by him, in such form and containing such particulars as the Council directs. Every miller who fails to make any such return when requested commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(4)
The levy imposed by this section shall be payable only in respect of sawn timber from native trees that have not been planted.
Compare: 1927, No. 74, s. 28
99 Payment of fines to Council
(1)
Subject to the provisions of section one hundred and nine of the Public Revenues Act 1953, the Registrar or other proper officer of the Court in which any fines payable in whole or in part to the Council are recovered under the provisions of this or any other Act shall pay the same to the Council, or as much thereof as is payable to the Council, at such times and in such manner as the Minister of Finance directs.
(2)
The Registrar or other proper officer of the Court in which any such fines are inflicted shall once in every three months furnish the Council with a written statement, signed by him, of all such fines, distinguishing therein those that have from those that have not been paid to the Council.
(3)
Except as otherwise provided in this or any other Act, all fines recoverable under this Act shall be payable to the Council.
(4)
Whenever any fines which ought to be paid to the Council are by law required or permitted to be paid in stamps, and have been so paid, the Registrar or other proper officer aforesaid shall certify to the Minister of Finance the amount of the same, that they have been so paid, and the name of the county entitled to receive the same; and thereupon that Minister, without further appropriation by Parliament than this Act, but subject to the provisions of section one hundred and nine of the Public Revenues Act 1953, shall pay the amount of those fines out of the Consolidated Fund to the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 117
100 Money belonging to Corporation to be paid into bank
(1)
Except as provided in the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 in respect of money raised by way of special loan, all money belonging to or held in trust by the Corporation shall be paid into such bank as the Council from time to time appoints and publicly notifies (hereinafter referred to as the bank), to the credit of an account to be called “The County Fund Account”
.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, the Council may, if it thinks fit, and shall, if so directed by the Audit Office, pay into a separate account at the bank all money accruing from any public undertaking or work controlled by it, or money appropriated or held by it for any special purpose or held by it by way of deposit or in trust for any person or for any special purpose.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 115(2), 118(1)
101 How money to be withdrawn from bank
No money shall be drawn out of the bank except by authority of the Council; and all money shall be paid by the Corporation in cash, or by cheque signed by the Treasurer or by some other officer of the Council who is for the time being authorised to sign cheques, and countersigned in each case by any Councillor whom the Council from time to time authorises to sign cheques.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 118(2), 119(1); 1954, No. 35, s. 5
102 Money not to be paid by promissory note or bill
All money paid or purporting to be paid by the Council by promissory note or bill shall be deemed to be money unlawfully expended or applied within the meaning of section ninety of the Public Revenues Act 1953, and the provisions of that section shall apply with respect thereto accordingly.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 119(2)
Imprest Account
103 Council may establish an Imprest Account
(1)
A Council may, pursuant to a resolution in that behalf, establish an Imprest Account, which shall be kept at the bank at which the County Fund Account is kept.
(2)
The Imprest Account may be held jointly in the names of and be operated on by the Treasurer and one other person to be appointed in that behalf by the Council, or may with the express approval in writing of the Audit Office, but not otherwise, be in the sole name of and be operated on by the Treasurer or other approved officer of the Council. Where the Imprest Account is held jointly in the names of the Treasurer and of one other person as aforesaid, the last-mentioned person shall be either a responsible officer of the Council or a member of the Council.
(3)
The Council shall from time to time by resolution fix the maximum amount that may be held at any time in the Imprest Account, not exceeding two hundred pounds in any case where the Imprest Account may be operated on by one person acting alone, and not exceeding such amount as the Audit Office may approve in any other case.
(4)
Money in the Imprest Account shall be available only for the payment of wages and of emergency expenditure. A statement of all payments made from the Imprest Account shall be submitted to the Council for approval at its first ordinary meeting thereafter.
(5)
Every person commits an offence, and is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds, who pays any money out of the Imprest Account for any purpose not authorised by this section.
(6)
The provisions of sections one hundred and one hundred and one of this Act shall be read subject to the provisions of this section.
Compare: 1925, No. 49, s. 7; 1927, No. 22, s. 15; 1941, No. 26, s. 8
Deposits
104 Deposit at interest
The Council may, in any case where it is deemed advisable that any sum of money at credit of any account (other than a separate account for loan money) should be placed on deposit at interest, deposit that sum of money with any bank approved by the Council or, with the consent of the Governor-General in Council, may deposit that sum with any other local authority entitled by law to receive money on deposit.
Part IX Rates
General Rate
105 Power of Council to levy general rate
(1)
The Council may from time to time, as it thinks fit, make and levy a general rate on all rateable property within the county for carrying into effect the general purposes of this Act, but the total amount of that rate levied in any year shall not exceed the maximum general rate hereinafter mentioned.
(2)
The maximum general rate that may be made and levied in any year shall be a rate of threepence in the pound on the capital value of the rateable property in the county, or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value:
Provided that the maximum general rate that may be made and levied by the County Council in any dependent town district situated within the county shall not exceed a rate of three halfpence in the pound on the capital value of the rateable property in the town district, or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 120
106 Rates to be levied over county as a whole
(1)
Subject to the provisions of sections one hundred and seven, one hundred and eight, one hundred and ten, one hundred and eleven, and four hundred and twenty-three of this Act, the Council shall make and levy the general rate over the county as a whole and not separately in each riding.
(2)
Before making any such general rate the Council shall cause an estimate to be prepared of the proposed expenditure of the Council during the period for which the rate is to be made, showing any sums already available for that purpose, the additional sum required, the total rateable value of the property on the valuation roll, and the general rate thereon necessary to raise the money required; and that estimate, being approved by the Council, shall be publicly notified in the county not less than fourteen days before making the proposed rate.
Compare: 1931, No. 36, s. 2(4)
107 Levying of general rate separately in each riding
(1)
Subject to the provisions of section one hundred and nine of this Act, every Council which at the commencement of this Act makes and levies the general rate separately in each riding of the county shall continue so to make and levy the general rate.
(2)
Subject to the provisions of section one hundred and five of this Act as to the maximum general rate that may be made and levied, the general rate to be levied in any riding shall be determined by reference to—
(a)
The estimated expenditure for the year in respect of works in that riding; and
(b)
A proportionate part for that riding of the total amount required to be provided from the general rate for the purposes mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of subsection one of section one hundred and thirty-four of this Act.
(3)
The proportion of the expenditure mentioned in the said paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) to be borne by each riding shall bear to the total amount of that expenditure the same proportion as the rateable value of the property in the riding bears to the total rateable value of the property in the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 121
108 Levying of general rate in dependent town districts
Where any dependent town district is situated within the county, the general rate that may be made and levied by the County Council in the town district in any year shall not exceed half the general rate that is made and levied in that year over the remainder of the county or, as the case may be, over the remainder of the riding within which the town district is situated.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 121(1)
109 Council may declare section 107 not to apply to county
(1)
The Council of any county to which section one hundred and seven of this Act for the time being applies may by special order declare that that section shall cease to apply to the county.
(2)
A copy of the special order together with a certificate signed by the Chairman or the County Clerk to the effect that it has been duly made shall be forwarded to the Secretary for Internal Affairs, and shall forthwith be gazetted by him, and the special order shall take effect from the close of the financial year in which it is gazetted or from the close of such later financial year as is specified in the special order.
(3)
On the taking effect of the special order the Council shall forthwith close the separate riding accounts kept pursuant to subsection one of section one hundred and forty-six of this Act, by incorporating in the General Account of the County Fund the balances of those separate accounts.
(4)
On the taking effect of the special order, and subject to the provisions of section four hundred and twenty-three of this Act, the Council shall thereafter make and levy the general rate over the county as a whole instead of separately in each riding.
Compare: 1931, No. 36, s. 2(1)–(3)
110 Special provisions as to rating where new county formed by union of several counties
(1)
Where a new county is formed by the union of two or more counties, the Council may, by special order made before any general rate has been made in the new county, and notwithstanding anything in section one hundred and six of this Act, resolve that the general rate shall be made and levied separately in each of the former counties for such period, not exceeding ten years, as is specified in the special order. In any such case the provisions of this Act as to the making and levying of the general rate 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.
(2)
Where a new county is formed by the union of two or more counties any of which immediately before the union made and levied the general rate separately in each of its ridings, the Council, instead of making and levying the general rate in accordance with subsection one of this section, may, by special order made before any general rate has been made in the new county, and notwithstanding anything in section one hundred and six of this Act, resolve that the general rate shall be made and levied separately in each riding of the new county.
(3)
Subject to the provisions of section four hundred and twenty-three of this Act, the Council of any such new county, unless it makes a special order under subsection one or subsection two of this section, shall make and levy the general rate over the county as a whole, and the provisions of section one hundred and six of this Act shall apply accordingly.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 121a; 1954, No. 35, s. 6
111 Special provisions where county abolished and part added to another county
Where on the abolition of any county part of the former county is added to any other county that makes and levies the general rate over the county as a whole, and the part so added is constituted one or more ridings of the last-mentioned county, the provisions of subsections one and three of section one hundred and ten of this Act, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply as if the area so added were a separate county and as if a new county had been formed by the union of that county with the county to which the area has been added.
General Separate Rates
112 Separate rates
(1)
The Council may from time to time, for the purpose of providing, establishing, completing, extending, maintaining, repairing, or working any public works of any description, or of purchasing or otherwise acquiring any land or building, or of engaging in or contributing to any undertaking for the benefit either of the whole county or of any riding or defined portion of the county, by special order make any rates (in this Act referred to as separate rates), and may levy those rates within the whole county, or, as the case may be, within the riding or portion receiving the benefit as aforesaid.
(2)
The total amount of all such separate rates made in any one year within the whole county or within any riding or defined portion of the county shall not exceed three farthings in the pound on the total capital value of the rateable property in the county or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 122(1), 124, 125, 126; 1954, No. 35, s. 7
113 Poll of ratepayers on proposal to make and levy separate rates
The power conferred on the Council by section one hundred and twelve of this Act to make any separate rate may be exercised by the Council upon a petition signed by a majority of the ratepayers in the county or, as the case may be, in the riding or portion of the county in which the rate is to be levied, or, in the discretion of the Council, may be exercised without any such petition:
Provided that, where the Council proposes to exercise that power without any such petition, a poll of the ratepayers of the county or, as the case may be, of the particular portion of the county proposed to be rated shall be taken on the proposal to make and levy the rate where—
(a)
Not less than five per cent of the ratepayers within the county or, as the case may be, within the particular portion of the county proposed to be rated, by writing under their hands delivered or sent by post to the Council and received at the offices of the Council not later than the day before the date fixed for the confirmation of the resolution to make and levy the rate, demand that a poll of the ratepayers within the county or, as the case may be, within that portion be taken on the proposal; or
(b)
The Council so resolves,—
and the rate shall not be made and levied unless a majority of the valid votes recorded at the poll are in favour of the proposal.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 122(1); 1954, No. 35, s. 7(1)
114 Application of proceeds of separate rate
(1)
From every separate rate made and levied within any riding or portion of the county there may be deducted so much thereof as, in the opinion of the Council, is necessary to defray the cost of the supervision and clerical work in connection with the expenditure thereof, including the salaries of officers who are not employed generally in the business of the Council but whose services are utilised in the making or levying of the rate or in connection with its expenditure.
(2)
Any amount so deducted shall form part of the ordinary revenue of the county.
(3)
The remainder of the separate rate shall be applied to the special purpose for which it was levied, and shall be expended wholly within or for the benefit of the riding or portion of the county within which it was levied.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 122(3)–(5); 1954, No. 35, s. 7(1)
Particular Separate Rates
115 Sanitation rate
(1)
Where the Council itself undertakes or contracts for the county or any part thereof—
(a)
For the removal of refuse; or
(b)
For the supply of dry earth or deodorising substances for closets, privies, or cesspools not connected with any public drain; or
(c)
For the cleansing of closets, privies, or cesspools not connected with any public drain,—
the Council may make and levy in any year a separate rate of such amount as will, in the opinion of the Council, be sufficient to cover the estimated expenditure of the Council for that year in respect of those undertakings or works:
Provided that the rate may be levied only upon such properties as have a building erected thereon and in respect of which the Council is prepared to provide the service for which the rate is levied.
(2)
Instead of making and levying any such rate the Council may charge a uniform annual fee:
Provided that any such annual fee in respect of the cleansing of closets or privies may be a uniform annual fee for each pan in those closets or privies:
Provided further that in any case where, in the opinion of the Council, the refuse from any land or building is principally trade refuse or is excessive in quantity the Council may, if it thinks fit, instead of levying that rate or charging that uniform annual fee, make a reasonable charge for the removal of the refuse, or may require the owner or occupier of the land or building to have the same removed regularly at his own cost, or, in addition to that rate or uniform annual fee, may make a reasonable charge for the removal of rubbish in excess of a prescribed amount:
Provided further that in the case of a building that is an apartment house or contains separate apartments let as flats any such annual fee may be a uniform annual fee for each separately occupied portion of the building.
(3)
Every such annual fee and every such charge shall for all purposes be deemed to be a separate rate.
(4)
Where in any year any such service is discontinued after an annual rate or fee in respect thereof has been levied, the Council may make to all ratepayers affected such a rebate or refund of the rate or fee as it deems equitable in respect of the period between the date of discontinuance and the end of the year.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 123; 1927, No. 22, s. 10; 1948, No. 77, s. 6
116 Bridge rate
(1)
The Council may from time to time, by special order, make and levy a separate rate, to be called a bridge rate, for the purpose of providing funds for the reconstruction of bridges on roads under the jurisdiction of the Council, but that rate shall not in any one year exceed the amount of three-farthings in the pound on the capital value of the rateable property in the county or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value.
(2)
The bridge rate may be levied on the whole county when the bridge proposed to be reconstructed is for the benefit of the county generally, or the Council, if it thinks fit, may levy the rate on one or more ridings which are specially benefited by the bridge.
(3)
The provisions of section one hundred and thirteen of this Act, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply with respect to the making and levying of any bridge rate under this section as if references in the first-mentioned section were references to a bridge rate.
(4)
The proceeds of any such rate shall be paid into a separate account at the bank, to be called “the [Name of County] Bridge Fund Account,”
and a separate account thereof shall be kept by the Council.
(5)
The Council may from time to time invest any money in the Bridge Fund Account and pay the proceeds of the investment into that account.
(6)
The cost of raising the rate shall be charged against the County Fund, and no part of the Bridge Fund shall be used for any purpose other than the reconstruction of bridges or the payment of the principal, interest, and other charges on loans raised under section two hundred and eleven of this Act or on loans raised to repay loans which have been raised under that section or the corresponding provisions of any former Act.
Compare: 1926, No. 14, s. 24; 1950, No. 93, s. 30
117 Bridge rate may be used as security for loan for renewal of bridge
Every bridge rate under section one hundred and sixteen of this Act may be appropriated and pledged as security for the repayment of any special loan raised under section two hundred and eleven of this Act and the interest thereon.
118 Water rates and charges for ordinary supply
(1)
In every county giving a water supply under the provisions of Part XVIII of this Act the Council may make and levy water rates in accordance with this section.
(2)
In respect of the ordinary supply within the meaning of any bylaw defining the same, water rates may be made and levied as follows:
(a)
On all lands and dwellinghouses to which water is supplied, a rate not exceeding one penny in the pound on the capital value of those lands and dwellinghouses or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value:
Provided that if that rate would produce less than one pound in respect of any such land or dwellinghouse a rate of not more than one pound may be made and levied:
(b)
On all lands and dwellinghouses to which water can be but is not supplied, situate within one hundred yards from any part of the waterworks, a rate not exceeding half of the rates mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection:
(c)
On all buildings other than dwellinghouses, a rate not exceeding half of the rates mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(3)
Instead of levying a rate under subsection two of this section, the Council may, by special order,—
(a)
Decide to make and thereafter may make charges in respect of the ordinary supply of water, according to the quantity of water consumed by any person receiving the same as measured by meter, of such amount as may from time to time be fixed by resolution in that behalf publicly notified, or as may be agreed on with any such person; or
(b)
Decide to make and thereafter may make a uniform annual charge in respect of the ordinary supply of water of such amount as may from time to time be fixed by resolution in that behalf publicly notified:
Provided that the uniform annual charge payable in respect of lands and dwellinghouses to which water can be but is not supplied, situate within one hundred yards from any part of the waterworks, shall not exceed half the charge payable in respect of lands and dwellinghouses to which water is supplied.
(4)
Different rates may be made and levied and different charges may be made under this section in different water supply areas in the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 182
119 Charges for extraordinary water supply
(1)
In every county giving a water supply under the provisions of Part XVIII of this Act the Council may make charges in respect of the extraordinary supply within the meaning of any bylaw defining the same (whether according to the quantity consumed or otherwise) of such amount as may from time to time be fixed by resolution in that behalf publicly notified, or as may be agreed on with any person receiving that supply.
(2)
Different charges may be made under this section in different water supply areas in the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 182
120 Provisions as to metered supply
(1)
Where under the provisions of section one hundred and eighteen or section one hundred and nineteen of this Act the Council fixes charges in respect of the ordinary or extraordinary supply of water according to the quantity consumed, the Council may fix a minimum charge, not exceeding one pound.
(2)
In respect of the use of any water meter the charges shall be such annual charges as may be fixed by resolution from time to time in that behalf publicly notified.
121 Payment of water rates and charges
(1)
All water rates and uniform annual charges for an ordinary supply shall be payable in advance on such day or days, either yearly or half-yearly, as the Council determines.
(2)
Where any land or building becomes liable to a water rate or uniform annual charge after the date fixed for that yearly or half-yearly payment, as the case may be, a part only of the rate or charge proportionate to the unexpired part of the year or half-year shall be payable in advance on the liability accruing.
(3)
Where water is supplied to a new building not valued in the valuation roll then in force, a valuer appointed by the Council shall by writing under his hand fix the value for water rate purposes of the premises whereon the building is erected, and water rates shall be payable accordingly until the next rate book is made. The Valuer-General may, if he so agrees, be appointed as the valuer for the purposes of this subsection.
(4)
Charges for the ordinary supply according to the quantity of water consumed, charges for an extraordinary supply, and charges in respect of the use of any water meter shall be paid at such times as the Council from time to time directs.
122 In default of payment of water rates and charges water supply may be stopped by Council
If any person refuses or fails to pay any water rate or any charge in respect of the supply of water for which he is liable, the Council may, without prejudice to any other remedy for the recovery of the rate or charge, stop, in such manner as the Council thinks fit, the supply of water to the premises in respect of which the rate or charge is payable, and may recover from that person the whole expense incurred in stopping the supply.
123 Recovery of water rates and charges
All water rates and charges in respect of the supply of water shall for all purposes be deemed to be separate rates.
124 Lighting rate
The Council may, by special order, make and levy an annual lighting rate upon all rateable property in the county, or within such portion of the county as is defined in the special order, for the purpose of lighting the roads, public places, and public buildings in the same, but that rate shall not exceed in any year a rate equal to three-eighths of a penny in the pound on the capital value of the rateable property in the county or in the defined portion thereof or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value.
125 Sanitary and stormwater drainage rate
(1)
In any urban drainage area in the county constituted under Part XVII of this Act, the Council may make and levy an annual sanitary and stormwater drainage rate, not exceeding a rate equal to three-eighths of a penny in the pound on the capital value, or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value, of all rateable property situated within the urban drainage area and served, either directly or through a private drain, by a public sanitary or stormwater drain:
Provided that if that rate would produce less than one pound in respect of any such property a rate of not more than one pound may be made and levied.
(2)
Instead of making and levying any such rate, the Council may charge a uniform annual fee for sanitary or stormwater drainage:
Provided that any such annual fee in respect of sanitary drainage may be a uniform annual fee for each water closet or urinal served, either directly or through a private drain, by a public sanitary drain.
(3)
The proceeds of the rate or annual fee shall be available only for the purpose of the maintenance and extension of public sanitary or stormwater drains of the urban drainage area.
(4)
Different rates may be made and levied and different annual fees may be charged under this section in different urban drainage areas in the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 182
126 Library rate
(1)
The Council in any county having a public library may, by special order, make and levy an annual library rate not exceeding a rate equal to three-sixteenths of a penny in the pound on the capital value, or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value, of all rateable property in the county or in such portion of the county as is defined in the special order.
(2)
Where money is borrowed upon the security of a library rate, the rate shall, for the purposes of the loan, be deemed a special rate within the meaning of this Act, and the provisions thereof as to special rates shall apply accordingly.
127 Harbour rate
(1)
Any Council authorised to construct harbour works under the Harbours Act 1950 may, by special order, declare and define any part of the county which will be specially benefited by any harbour works, and may make and levy a harbour rate in that part for the construction or maintenance of harbour works.
(2)
The provisions of section one hundred and thirteen of this Act, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, shall apply with respect to the making and levying of any harbour rate under this section as if references in that section to separate rates were references to a harbour rate under this section.
(3)
No rate under this section shall exceed in any year a rate equal to three-eighths of a penny in the pound on the capital value, or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value, of all rateable property in the part of the county in which it is levied.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 190
Annually Recurring Separate Rate
128 Separate rate may be made an annually recurring rate
Any separate rate made for the construction of a special work or the engaging in a special undertaking may, if the Council so directs by special order, be an annually recurring rate, leviable without further proceeding on the part of the Council until the work or undertaking is completed.
Compare: 1929, No. 25, s. 2; 1954, No. 35, s. 7(4)
Special Rates
129 Rates levied as security for loans deemed special rates
(1)
Every rate made and levied by the Council under the authority of this or any other Act, and intended as security for the repayment of money borrowed, shall be deemed to be a special rate within the meaning of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, and the provisions of that Act relating to special rates shall apply accordingly.
(2)
No special rate shall be quashed by any proceedings in any Court or otherwise.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 127; 1921–22, No. 24, s. 8
Miscellaneous Provisions as to Rates
130 Consolidated rate
(1)
Instead of making and levying separately the general rate and any special or separate rates leviable over the whole county or over any riding or defined portion thereof, the Council may in any year, by resolution, make and levy over the same area a rate (hereinafter referred to as a consolidated rate) of such amount as will produce a sum not greater than the sum that would be produced by making and levying the said rates separately.
(2)
A demand for any consolidated rate shall specify the several rates in place of which the consolidated rate has been made.
(3)
Nothing in this section or in any resolution made thereunder shall be so construed as to affect in any way the security afforded to any creditor of the Council by any special rate.
(4)
Nothing in this section or in any resolution made thereunder shall be so construed as to render liable to a consolidated rate any property which is not liable to the general rate and to the special and separate rates for which the consolidated rate is substituted.
(5)
Nothing in this section or in any resolution made thereunder shall affect the liability of the Crown for the payment of any special rates in accordance with the provisions in that behalf of section one hundred and thirty-one of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
(6)
The proceeds of a consolidated rate made and levied under this section shall be applied pro rata for the purposes of the several rates in place of which the consolidated rate was made.
Compare: 1937, No. 17, s. 43
131 Delegation to Town Council of power to levy rates
(1)
The County Council may from time to time, by special order, delegate to the Town Council of any dependent town district situated within the county all or any of the powers conferred by this Act or any other Act upon the County Council of making and levying rates within the town district, subject to such conditions and stipulations as to the expenditure by the Town Council of money received from those rates as may be agreed upon by the County Council and the Town Council.
(2)
Upon the making of a special order under this section the Town Council shall have and may exercise all or any of the powers conferred upon and vested in the County Council by this Act or any other Act of making and levying the rates referred to in the special order, subject to such special conditions (if any) as are specified in the special order.
(3)
Subject to the provisions of any agreement under subsection one of this section, all such rates shall be handed over to the County Council as collected:
Provided that the Town Council shall be entitled to retain all reasonable costs and expenses incurred in and about making, levying, collecting, and recovering any such rate, and a reasonable remuneration for clerical and other work; and if any dispute arises as to the amount so to be retained, or otherwise in relation thereto, the same shall be decided by the Audit Office, whose decision shall be final.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 128; 1925, No. 30, s. 85
132 Application of surplus of separate or special rate
Where there is—
(a)
Any surplus of any money raised by way of separate rate after the completion of the special work or purposes for which they were raised; or
(b)
At the date of maturity of any loan any surplus of the proceeds of any special rate made and levied as security for the loan and the sinking fund of the loan is sufficient for the repayment thereof,—
the surplus may be expended for such other special purposes or special works as may be determined by a special order in that behalf:
Provided that a special order shall not be necessary in any case where the surplus does not exceed fifty pounds and, where the rate was made and levied only on property within a specified part of the county, is expended only for purposes or works within that part:
Provided also that, where the surplus does not exceed five pounds, that surplus may be transferred to the General Account pursuant to a resolution of the Council in that behalf.
Compare: 1949, No. 39, s. 14(1)(2); 1951, No. 78, s. 23(1)
133 Special provisions as to County of Chatham Islands
The provisions of this Part of this Act shall, in relation to the County of Chatham Islands, be subject to the provisions of the Chatham Islands County Council Empowering Act 1936.
Part X Expenditure
134 Application of money received in counties where general rate levied separately in ridings
(1)
The Council of any county in which the general rate is levied separately in each riding shall in each year credit all money received by the county from all sources (other than special rates or separate rates, or other rates specifically appropriated for any purpose) to the General Account, and shall apply that money in the following manner:
(a)
In payment, in the first instance, of the general debts and liabilities of the county as a whole which are not included in the special appropriations mentioned in the succeeding provisions of this subsection, and of the general expenses incident to the administration of this Act:
(b)
In payment of contributions required to be made out of the County Fund under any Act:
(c)
In payment of the cost of constructing and maintaining all such roads within the county (not being Government or district roads) as the Council from time to time by special order declares to be main roads, and all bridges on and ferries established in connection with those roads. Any such special order may be revoked by another special order:
(d)
In payment of the cost of constructing and maintaining ferries, and of constructing and maintaining, or contributing to the cost of constructing or maintaining, such bridges (whether on district or county roads), as the Council determines should be so constructed or maintained:
(e)
The remainder of the money so received shall be transferred to the several Riding Accounts in accordance with the provisions of subsection two of this section.
(2)
The amount to be transferred to each Riding Account under paragraph (e) of subsection one of this section shall be the amount received from that riding in respect of the general rate, less the proportion to be borne by that riding of the general expenses of the county under paragraphs (a) to (d) of that subsection that have not been met out of money received from other sources.
(3)
The proportion of the general expenses of the county to be borne by each riding under subsection two of this section shall bear to the total amount of those expenses the same proportion as the rateable value of all the property in the riding bears to the total rateable value of all the property in the county.
(4)
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other provisions of this Act, the Council may, by resolution if the amount involved is under one hundred pounds, and otherwise by special order, direct that the cost of any work not falling within paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of subsection one of this section shall be borne by the whole county or be apportioned among any two or more ridings mentioned in the resolution or special order, as the case may be, in such proportions as the Council determines.
(5)
Where the cost is to be borne by the whole county, it shall be treated as if it came within paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection one of this section, and where any proportion of the cost is borne by any riding the amount of that proportion shall be deemed expenditure in that riding, and its separate account shall be debited accordingly.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 131; 1921–22, No. 24, s. 9; 1923, No. 45, s. 23(1); 1952, No. 75, s. 17(1)
135 Money transferred to Riding Account to be expended for benefit of riding
All money transferred to any Riding Account under the provisions of section one hundred and thirty-four of this Act shall be expended in works in or for the benefit of that riding during the same or any subsequent year.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 131(2)
136 Travelling expenses of Chairman and Councillors
The Council may pay to the Chairman and to each Councillor travelling allowances and expenses in accordance with the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951, and the provisions of that Act shall apply accordingly.
Compare: 1927, No. 22, s. 6; 1951, No. 79, s. 10(1)
137 Travelling expenses of members attending conferences
(1)
Where, pursuant to a resolution of the Council in that behalf, any member of the Council or of any committee of the Council attends any conference or meeting as the representative of the Council, he shall be deemed for the purposes of section four of the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951 to be travelling in the service of the Council and to be transacting the business of the Council, and shall be entitled to receive payment of travelling allowances and expenses accordingly.
(2)
Nothing in this section shall apply in any case where the member is entitled to payment of travelling expenses under the provisions of section nine of the New Zealand Counties Association Act 1949.
138 Councillors may travel without charge on county transport service
It shall be lawful for the Council to permit the Chairman or any Councillor to travel without charge on any transport service established for the conveyance of passengers and conducted by the Council.
139 Council may acquire motor cars, etc., for official use of Chairman and Councillors
The Council may hire, or may acquire and maintain, motor cars or other means of conveyance for use in the performance by the Chairman and the Councillors of their official duties.
140 Council may subsidise sick benefit society established by its employees
The Council may from time to time pay by way of subsidy such sums as it thinks fit to the funds of any sick, death, or funeral benefit society or other like institution established by its employees, or any section of them, the benefits of which are confined to those employees and their dependants.
141 Council may insure members against personal accident while engaged in duties
The Council may from time to time enter into contracts of insurance insuring members of the Council against loss from personal accident arising out of and in the course of the exercise of their powers or duties as members of the Council, and may pay the premiums payable in respect of those contracts.
Compare: 1938, No. 20, s. 6
142 Payment to Clerks of Licensing Committees
The Council may pay to the Clerk of each Licensing Committee within the county such sum as the Council from time to time determines.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 85
143 Observance of Anzac Day
The Council may in any year expend such sums as it thinks fit in connection with the observance of Anzac Day.
144 Government not liable for county debts
No claim of any creditor of any county shall attach to or be paid out of the public revenues of New Zealand, or attach to or be paid by the Government.
Part XI Accounts and Special Funds
145 “Trading undertaking”
defined
For the purposes of this Part of this Act the term “trading undertaking”
means—
(a)
Any transport service for the conveyance of passengers or of passengers and goods, or any electricity undertaking:
(b)
Any other specified undertaking or undertaking of any specified class that may from time to time be declared by any other enactment to be a trading undertaking for the purposes of this Part:
(c)
Any undertaking carried on by any specified County Council declared by the Governor-General in Council to be a trading undertaking for the purposes of this Part.
Accounts
146 Accounts to be kept in accordance with requirements of Audit Office
(1)
The Council shall keep such accounts and keep them in such manner as may be directed by the Audit Office, but so always that—
(a)
A General Account shall be kept, and credited with all money not required by this Act or any other Act or by any regulation thereunder to be credited to any other account, and debited with expenditure which is not required by or under this or any other Act or by any regulation thereunder to be charged, or which is not otherwise properly chargeable, against any other account, and with any transfers that the Council makes to any other account;
(b)
In every county in which the general rate is levied separately in each riding, a Riding Account shall be kept for each riding showing the amount transferred to that account under section one hundred and thirty-four of this Act and the amount actually expended on works in or for the benefit of the riding;
(c)
A County Town Account shall be kept in respect of each county town in the county where a county town general rate is made and levied under the provisions of section four hundred and twenty-three of this Act, which shall be credited with any receipts and transfers and debited with any payments and transfers directed or authorised to be credited or debited against that account by this Act or any other Act;
(d)
Separate accounts shall be kept and credited with all money raised or levied for, or appropriated or allocated pursuant to any Act or by resolution of the Council to, or held in trust or received for, any special purpose, and with all money accruing from any trading undertaking carried on by the Council, and debited with expenditure properly chargeable against those accounts.
(2)
The decision of the Audit Office as to whether or not any expenditure is properly chargeable against any such account shall be final.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 131(3), 137; 1925, No. 49, s. 9
147 Transfers to General Account from separate accounts of proportionate parts of certain payments
(1)
The Council may, and shall if the Audit Office so 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 any payment to any sick-benefit society that may be established by its employees, or of the office, clerical, legal, and other expenses of the Council of any nature whatsoever.
(2)
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.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 137a; 1954, No. 35, s. 8
148 Transfers between General Account and separate accounts
(1)
The Council may from time to time transfer to the General Account any cash surplus remaining to the credit of any separate account which the Council is obliged or authorised by law to keep, showing the money accruing from any public works or trading undertakings executed, maintained, or carried on by the Council, or may transfer the whole or any part of that surplus to a separate account for the maintenance or renewal of those works:
Provided that no money shall be so transferred until due provision has been made for all sums with which the separate account is by law chargeable, and for the payment out of the separate account of the interest, or interest and sinking fund, on any loan raised in connection with the work or undertaking to which the separate account relates.
(2)
The whole or any portion of any amount transferred pursuant to subsection one of this section may at any time be retransferred to the separate account.
(3)
If the balance in any of the separate accounts is at any time insufficient to meet the lawful charges thereon, the Council may transfer such sums as are necessary from the General Account to meet the same, and may at any time repay any sum so transferred out of any excess in the receipts over the liabilities of any such account:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall authorise the Council to pay out of its General Account the interest, or interest and sinking fund, on any loan otherwise than in the manner prescribed by section forty-eight of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
(4)
It shall not be lawful to make any transfer from any one to any other of those separate accounts, except as provided in this Part of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 138
149 Inspection of accounts by electors and others
Any Councillor or elector, or the County Clerk, or any person holding any security charged upon the property of the county, may at all reasonable times inspect the accounts of the Treasurer, and take copies from any part thereof; and every person who refuses or obstructs that inspection or copying of any account in his custody or control is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 143
150 Regulations as to collection of and accounting for Corporation money
Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by section four hundred and forty-nine of this Act, regulations may be made under that section respecting—
(a)
The giving of security by officers of the Council;
(b)
The manner of recovering money and banking the same;
(c)
The accounting by officers of the Council, and the recovery of Corporation money from persons liable to account for the same;
(d)
The manner in which the annual statement of accounts is to be prepared and published, considered, and settled by the Council; and
(e)
Generally respecting the collection of Corporation money and the accounting for the same.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 133, 134, 135(1)(2), 139–142
151 Offences by officers with respect to money or accounts
(1)
If any officer fails to render any accounts required by this Act or by regulations under this Act, or to deliver up the vouchers relating thereto in his possession, or fails for five days after demand thereof to deliver up to the Council, or to any person authorised by the Council to receive the same, all matters and things in his possession or control belonging to the Council or relating to the execution of this Act or any regulation or bylaw under this Act, a Magistrate’s Court may, on application by the Council, order that person to render the accounts, or to deliver up the vouchers, matters, or things.
(2)
If that person neglects or refuses to obey that order he commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.
(3)
No such proceeding against or dealing with any officer as aforesaid shall deprive the Council of any remedy which it might otherwise have against any such officer or against any surety of any such officer, or shall exempt any person from any civil or criminal proceedings to which he might otherwise be liable.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 135(3)–(5)
Special Funds
152 Application of provisions to trading undertakings
Nothing in sections one hundred and fifty-three to one hundred and sixty-four of this Act relating to depreciation funds and reserve funds in connection with any trading undertaking shall apply with respect to any trading undertaking in connection with which any Council is by special Act authorised to establish any such fund or any renewal fund.
153 Council to make charge to provide for depreciation in respect of each trading undertaking
(1)
The Council shall in each financial year, after making provision for the payment of interest and sinking fund in respect of any loans in connection with any trading undertaking carried on by it, and for maintenance and repairs, make a charge against the revenues of the undertaking to provide for full and proper depreciation of the assets of the undertaking:
Provided that if any question arises as to the sufficiency of the charge made for depreciation the matter shall be determined by the Audit Office, whose decision shall be final.
(2)
In ascertaining what is the full and proper depreciation to be provided in any year in accordance with the requirements of subsection one of this section, the Council may take into account—
(a)
The extent to which money then available for renewing or replacing the depreciable assets of the undertaking, and for no other purpose, is proved to the satisfaction of the Audit Office to be in excess of the amount that would then represent full and proper provision for depreciation of the depreciable assets of the undertaking since the date of the establishment of that undertaking:
(b)
Any expenditure during that year out of the revenues of the undertaking on renewals and replacements of the depreciable assets thereof.
154 Depreciation Fund
The amount of any charge for depreciation made in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred and fifty-three of this Act shall be credited to a Depreciation Fund:
Provided that where in that year payments have been made out of the revenues of the undertaking to meet sinking fund charges and instalments of principal in respect of any loan money expended on the creation of depreciable assets of the undertaking, the Council may if it thinks fit deduct from the total amount of the charge for depreciation the total amount of those payments in respect of sinking fund charges and instalments of principal, and in that case the balance remaining shall be the amount that shall be charged against the revenues of the undertaking and credited to the Depreciation Fund.
155 Council to appoint Commissioners of Depreciation Fund
(1)
When the Council has credited a Depreciation Fund with the amount of any charge made by it under section one hundred and fifty-three of this Act, it shall, save as provided in subsection three of this section, appoint three Commissioners, to be called “Depreciation Fund Commissioners”
, and thereupon sections eighty-six, eighty-seven, and ninety-one of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to the Commissioners in like manner as if they were Sinking Fund Commissioners appointed under the said section eighty-six.
(2)
No Councillor or employee of the Council shall be appointed a Commissioner under this section, and if any Commissioner becomes a Councillor or an employee of the Council he shall forthwith vacate his office as Commissioner.
(3)
Notwithstanding anything in subsection one of this section, the Council may appoint the Public Trustee or the National Provident Fund Board to be the sole Commissioner of any Depreciation Fund.
156 Money to be paid to Commissioners
(1)
Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Council shall before the first day of July in each year pay to the Depreciation Fund Commissioners all money credited in the previous financial year to the Depreciation Fund pursuant to section one hundred and fifty-four of this Act.
(2)
Where from any cause the full amount so credited cannot be paid to the Depreciation Fund Commissioners as required by subsection one of this section, the following provisions shall apply:
(a)
The amount of the deficiency may with the consent of the Audit Office be met by the Council during the then current financial year out of money that may be received during that year in respect of the revenues of the trading undertaking for that or any previous year, and be paid to the Depreciation Fund Commissioners from time to time as money becomes available for that purpose; or
(b)
The Council may—
(i)
To the extent to which the deficiency has been caused by payments out of revenue to meet interest and sinking fund charges in respect of loans raised for the purposes of the undertaking, recoup those payments by levying such amount as may be necessary of any special rate made as security for the repayment of the loan; and
(ii)
Make and levy a separate rate on the rateable value of all rateable property in the county, sufficient to provide the balance (if any) of the deficiency; or
(c)
The Council may with the consent of the Audit Office provide the amount necessary to meet the deficiency partly out of revenue and partly out of rates as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection.
(3)
The proceeds of rates levied pursuant to the authority conferred by subsection two of this section shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Act, be paid to the Depreciation Fund Commissioners as and when received.
157 How fund to be invested by Commissioners
The Commissioners shall invest all money received by them pursuant to section one hundred and fifty-six of this Act in the following manner:
(a)
In New Zealand Government securities; or
(b)
On deposit in a National Savings Investment Account under the National Savings Act 1940; or
(c)
On deposit in any bank lawfully carrying on the business of banking in New Zealand, or in the Post Office Savings Bank, or in any trustee savings bank; or
(d)
In the Common Fund of the Public Trust Office; or
(e)
On deposit in the National Provident Fund; or
(f)
In any other securities that may from time to time be authorised by the Governor-General in Council:
Provided that where the Public Trustee is appointed to be the sole Depreciation Fund Commissioner he shall invest the money of the Depreciation Fund in the Common Fund of the Public Trust Office or in such other manner as may be specially authorised in that behalf by the Governor-General in Council.
158 Accounts of Commissioners
Separate accounts shall be kept by the Commissioners of all money paid to or received by them in respect of each trading undertaking, and in preparing the yearly statement of accounts pursuant to section ninety-one of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, as applied by section one hundred and fifty-five of this Act, the Commissioners shall show in detail the amount of all money paid to or received by the Commissioners as aforesaid.
159 Application of Depreciation Fund by Commissioners
All money received by the Commissioners as aforesaid in respect of any trading undertaking, together with all accumulations thereof, shall be held by the Commissioners upon trust to pay the same to the Council, either in one sum or from time to time by instalments in respect of that undertaking, for the purpose of renewing or replacing the plant of the undertaking, or any part or parts thereof, that may from time to time become worn out, obsolete, or incapable from any other cause of further profitable usefulness in connection with the undertaking.
160 Demands on Commissioners
(1)
Every demand made by the Council upon the Commissioners for any sum shall be accompanied by a copy of the resolution duly passed by the Council calling up that money, and by a full specification of the works proposed to be done. No such demand shall be for a less sum in any case than two hundred pounds, or for a less sum than the total amount standing to the credit of the Depreciation Fund if that amount is less than two hundred pounds.
(2)
Every such resolution of the Council shall contain a statement that the money proposed to be called up is required to replace plant or material that has become worn out or obsolete, or is incapable from any other cause of further profitable usefulness, and shall be certified by the Chairman and the County Clerk as a correct copy of the resolution.
161 Commissioners may call for report in respect of demand made upon them
(1)
The Commissioners may call for a report by an engineer or other qualified person to be appointed by them in respect of any demand under the foregoing provisions.
(2)
That engineer or other person shall have the right to inquire into the reasons why the Council proposes to expend the money asked for, and the nature and extent of the work proposed to be done.
(3)
The Commissioners may pay to the engineer or other qualified person, out of the money held by them in respect of the undertaking to which the report relates, a reasonable sum for his services.
162 Commissioners may pay amount of demand by instalments or may decline to pay except on order of Supreme Court
(1)
The Commissioners may pay the money so demanded by instalments as the works proceed, or may decline to pay the said money except under an order of the Supreme Court, in which case the Council may apply to the Supreme Court for an order directing the Commissioners to pay to the Council the money so demanded; and if the Court is satisfied that the money required is necessary to replace or renew plant which has become worn out or obsolete, or is incapable from any other cause of further profitable usefulness, the Court may make an order authorising the payment of the money to the Council.
(2)
The decision of the Supreme Court in any such case shall be final.
163 Commissioners not to be responsible to see to application of fund by Council
The Commissioners shall not be obliged to see to the application of any money which may from time to time be paid or advanced by them to the Council under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act.
164 Council may establish Reserve Fund for trading undertakings
(1)
The Council, having established a Depreciation Fund as aforesaid in respect of any trading undertaking, may in any year make an appropriation from the revenue of that undertaking to provide a Reserve Fund.
(2)
The Council shall before the first day of July next following pay the amount so appropriated into a separate bank account.
(3)
The money paid into that account shall be applied for such extensions and permanent improvements of the undertaking in connection with which the fund is established as the Council thinks fit.
(4)
If at any time the Depreciation Fund is insufficient for the purposes for which it is established the Council may use any part of the Reserve Fund for those purposes.
(5)
The Council may from time to time, with the consent of the Audit Office, use any money forming part of the Reserve Fund for the purpose of recouping in whole or in part any deficiency in the Profit and Loss Account.
(6)
The Council may invest any part of the Reserve Fund in manner following:
(a)
In New Zealand Government securities; or
(b)
On deposit in a National Savings Investment Account under the National Savings Act 1940; or
(c)
On deposit in any bank lawfully carrying on the business of banking in New Zealand, or in the Post Office Savings Bank, or in any trustee savings bank; or
(d)
In the Common Fund of the Public Trust Office; or
(e)
On deposit in the National Provident Fund; or
(f)
In any other securities that may from time to time be authorised by the Governor-General in Council.
(7)
Separate accounts shall be kept by the Council of all money paid to or received by it in respect of the Reserve Fund.
165 Council may establish renewal or replacement funds otherwise than in respect of trading undertakings
(1)
The Council may from time to time set aside in a separate bank account any money to form a fund or funds for the repair, renewal, replacement, or improvement of any property, plant, fixtures, or appliances of the Council, or for the purpose of purchasing additional property, plant, fixtures, or appliances of the class for which the fund or funds is or are so established.
(2)
The Council may from time to time apply the money so set aside only to the purposes aforesaid, or any of them, and may invest in the manner specified in section one hundred and sixty-four of this Act any money so set aside and pay the proceeds of the investment into the said fund or funds.
(3)
Nothing in this section shall apply with respect to any trading undertaking of the Council.
Compare: 1936, No. 58, s. 20(1)(2)
166 Council may establish fund for construction or repair of roads and bridges
(1)
The Council may from time to time set aside in a separate bank account any money to form a fund or funds for the construction, reconstruction, repair, or renewal of roads and bridges under the control of the Council.
(2)
Subject to the provisions of subsection three of this section, the Council may from time to time apply the money so set aside only to the purposes aforesaid or any of them, and may invest in the manner specified in section one hundred and sixty-four of this Act any money so set aside and pay the proceeds of the investment into the said fund or funds.
(3)
Where money in any fund established under subsection one of this section is held for any specified purpose and that purpose has been completed, the Council may, with the prior consent of the Audit Office, transfer that money to its General Account or to the appropriate Riding Account.
Compare: 1936, No. 58, s. 20(1a) (1b); 1949, No. 27, s. 22
Part XII Contracts
167 Council may enter into contracts for purposes of Act
(1)
The Council may, in the name and on behalf of the Corporation, enter into any contract for any of the purposes of this Act.
(2)
If any such contract is for the execution of any work, it shall specify the work to be done, and the materials to be furnished, and the price to be paid for the same or the manner in which the price is to be calculated, and the time or times within which the work is to be completed, and the penalties to be suffered in the case of a non-performance thereof.
(3)
The provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act shall apply to all tenders called for and all contracts entered into by the Council for the execution by any person of any work.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 145
168 Mode of contracting
(1)
Any contract which if made between private persons must be by deed shall, if made by the Council, be in writing under the seal of the Corporation.
(2)
Any contract which if made between private persons must be in writing signed by the parties to be charged therewith shall, if made by the Council, be either under the seal of the Corporation or signed by two members of the Council on behalf of and by direction of the Council.
(3)
Any contract which if made between private persons may be made orally without writing may be similarly made by or on behalf of the Council by any two members acting by direction of the Council, but no oral contract shall be made for any sum exceeding twenty pounds.
(4)
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, no contract made by or on behalf of the Council shall be invalid by reason only that it was not made in the manner provided by this section, if it was made pursuant to a resolution of the Council or to give effect to a resolution of the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 146
169 Council may adopt co-operative system of works
(1)
It shall be lawful for the Council to make any contract for work or labour to be done on the co-operative system, or to carry out any work or to employ labour without the intervention of a contractor.
(2)
Every Council shall keep at the office of the Council a list of the rates of wages and the hours of labour to be paid and observed on works which are to be done on the co-operative system or which the Council resolves to carry out without the intervention of a contractor.
(3)
The list shall be based on the rates of wages and hours of labour generally accepted as usual and fair in the trade or class of labour to which they relate, and shall at all reasonable times be open to public inspection.
Part XIII Sale or Lease of Land
170 Council may sell or exchange lands vested in Corporation
(1)
Save as provided in subsection three of this section, the Council, pursuant to a special order in that behalf, may sell any land vested in the Corporation, or exchange any such land, and in respect of any such exchange may give or receive any money for equality of exchange:
Provided that a special order shall not be necessary in any case where the land is sold to any person who is desirous of building a house thereon for the personal occupation of himself and his family or of occupying with his family any house already on the land.
(2)
Where any land so sold or exchanged was at the time of the sale or exchange vested in the Corporation in trust for any particular purpose or purposes, whether by or pursuant to any Act or any deed of trust or otherwise howsoever, all money received by the Council upon the sale or exchange shall be applied in or towards the purchase of other lands to be held for the same purposes as affected the lands disposed of, and all lands received in exchange shall be held for the purposes that affected the land given in exchange.
(3)
Nothing in this section shall be deemed—
(a)
To authorise the Council to deal with any public reserve within the meaning of the Reserves and Domains Act 1953 otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of that Act:
(b)
To authorise the Council to deal with any land taken or otherwise acquired under the Public Works Act 1928 otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of that Act:
(c)
To authorise the sale or exchange of any land vested in the Corporation in trust for any particular purpose, if the sale of the land is prohibited by the instrument creating the trust.
Compare: 1950, No. 47, s. 152
171 Council may lease lands vested in Corporation
The Corporation shall, in addition to all other leasing powers exercisable by it or by the Council representing it, under Part XXV of this Act or under any other enactment, or under any grant, conveyance, or deed, have the powers hereinafter conferred, which powers shall be exercisable by the Council in the name and on behalf of the Corporation.
172 Extent of leasing powers
(1)
Save as provided in section one hundred and seventy-six of this Act, the Council may lease any lands or buildings, or other real or personal property of the Corporation,—
(a)
For any term not exceeding sixty-six years without right of renewal; or
(b)
For any term not exceeding twenty-one years—
(i)
With a provision that the lessee, his executors, administrators, and assigns, may, at any time prior to the expiration of the term, have a new lease for a further term not exceeding twenty-one years, and containing the same covenants and provisions (including this present provision), at a rent to be fixed by valuation of the land, including any buildings and other improvements thereon erected or made by the Council but excluding any other buildings or improvements thereon; or
(ii)
With a provision that, prior to the expiration of the term, a new lease for a further term not exceeding twenty-one years, and containing the same covenants and provisions (including this present provision), shall be put up to public auction at the upset price of the annual value of the land, including any buildings and other improvements thereon, erected or made by the Council (to be fixed by valuation) but excluding any other buildings or improvements thereon, subject to a condition that in the event of any person other than the lessee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, becoming entitled to the new lease, then that person shall, before being let into possession, pay to the lessee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, the value of the buildings and improvements other than buildings and improvements erected or made by the Council (to be fixed by valuation), whether erected or made by the lessee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, or any former lessee or tenant of all or any part of the lands included in the lease; or
(iii)
With a provision that the lessee, his executors, administrators, or assigns, may, at any time prior to the expiration of the term, at his or their option, either have a new lease as provided by subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, or have a new lease put up to public auction under subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph.
(2)
Any such lease may be for mining or quarrying purposes.
(3)
Every valuation under paragraph (b) of subsection one of this section shall be made as follows:
(a)
The valuation shall be made by two independent persons (in this section referred to as the arbitrators), one to be appointed by the Council and the other by the lessee, his executors, administrators, or assigns:
(b)
The arbitrators, before commencing to make the valuation, shall together appoint a third person, who shall be an umpire as between them:
(c)
The decision of the two arbitrators if they agree, or of the umpire if the arbitrators do not agree, shall be binding on the Council and the lessee, his executors, administrators, and assigns.
(4)
The lease may contain any subsidiary matter to give due effect to the provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection one of this section.
(5)
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, where in any case the Council considers that the annual rent under any renewal lease granted under subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subsection one of this section should not exceed fifty pounds, it may give notice in writing to the lessee of the rent it is prepared to accept, and the lessee may, within one month after the service of the notice, elect in writing to accept the renewal lease at the rent stated in the notice or at such other rent as may be agreed upon between the Council and the lessee or as may be fixed by the valuation of one independent person to be appointed by agreement between the Council and the lessee. In default of agreement or if the lessee does not make his election within the said period of one month, the rent shall be fixed by valuation made in the manner prescribed in subsection three of this section.
173 Conditions governing the exercise of Council’s leasing powers
The powers of leasing given by this Part of this Act shall be subject to the conditions and exceptions following:
(a)
Every lease shall, except as otherwise specially provided by this or any other Act, be either—
(i)
Offered for public application and ballot at a fixed rental to be determined by the Council; or
(ii)
Sold by public auction or public tender, of which public notice shall be given at least once not less than thirty days before the sale and twice after that first notice and before the sale:
Provided that a lease which has been offered as aforesaid and not sold may, at any time within twelve months thereafter, be sold by private contract, at a rent not less than the reserved rent when it was so offered:
(b)
Every lease shall take effect in possession within six months from its date:
(c)
The rent reserved shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be a rack rent, without fine, premium or foregift, but need not be uniform for the whole term. The amount paid for valuation of buildings and improvements by an incoming tenant either to the outgoing tenant or to the Council shall not be deemed to be a premium:
(d)
Every such lease may contain such covenants, conditions, and provisions, not being contrary to this Act, as the Council thinks fit.
174 Lease of cinematograph theatre need not be submitted to public auction or tender in certain cases
(1)
Notwithstanding anything in section one hundred and seventy-three of this Act, where an exhibitor’s licence has been granted under the Cinematograph Films Act 1928 in respect of any building vested in the Corporation, the Council may grant a lease of that building to the holder of the licence or, where the licence has expired, to the last holder of the licence at a rent to be fixed in accordance with the provisions of subsection two of this section and without selling the lease by public auction or public tender.
(2)
The rent payable under any lease under subsection one of this section shall be fixed as follows:
(a)
The rent shall be fixed by two independent persons (in this section referred to as the arbitrators), one to be appointed by the Council and the other by the proposed lessee:
(b)
The arbitrators, before commencing to make the valuation, shall together appoint a third person, who shall be an umpire as between them:
(c)
The decision of the two arbitrators if they agree, or of the umpire if the arbitrators do not agree, shall be binding on the Council and the proposed lessee.
(3)
The Council may terminate any lease granted under this section in the event of the lessee ceasing to be the holder of an exhibitor’s licence granted as aforesaid in respect of the building comprised in the lease.
(4)
No lease granted under this section shall be for a longer term than seven years.
175 Land may be let for short periods by private contract
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act, the Council may let or agree to let any of its lands or other property by private contract or otherwise on a weekly, monthly, or other tenancy not exceeding a year.
176 Special provisions with respect to land and buildings reserved for recreation
(1)
No lands or buildings appropriated to the use or enjoyment or recreation of the inhabitants of the county and which are, or are on, a public reserve within the meaning of the Reserves and Domains Act 1953 shall be leased under this Part of this Act.
(2)
Where any land vested in the Corporation for those purposes, not being a public reserve, is leased, the lessee shall not erect thereon any building other than a building authorised by the lease as a building necessary for the full use of the land for the purpose or purposes for which it is vested, and no such land shall be so leased as in any way to restrict the public in the use and enjoyment thereof.
177 Surrenders of leases and reduction of rent
(1)
The Council may by special order, on such terms as it thinks fit, accept a surrender of any lease; and may again, subject to the provisions of this Act, lease the land comprised in the surrendered lease; or, if it thinks fit, may grant to the former lessee a new lease for the remainder of the term of the surrendered lease at a rent to be fixed by the Council by special order either before or after the surrender, and on any terms or conditions authorised by this Act.
(2)
The Council may, at any time or times during the currency of a lease, by special order reduce the rent to be paid for the remainder of the term of the lease.
178 Leases may be granted to subtenants
(1)
The Council may, with the consent of the lessee, grant to a sublessee from the lessee a lease direct from the Council of the whole or any part of the land comprised in the lease to the lessee for the whole residue of the term created by the last-mentioned lease.
(2)
This section shall also apply where only an agreement for the head lease has been entered into.
179 Leases of land held as a reserve or for a public work or other special purpose
The Council may, subject to the provisions of this Act, let or lease any land, building, or personal property held by the Corporation or controlled by the Council as a reserve (not being a public reserve within the meaning of the Reserves and Domains Act 1953) or for the purposes of any public work, or for any special purpose (other than the use, enjoyment, or recreation of the inhabitants), or grant any rights, easements, or privileges over the same, for, in either case, any term not exceeding twenty-one years, if the Council resolves by special order that the land, building, or personal property is not likely to be required during the proposed tenancy for the purpose for which it is held or controlled, or that the rights, easements, or privileges proposed to be granted will not interfere with the proper use of the land, building, or personal property.
180 Protection of title of tenant taking in good faith
The title of any tenant or lessee of the Corporation, or any person claiming under him, if (in each case) acting in good faith, shall not be prejudiced or affected by reason of the non-compliance on the part of the Council with any direction of this or any other Act requiring the calling for tenders, submission to auction, passing of a special order, or other matter preliminary to the execution of the lease.
181 Power to lease reserves exercisable only by special order, unless otherwise provided
Where power to lease any reserve or recreation ground otherwise than by public auction or by public tender is conferred on the Council by any special Act, the power shall be exercised pursuant only to a special order made in that behalf.
182 Transfers and leases to Crown for reserves or public purposes
Notwithstanding anything in this Part of this Act, the Council may transfer to the Crown, with or without consideration, or lease to the Crown, with or without payment of rent, any land vested in the Corporation and not held in trust for any particular purpose or purposes, whether by or pursuant to any Act or any deed of trust or otherwise howsoever, to be held by the Crown for the purposes of a public reserve or for any purpose of public utility:
Provided that land held in trust for any particular purpose or purposes may be transferred to the Crown under this section to be held by the Crown in trust for the same purpose or purposes.
Part XIV Public Works
183 General powers of Council with respect to public works
The Council shall have power—
(a)
To enter, by itself or its officers, agents, or servants, without being deemed to commit trespass, upon any unoccupied land or buildings, or upon any occupied land or buildings after giving to the occupier thereof twenty-four hours’ previous notice of the intended entry, for the purpose of making any surveys or doing anything which the Council is empowered to do under the provisions of this Act:
(b)
To make surveys or inspections for or in connection with any proposed public work, or with a view to carrying out any of the purposes of this Act, and for any such purpose to exercise all or any of the powers given by Part V of the Public Works Act 1928 for the purposes of that Act, all of the provisions of which shall, subject to paragraph (a) of this section, apply to any survey or inspection made under this section, and to any survey mark or other thing made, fixed, or set up in connection therewith:
(c)
To take in the manner provided by the Public Works Act 1928 or purchase or otherwise acquire and hold any land, whether within or outside the county, which may be necessary or convenient for the purposes of or in connection with any public work which the Council is empowered to undertake, construct, or provide, or for carrying out any of the purposes of this Act:
(d)
To erect, construct, and maintain any public work which in the opinion of the Council may be necessary or beneficial to the county whether that work is to be or has been constructed within or outside the county; and in carrying out or executing any such works the Council, on behalf of the Corporation, shall have and may exercise all the powers and authorities given to local authorities by the Public Works Act 1928:
(e)
To expend money in the improvement and development of any lands vested in the Corporation of the county as endowments or reserves or otherwise, or any public reserves the control or management of which is vested in the Council, including power to expend money on the construction or maintenance of streets or roads on, or providing access to, any such lands or public reserves; and for the purpose of providing funds for those purposes, or any of them, the Council may raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 as for a public work:
(f)
To expend money in the erection, replacement, and maintenance of such buildings, structures, and other improvements on any land vested in the Corporation of the county as an endowment, or on any public reserves vested in the Corporation or under the control of the Council, as may be consistent with the purpose for which the land is used or is likely to be used; and for the purpose of providing funds for that expenditure the Council may raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 150; 1952, No. 75, s. 18
184 Land acquired for public works to vest in Corporation
All land taken, purchased, or acquired under section one hundred and eighty-three of this Act shall be vested in the Corporation for the purpose for which it was acquired, subject to the provisions of the Public Works Act 1928 as to a change of that purpose.
185 Council may purchase land on system of time payment
Any land purchased by the Council may, with the approval of the Minister, be paid for by the Council out of revenue by instalments extending over a period not exceeding twenty years, and interest at such rate as the Minister approves may be paid by the Council in respect of any portion of the purchase money that may for the time being be unpaid:
Provided that, except in any case where the rate of interest is fixed by any other enactment, the Minister shall not approve a rate of interest in excess of the maximum rate determined for the time being by the Minister of Finance for the purposes of section nine of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
186 Council may contract with Minister of Works and other local authorities for execution of works
(1)
The Council may from time to time contract with the Minister of Works for the prosecution or construction by the Council on behalf of that Minister or by that Minister on behalf of the Council of any public work of a kind that the Council is empowered to prosecute or construct.
(2)
Any such contract with the Minister of Works may be made in conjunction with one or more local authorities empowered in that behalf; and every such local authority may agree with that Minister as to the mode and times of repaying the cost of prosecuting or constructing the works, and as to the manner in which the same shall be carried out; and every such local authority shall give such security for the repayment thereof, with interest, as may be agreed upon.
(3)
Any such agreement or security may be made with or taken by that Minister on behalf of the Crown.
(4)
The Council may from time to time contract with any other local authority for the prosecution or construction by the Council on behalf of that local authority or by that local authority on behalf of the Council of any public work of a kind that the Council is empowered to prosecute or construct.
(5)
All money expended on any such works, or in repaying any liability incurred in respect thereof, shall be paid out of the County Fund.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 148, 151, 153
187 Council may subsidise Town Councils
(1)
The County Council may from time to time pay, by way of subsidy, to the Town Council of any dependent town district situated within the county such money out of the County Fund as it thinks fit, to be expended in such works within the town district as the Town Council is empowered to undertake.
(2)
Any payment under subsection one of this section may be charged either against the General Account or the appropriate Riding Account or any appropriate separate account or accounts kept under paragraph (d) of subsection one of section one hundred and forty-six of this Act, or may be apportioned by the Council among those accounts.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 154; 1927, No. 22, s. 16
188 Compensation payable by Council for lands taken or injuriously affected
Every person having any estate or interest in any lands taken under the authority of this Act for any public work, or injuriously affected thereby, or suffering any damage from the exercise of any of the powers hereby given, shall be entitled to full compensation for the same from the Corporation. That compensation may be claimed and shall be determined in the manner provided by the Public Works Act 1928.
189 Council not to interfere with public works undertaken by Crown
Nothing in this Act shall authorise the Council to interfere, without the consent in writing of the Minister of Works, with any public work carried on or executed by or under the control of the Government.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 149
190 Council not authorised by this Act to create a nuisance
Nothing in this Act shall entitle the Council to create a nuisance, or shall deprive any person of any right or remedy he would otherwise have against the Corporation or any other person in respect of any such nuisance.
Part XV Roads, Bridges, and Ferries
Roads
191 Council to have control of county roads
(1)
The Council shall have the control and management of all county roads in the county within the meaning of the Public Works Act 1928.
(2)
The Council shall have and may exercise that control and management over all such roads although the same may not have been formed or made.
(3)
All lines of roads or tracks passing through or over any Crown lands or Maori lands, and generally used without obstruction as roads, shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be public roads, not exceeding sixty-six feet in width, and under the control and management of the Council, notwithstanding that any such lines of roads have not been surveyed, laid off, or dedicated in any special manner to public use.
(4)
Except as otherwise provided in this or any other Act, every road shall be not less than sixty-six feet wide, measured at right angles to its course.
(5)
Except with the prior consent in writing of the Minister of Works, or of an officer of the Ministry of Works to whom that Minister may delegate the functions of granting that consent, no road shall be laid out or constructed by the Council with a steeper grade in any part of its length than one inch in eight inches.
(6)
The Council shall have power in respect of every road to do the following things:
(a)
To construct and repair all roads with such materials and in such manner as the Council thinks fit:
(b)
To make surveys for the laying out of new roads:
(c)
To lay out new roads:
(d)
To divert or alter the course of any roads:
(e)
To increase or diminish the width of any road subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Act and any other Act:
(f)
To determine what part of a road shall be a carriage way, and what part a footway only:
(g)
To alter the level of any road:
(h)
To stop the traffic on any road or part thereof whilst the road, or any drain, water race, pipe, or apparatus under, upon, or over the road, is being constructed or repaired, or during a period when public disorder exists or is anticipated, or when for any reason it is considered desirable that the public traffic and passage should be temporarily diverted to other roads:
(i)
To make and use a temporary road upon any unoccupied land whilst any road adjacent thereto is being constructed or repaired:
(j)
To lay out or construct any part of any road as a safety area for pedestrians using the road, and to lay out grass plots or flower beds on any road and to prohibit traffic in whole or in part on any such plots and flower beds laid out in roads (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) by or under the authority of the Council, and to enclose and plant any part of a road or to plant trees on any road, and to erect upon any road any monument, statue, or other such erection:
Provided that no erection or enclosure or laying out or planting made or done pursuant to this paragraph shall be such as will in the opinion of the Council be likely to impede ordinary traffic:
(k)
To name and to alter the name of any road or access way or service lane, and to place on any building or erection on or abutting on any road or access way or service lane a plate bearing the name of the road, access way, or service lane:
(l)
To sell the surplus spoil of roads:
(m)
For the purpose of providing access from one road to another, or from one part of a road to another part of the same road, to construct on any road, or on land adjacent to any road, elevators, moving platforms, machinery, and overhead bridges for passenger or other traffic, and such subways, tunnels, shafts, and approaches as are required in connection therewith:
(n)
To use or permit the use of any road or part thereof for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate thirty-one days in any year for any exhibition, fair, show, market, concert, or public function:
Provided that no road shall be used for any such purpose if that use would, in the opinion of the Council, be likely to impede traffic.
(7)
The power conferred on the Council by paragraph (h) of subsection six of this section may be exercised by the Chairman on behalf of the Council.
(8)
For the purposes of any resolution or bylaw of the Council any grass plot or flower bed laid out by or under the authority of the Council shall be deemed to be sufficiently described if the road in which it is laid out and its approximate locality in that road are specified.
(9)
The Council may by bylaw fix charges for and regulate the use of any means of access constructed under paragraph (m) of subsection six of this section. Where the amount received in respect of those charges in any year is insufficient to pay the cost of working and maintaining those means of access during that year (not including in that cost the annual charges payable in respect of any loan raised for the purpose of providing those means), the Council may make and levy a separate rate of such amount as will realise the amount of the deficiency. Every such rate shall be levied on all the rateable property within the area over which the special rate made in respect of the said loan (if any) is leviable, or within such area as the Council from time to time, by special order, determines:
Provided that before passing any resolution defining any such area the Council shall proceed as directed by section twenty-seven of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 in the case of a loan proposed to be raised for part of a county, and all the provisions of that section shall, with the necessary modifications, extend and apply accordingly.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 155
192 Certain powers as to roads to be exercised by special order
(1)
The Council shall exercise the power to make any new road, or divert or widen any existing road, or to alter the name of any road or access way or service lane, only by special order in that behalf.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything in subsection one of this section, a special order shall not be necessary in any case where land is dedicated as a road or to widen any existing road pursuant to a resolution of the Council accepting dedication, and the land shall be deemed to be a new road or, as the case may be, to form part of the existing road or roads on registration of the instrument of dedication.
(3)
Where the Council alters the name of any road or access way or service lane, the Council shall as soon as conveniently may be after the making of the special order in that behalf, send a copy of the special order to the District Land Registrar of the land registration district within which the land is situated, who shall deposit the same in his office without payment of any fee.
193 Council may contribute to cost of maintenance of highway beyond district
The Council may from time to time contribute from the County Fund towards the funds of any adjoining local authority for the maintenance, repair, widening, or otherwise improving of any road or street which is outside the limits of the county but is in great measure used by the inhabitants thereof.
194 Council to take precautions against accidents on roads, etc.
The Council shall take all sufficient precautions to prevent accidents during the construction or repair of any road or when any opening is made therein for the repair of drains or for any other purpose, by erecting bars or fences across any such road or around any dangerous place therein, or otherwise, and shall cause any such dangerous place to be sufficiently lighted by night; and any person removing any such protective work, or removing or extinguishing any such light, without the authority of the Council, commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
195 Council may require alteration of pipes and drains
The Council may by notice in writing require the owner of any pipe, drain, or other apparatus of any kind on or under a road to raise, lower, or otherwise alter the same as the Council directs, and if that alteration is not made within a reasonable time the Council may make the same as it thinks fit; but the cost of any such alteration and any damage occasioned thereby shall be paid by and may be recovered from the Council by any person affected thereby.
196 Saving of liability of tramway owners
Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to affect in any way the liability of any owner, lessee, or promoter of a tramway (other than the Council) in respect of the repair of any part of any road.
197 Council may provide public cycle tracks
The Council may on any road construct a public cycle track, and may make bylaws regulating and controlling the use of that cycle track.
198 Footpaths and channels
(1)
The Council may lay out or construct or make permanent improvements of footpaths or channels, or both, on one or both sides of any road, and may construct the same of such dimensions, and of such materials, and in such manner in all respects as it thinks fit, and may impose not exceeding half of the cost of those works upon the owners of lands and buildings fronting the same, and the amount so imposed shall be payable to the Council and until paid shall be in every case a charge on the premises.
(2)
The County Council may from time to time authorise the Town Council of any dependent town district within the county to construct or repair at its own cost any footpaths in any county road within the town district, and for that purpose the Town Council may from time to time expend such part of its ordinary fund as it thinks fit.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 162
Parking Places and Transport Stations
199 Provision of parking places and transport stations
(1)
The Council may provide parking places and transport stations as defined in subsection nine of this section, and for that purpose may—
(a)
Take, purchase, or otherwise acquire any land or buildings in or near to the county:
(b)
Utilise any land or buildings that may lawfully be appropriated for the purpose:
(c)
Take all such steps as the Council thinks necessary to adapt for use as a parking place or transport station any land or building that it may acquire or utilise under this section:
(d)
Authorise the use as a parking place or transport station of any part of a road:
(e)
Appoint any place or any road or any specified part of any place or road as a transport station for the exclusive use of vehicles engaged in any passenger service or goods service or any other transport service.
(2)
The Council shall not authorise the use of any part of a road as a parking place or transport station so as unreasonably to prevent access to any premises adjoining the road, or the use of the road by any person entitled to the use thereof, or so as to be a nuisance.
(3)
The exercise by the Council of its powers under this section with respect to the use of any part of a road shall not render it subject to any liability in respect of loss of or damage to any vehicle or the fittings or contents of any vehicle.
(4)
Except as provided in subsection five or subsection six of this section, no part of a road may be appointed as a parking place available only to a specified person or to a specified class of persons or to vehicles owned or operated by a specified person or by specified classes of persons.
(5)
The Council may make such bylaws as it thinks fit as to the use of parking places and transport stations, and in particular as to the vehicles or class of vehicles that may be entitled to use any parking place or transport station, as to the conditions upon or subject to which any parking place or transport station may be used, and as to the charges to be paid to the Council in connection with the use of any parking place or transport station.
(6)
Where pursuant to subsection five of this section any specified parking place or transport station has been appointed for the use of vehicles plying for hire or otherwise available for hire for the carriage of passengers or goods or for the use of any specified kind of such vehicles or for the use of vehicles used for any specified public purpose, the Council may from time to time, by resolution publicly notified, limit that parking place or transport station or any specified part thereof to vehicles belonging to or used by particular persons or to vehicles used for particular public purposes.
(7)
Where any parking place or transport station has been so limited to vehicles belonging to or used by particular persons or to vehicles used for particular public purposes, no person in charge of any other vehicle shall allow that vehicle to stand in that parking place or transport station.
(8)
The Council may, in the exercise of its powers of leasing and letting under Part XIII of this Act or under any other Act (but subject to the provisions of that Act), let or lease to any person for use as a parking place or transport station any parking place or transport station provided by it (not being part of a road).
(9)
In this section—
“Parking place” means a place where vehicles, or any class of vehicles, may wait:
“Transport station” means a place where transport service vehicles, or any class of transport service vehicles, may wait between trips;—
and each of those expressions includes all necessary approaches and means of entrance to and egress from any such place, and all such buildings, ticket offices, waiting rooms, cloak rooms, structures, appliances, and other facilities as may be deemed necessary or desirable by the Council for the efficient use of that place for the purpose for which it is provided and the collection of charges in relation to that use.
Levels of Roads
200 Council may prepare map showing roads and their levels
(1)
The Council may, if it thinks fit, from time to time cause a map of any specified portion of the county to be made, showing all the roads therein, with the levels thereof, as the same are or are intended to be or will be required to be permanently constructed; and may from time to time as found to be necessary cause any new roads, with the levels thereof as aforesaid, or any alteration of existing roads or levels, to be marked on that map.
(2)
Every such map shall be open for public inspection at all reasonable hours at the office of the Council.
201 Buildings to be erected with regard to levels of roads
All buildings erected in any part of the county for which a map has been made under section two hundred of this Act shall be constructed with proper regard to the levels shown on that map.
202 Council may fix levels of roads
(1)
The Council may at any time, either before or after the making of any such map, fix the level of any road, subject to the conditions set out in the Third Schedule to this Act.
(2)
The Council may fix the level of any road upon which no building or land appurtenant to a building fronts, without complying with the conditions numbered one to five in the said Third Schedule.
203 When compensation payable for alteration of level of road
No compensation shall be payable by the Council in respect of an alteration in the level of any road, unless the alteration has been made after that level has been fixed under this Act, or after the road has been constructed in some permanent manner by any local authority having the power to do so.
204 Person building without reference to level of road may be required to pay compensation
Any person who builds any house or other building abutting on a road without proper regard to the level thereof fixed under this Act shall be liable to pay to the Council any expenses which the Council deems it necessary to incur in altering the level or construction of the road adjacent to that building.
205 Right to lateral support
It shall be lawful for the Council to throw the batter or make the slope of any road upon any land, subject to the payment of compensation, to be claimed and ascertained under the Public Works Act 1928.
Injuries to and Nuisances on Roads
206 Penalties for injuries to roads
(1)
Every person commits an offence who, not being authorised by the Council or by any Act,—
(a)
Encroaches on a road by making or erecting any building, fence, ditch, or other obstacle or work of any kind upon, over, or under the same, or by planting any tree or shrub thereon; or
(b)
Places or leaves on a road, any timber, earth, stones, or other thing; or
(c)
Digs up, removes, or alters in any way the soil or surface or scrapings of a road; or
(d)
Allows any water, tailings, or sludge, or any filthy or noisome matter, to flow from any building or land in his occupation on to a road; or
(e)
Causes or permits any timber or other heavy material, not being wholly raised above the ground on wheels, to be dragged on a road; or
(f)
Causes or negligently allows any retaining wall, foundation wall, or fence erected on any land, or any batter or slope of earth, or any building, erection, material, or thing, to give way or fall so as to injure or obstruct a road; or
(g)
Does or causes or permits to be done any act whatsoever by which any injury is done to a road or any work or thing in, on, or under the same,—
and is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds for every day upon which the offence is committed or suffered to continue, and may be ordered to pay the cost incurred by the Council in removing any such encroachment, obstruction, or matter, or in repairing any injury done as aforesaid:
Provided that no fine shall be imposed unless the information is laid by authority of the Council or by an officer thereof.
(2)
Except with the prior consent in writing of the Minister of Telegraphs or the Minister of Works, as the case may require, the Council shall not authorise or suffer any encroachment on a road if the encroachment would or might interfere with or in any way obstruct the right of the Crown to construct, place, maintain, alter, remove, or otherwise deal with any electric wires, telephone wires, telegraph wires, or pneumatic tubes on, over, or under the road.
207 Council may grant right to lay petroleum conduit pipes along or under roads
(1)
Subject to the provisions of section two hundred and six of this Act, the Council may, by special order, grant to any person an easement or other right for such period not exceeding fifty years and on such terms and conditions as the Council thinks fit, authorising that person to lay conduit pipes for petroleum in the county under or along any road; but no such grant shall be to the exclusion of like grants to any other person.
(2)
The grant of any such right or easement shall be subject to the payment of such rent, and to the observance of such conditions as to size, construction, repair, and maintenance of the conduit pipes, and as to repair of any road under or along which they are laid, as the Council thinks fit.
208 Council may require owner of land abutting on road to fence
(1)
Whenever the public safety or convenience renders it expedient, the Council may require the owner or occupier of any land not separated from a road by a sufficient fence to enclose the same by a fence to the satisfaction of the Council.
(2)
In this section the term “road”
includes an access way within the meaning of Part I of the Public Works Amendment Act 1948.
209 Council may require dangerous places to be secured
The Council may require the owner or occupier of any land upon which there is any hole, well, excavation, or other place dangerous to persons passing along any road forthwith to fill in, cover, or enclose the same.
210 Council may require removal of overhanging trees, etc.
(1)
The Council may, by notice in writing under the hand of the Chairman or the County Clerk, require the occupier, or, in case there is no occupier, then the owner of any land abutting upon any road within the county to do any of the following acts:
(a)
To remove, lower, or trim to the satisfaction of the Council any tree or hedge overhanging or overshadowing the road in cases where, in the opinion of the Council, the removal, lowering, or trimming is necessary in order to prevent injury to the road or obstruction to the traffic thereon or to any channel, ditch, or drain appertaining thereto:
(b)
To cut down or grub up, as the Council directs, and remove all obstructions to traffic or drainage arising from the growth of plants or the spreading of roots upon or under the road up to the middle line thereof along the whole frontage of the land occupied or owned by him:
(c)
To remove, lower, or trim to the satisfaction of the Council any tree or hedge, or to lower any fence or wall, if in the opinion of the Council the tree, hedge, fence, or wall is likely, by reason of its obstructing the view, to cause danger to the traffic on that or any other road.
(2)
Within ten days after service of the notice the occupier or owner may apply to a Magistrate’s Court for an order setting aside the notice.
(3)
On the hearing of the application, the Court, whose decision shall be final, shall determine whether the notice should or should not be set aside, and in the former case the notice shall be deemed to be void.
(4)
In the case of a notice which is not set aside as aforesaid, if the occupier or owner fails to do any such act in compliance therewith within one month from the service thereof, or, where application as aforesaid has been heard, then within one month after the giving of the decision of the Court, he commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding one pound for every day during which the failure has continued, and the Council may enter on the land and do that act and recover the cost from him.
(5)
The said cost shall be a charge upon the land.
(6)
In any case where the Council might give any such notice as aforesaid in respect of any land, any ratepayer may, by notice in writing, request the Council to do so.
(7)
If for the space of twenty-eight days after the receipt of the last-mentioned notice the Council fails to comply therewith, the ratepayer may apply to a Magistrate’s Court for an order requiring the Council to comply with that notice.
(8)
On the hearing of the application the Court shall determine whether and to what extent the notice shall be complied with by the Council, and the decision of the Court shall be final.
(9)
For the purposes of this section the term “cut down”
means cutting down and keeping cut down the stem and roots of any plants so as to prevent their throwing out any leaf, offshoot, or flower.
Bridges
211 Loan to renew bridge
Where, by reason of any accident of flood, fire, or other mischance, or on account of disrepair, it becomes necessary to renew any bridge (being a bridge in respect of which a bridge rate has been made under section one hundred and sixteen of this Act) on any road under the control of the Council, the Council may, by special order, raise a special loan for that purpose under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, and, notwithstanding anything in section thirty-four of that Act, without the prior consent of the ratepayers.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 159; 1926, No. 14, s. 25; 1951, No. 56, s. 6(5)
Contracts and Leases Relating to Ferries
212 Leasing powers of Council with respect to ferries
The Council having control of a ferry may let the ferry for a term not exceeding fourteen years, for such rent and on such terms and conditions as to the maintenance of the ferry as the Council thinks fit, and without submitting the lease to public auction or public tender:
Provided that before granting any such lease for any term exceeding three years the proposed terms and conditions thereof shall be publicly notified for at least two months.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 166
Tolls at Bridges and Ferries
213 Council may establish toll gates at bridges and ferries, subject to certain conditions
Subject to the provisions of section one hundred and eighty of the Public Works Act 1928, the Council may, by special order, establish toll gates and take tolls at any ferry within the county or under the control of the Council, or, with the prior consent of the Governor-General in Council, at any bridge within the county or under the control of the Council, and for that purpose may do all or any of the following things:
(a)
May appoint and discharge collectors of tolls:
(b)
May place on any road such toll houses, gates, and bars, ferry houses and posts, and other things as may be necessary for working a ferry, and provide boats and punts for the use of any ferry:
(c)
May from time to time fix the scale of tolls to be collected at any toll gate or ferry in respect of all persons, cattle, or vehicles passing the same, and may revoke or alter that scale.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 160
214 Conditions under which tolls may be taken
(1)
No toll shall be payable unless the following conditions are observed, namely:
(a)
The scale of tolls and every alteration thereof shall be publicly notified for not less than fourteen days before coming into force:
(b)
The name of the toll gate or ferry, and the name in full of the collector, and the scale of tolls, shall be painted in black letters not less than two inches in length on a white board, and placed in a conspicuous place on or near the toll house or ferry house, so as to be conveniently read by every person from whom a toll is demanded.
(2)
If the Governor-General is of opinion that any toll gate established by the Council is not necessary or that the tolls taken thereat are excessive, he may, by Order in Council, direct the Council to abolish the toll gate or to reduce the tolls, as he thinks fit:
Provided that nothing herein shall deprive the lessee (if any) of the toll gate of any right he may have of compensation for any loss sustained by him by reason of the Order in Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 160
215 Exemption from tolls in certain cases
The persons, cattle, and vehicles mentioned in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, and every animal and vehicle employed solely in carrying such persons or their tools and materials, shall be exempt from tolls:
Provided that the exceptions specified in paragraphs six to eight of the said Fourth Schedule shall not apply in the case of tolls payable at a ferry.
216 Penalty for plying for hire in vicinity of ferry or bridge at which tolls payable
If any person hires or plies for hire in any boat or punt across any river, stream, or creek within half a mile in a straight line from any public ferry in working order, or bridge open for traffic across the same at which tolls are payable, he is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
217 Regulations as to tolls
Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by section four hundred and forty-nine of this Act, regulations may be made under that section prescribing the manner in which, the term for which, and the conditions upon which any such tolls may be leased, and regulating the distraining for or recovery of tolls, and compensation for non-payment thereof, and imposing fines for non-payment or evasion of tolls, and prescribing the duties of toll collectors, and fines for breaches thereof, and any other matter in connection with such tolls.
218 Compensation where right to collect tolls destroyed
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit or interfere with the right to levy tolls on any bridge, ferry, tramway, or toll gate granted to any person or persons during the period for which the tolls have been so granted, except on payment of adequate compensation.
Powers of Governor-General Where Roads, Bridges, or Ferries Neglected
219 Powers of Governor-General as to county roads, bridges, or ferries if neglected
(1)
The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, order any county road, bridge, or ferry to be made, maintained, or repaired by the Council within such period as he in any such order determines; and if the Council refuses or neglects so to make, maintain, or repair any such road, bridge, or ferry, the Governor-General may cause the same to be so made, maintained, or repaired, and the expenses thereof shall be charged against the Corporation, and may be deducted from any money payable out of the Public Account to the Corporation under this or any other Act; and in default of any such deduction those expenses may be recovered as a debt due to the Crown from the Corporation.
(2)
In carrying out the provisions of this section the Governor-General, and every person authorised by him, shall have all the powers and authorities vested in or that could be exercised by the Council under any law.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 157
Privately Constructed Bridges and Ferries
220 Privately constructed bridges and ferries
(1)
Subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, the Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, authorise any person to construct a bridge across any river, creek, or stream, the bed of which is vested in the Crown, or to establish a ferry across any river, creek, stream, or lake, the bed of which is vested in the Crown, and to maintain that bridge or ferry for such period as the Governor-General thinks fit, and to occupy for such period as the Governor-General thinks fit such portion of any highway or Crown land as seems to him to be necessary as a site for any such bridge or ferry.
(2)
Every such bridge and ferry shall be deemed to be respectively a public bridge or ferry, and shall be open to the use of the public at all hours, subject to any regulations that may be made for regulating the use thereof.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 163
221 Regulations for maintenance and use of privately constructed bridges and ferries
Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by section four hundred and forty-nine of this Act, regulations may from time to time be made under that section, applying generally to bridges or ferries constructed or established under section two hundred and twenty of this Act or to any such specified bridges or ferries,—
(a)
For the management of those bridges or ferries and the approaches thereto, and for the maintenance of those bridges or ferries in good repair:
(b)
Fixing the tolls (if any) to be levied on those bridges, and the fares to be chargeable for the conveyance of passengers, animals, or goods by those ferries:
(c)
Declaring what exemptions shall be allowed from the payment of any such tolls or fares:
(d)
Regulating the collection of any such tolls or fares, and preventing the evasion thereof.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 164
222 Governor-General may delegate powers to County Council
The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, delegate to the Council all or any of the powers conferred on him by section two hundred and twenty of this Act, or authorise the Council to make bylaws for all or any of the matters specified in section two hundred and twenty-one of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 165
Services for Conveyance of Passengers and Goods
223 Council may establish services for conveyance of passengers and goods
(1)
Subject to the provisions of Part VI of the Transport Act 1949, the Council may establish, maintain, and regulate a service for the conveyance of passengers or of passengers and goods to and from any place within the county, or, with the consent of any neighbouring local authority, between any place within the county and any place within the district of that local authority, or the Council may contribute out of the County Fund to any such service established or maintained by any person or company or by any other local authority:
Provided that, where the service is one which the Council is authorised, pursuant to paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection one of section ninety-seven of the Transport Act 1949, to carry on without a transport licence under Part VI of that Act, the Council may operate the service between any place within the county and any place within the district of any other local authority without obtaining the consent of that other local authority.
(2)
Nothing in this section shall authorise the Council to construct any tramway or railway.
224 Council may establish ferry services
(1)
Subject to the provisions of Part VI of the Transport Act 1949, the Council may establish ferry services between termini within or partly within and partly outside the county, and may purchase or hire steamers and other vessels for that purpose.
(2)
The powers of this section may be exercised by any two or more local authorities jointly whose districts are benefited by any service.
(3)
For the purposes of this section a terminus shall be deemed to be within a county if it is on the borders or in the close vicinity of the same.
Part XVI Land Drainage
225 This Part to be subject to Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941
Nothing in this Part shall derogate from any of the provisions of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941.
226 Powers of Council as to land drainage works
(1)
The Council may from time to time, in manner provided by this Act and the Public Works Act 1928, make, maintain, enlarge, alter, extend, and repair works of any sort for the drainage of land in the county, including the making of drains for receiving water in its natural flow on or from any hills or other lands, and diverting the same to prevent its overflow on to any other lands at a lower level, as well as drains for carrying off water from any land.
(2)
For the purposes of any drainage works constructed or maintained by the Council under the authority of this section, the Council may from time to time make and levy within the county, or within any drainage district constituted under section two hundred and twenty-seven or section two hundred and twenty-eight of this Act, or within any subdivision of any such district, a land drainage rate not exceeding twopence in the pound on the capital value of the rateable property within the county or district or subdivision, as the case may be, or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 167; 1952, No. 75, s. 19(1)
227 Council may constitute districts for land drainage
(1)
The Council may from time to time, by special order, declare the whole county or any defined part thereof to be a drainage district for the purpose of the construction and maintenance therein of works for the drainage of land in the district; and by any subsequent special order may alter the boundaries of any district:
Provided that, except where the special order is made pursuant to a petition signed by a majority of the ratepayers in the proposed drainage district or, as the case may be, in the area proposed to be added to or excluded from a drainage district, a poll of the ratepayers of the county or, as the case may be, of the particular part of the county proposed to be declared a drainage district or to be added to or excluded from a drainage district shall be taken on the proposal to declare the county or part thereof a drainage district under this section, or to add any area to or exclude any area from any drainage district, where—
(a)
Not less than five per cent of the ratepayers within the county or, as the case may be, within the particular portion of the county proposed to be constituted a drainage district or to be added to or excluded from any drainage district, by writing under their hands delivered or sent by post to the Council and received at the offices of the Council not later than the day before the date fixed for the confirmation of the resolution to constitute the district or to alter the boundaries of the district, demand that a poll of the ratepayers within the county, or, as the case may be, within that portion or area, be taken on the proposal; or
(b)
The Council so resolves,—
and the district shall not be constituted or, as the case may be, the boundaries shall not be altered, unless a majority of the valid votes recorded at the poll are in favour of the proposal.
(2)
The special order shall fix the day on which the district shall be constituted or on which the boundaries shall be altered, as the case may be, and, in the case of the constitution of a district, shall also give a name thereto.
(3)
Before making any such special order the Council shall cause a plan of the proposed district, or, as the case may be, a plan of the district showing the proposed alteration of boundaries, to be deposited at the office of the Council and at such other place or places as the Council determines.
(4)
Every such plan shall be open for inspection by the public without fee for at least one month before the passing of the resolution to make the special order, and public notice of the time when and the place or places where that inspection can be made shall be given by the Council.
(5)
No dependent town district shall be included within any drainage district except pursuant to a petition signed by a majority of the ratepayers in the town district.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 168; 1946, No. 40, s. 18; 1954, No. 35, s. 9
228 Union of districts
(1)
The Council may from time to time, by special order, declare that any two or more contiguous drainage districts constituted under section two hundred and twenty-seven of this Act shall be united so as to form a new district:
Provided that, except where the special order is made pursuant to a petition signed by a majority of the ratepayers in each of the districts proposed to be united, where—
(a)
Not less than five per cent of the ratepayers within any of the districts proposed to be united with any one or more other districts, by writing under their hands delivered or sent by post to the Council and delivered at the offices of the Council not later than the day before the date fixed for the confirmation of the resolution to unite the districts, demand that a poll of the ratepayers within the first-mentioned district be taken on the proposal; or
(b)
The Council so resolves,—
a poll of the ratepayers of the first-mentioned district, or, in any case to which paragraph (b) of this proviso applies, within such of the districts as the Council decides, shall be taken on the proposal to unite the districts; and the districts shall not be united unless a majority of the valid votes recorded at the poll are in favour of the proposal.
(2)
The special order may fix the day on which the districts shall be united, and shall also give a name to the united district.
(3)
The boundaries of any united district may be altered in the manner provided in section two hundred and twenty-seven of this Act.
229 Subdivision of districts
The Council may from time to time, by special order, divide any drainage district constituted under section two hundred and twenty-seven or section two hundred and twenty-eight of this Act into subdivisions, and may define the boundaries of any such subdivisions, and assign names thereto.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 169
230 Powers of Council as to drainage works in districts
The Council may purchase, or make and maintain, or enlarge, and from time to time alter, extend, or repair, any drainage works constructed under this Part of this Act in any drainage district, and for that purpose may—
(a)
Take any land, either within or outside the county, in the manner provided by the Public Works Act 1928:
(b)
Purchase or otherwise acquire any such land:
(c)
Contract with the owner of any private lands for and acquire from him by deed duly executed the grant in perpetuity to the Corporation of the county of the use, occupation, and enjoyment of those lands for the purpose of constructing and maintaining drainage works thereon:
(d)
Make surveys upon any lands:
(e)
Make drainage works upon, over, or under any land within the limits defined in an Order in Council in that behalf by the Governor-General:
(f)
Make drainage works over or under any road or place to which the public have general access, or through any public reserve within those limits:
(g)
Alter the course or level of any road or public place within or beyond those limits, and break up and dig into the surface thereof and stop temporarily the traffic thereon:
(h)
Make drainage works across any stream or river, but so as not to impede the navigation upon any navigable river, except under the provisions of a special Act:
(i)
Alter the course or level of any stream or river, or of any ditch or drain:
(j)
Enter upon any land for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, inspecting, or repairing any drainage works:
(k)
Enter upon any land and take therefrom any materials required for the construction or repair of drainage works, and also enter upon and occupy any land temporarily:
(l)
Construct all works, buildings, and machinery of every description and material, and generally do all things necessary for the construction, repair, maintenance, and use of any drainage works.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 170
231 Special loans for drainage works, and maintenance rate for works constructed from loan money
(1)
The Council may from time to time raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 for the purpose of exercising in any drainage district any of the powers conferred on the Council by section two hundred and thirty of this Act or by Part X of the Public Works Act 1928.
(2)
For the purpose of providing the cost of maintenance and supervision of any drainage works for the construction of which a special loan was so raised, the Council may, by special order, make and levy on all lands in the drainage district or subdivision a maintenance rate not exceeding one penny halfpenny in the pound on the capital value of the rateable property in the district or subdivision, or its equivalent on the unimproved value or the annual value.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 171; 1952, No. 75, s. 19(2)
232 Drainage rates to be levied on graduated scale
(1)
Every land drainage rate or special or maintenance rate for land drainage purposes shall be levied on a graduated scale according to a classification to be made by the Council of the rateable property within the rating area:
Provided that if the Minister, on the request of the Council, and after due inquiry, is satisfied that all the lands liable to be rated will derive substantially equal benefit from the drainage works in respect of which any rate or special rate is proposed to be made and levied, he may authorise the Council to make and levy the rate on a uniform scale.
(2)
For the purposes of this section the Council may from time to time appoint one or more fit persons to examine and classify all rateable property in the rating area into classes, according to the degree of direct or indirect benefit received or likely to be received from works carried out or to be carried out by the Council.
(3)
There shall be not fewer than two nor more than six classes of land named A, B, C, D, E, and F respectively, and, where, in the opinion of the person or persons making the classification, any land cannot reasonably be classed as receiving or likely to receive any benefit direct or indirect from the works, that land shall be placed in another class named Class G:
Provided that, where in the opinion of the person or persons making the classification, because of the relationship between the costs of any benefit and the valuation of the land that benefits, or for other good reason, urban land may not equitably be placed in the same class as rural land, the urban land may be placed in a higher or lower class.
(4)
Rates shall be levied on the several classes of land (except those in Class G) in such proportion as the Council in each case determines.
(5)
The maximum rate prescribed by section two hundred and twenty-six or, as the case may be, section two hundred and thirty-one of this Act shall not be deemed to be exceeded in the case of any rate levied on a graduated scale in accordance with this section if the proceeds derivable from the rate would not exceed the proceeds derivable from the maximum rate on a uniform scale levied on all the rateable property within the rating area, notwithstanding that the rate actually levied on the lands comprised in any class of that rateable property may exceed the maximum rate so prescribed.
(6)
Every classification under this section shall be set forth in a list to be sealed with the common seal of the Corporation, which list shall include a statement of the proportions in which the rates are to be imposed on the several classes of land to which the list relates; and the Council shall immediately thereafter cause public notice to be given of the classification, of the proportions in which the rates are to be imposed on the several classes of land, and of the place where the classification list may be inspected for a period of twenty-one days following the day of the giving of the notice.
(7)
Any person aggrieved by the classification or fixing of proportions may appeal against the same on the ground—
(a)
That the land of the appellant, or any other land in the rating area, has not been fairly classified in accordance with the benefit received or likely to be received from the expenditure aforesaid, or has not been classified; or
(b)
That the proportions in which the rates are proposed to be imposed on the several classes do not fairly represent the varying degrees of benefit to the land in the several classes, or that the proportion of the rates imposed on any particular class or classes is too great or too small.
(8)
A notice of appeal setting out the grounds thereof shall, within seven days next after the expiration of the twenty-one days appointed for the inspection of the classification list, be given to the Registrar of the Magistrate’s Court nearest to the public office of the Council, and a copy thereof shall within the same seven days be lodged at that office.
(9)
The appeal shall be heard by the Magistrate at such convenient time and place as he appoints, of which not less than three days’ notice shall be given to the County Clerk and to the appellant.
(10)
On the hearing of any such appeal the Magistrate may cause the classification list to be amended in such manner as he thinks reasonable, and the list, with such alterations (if any) as have been made therein, shall be signed by the Magistrate, whose determination shall be final and conclusive.
(11)
Every classification list sealed with the seal of the Corporation, or signed by a Magistrate in the case of any such appeal as aforesaid, shall, for the purpose of any proceedings for the recovery of rates, be sufficient evidence of a classification duly made by the Council in accordance with the requirements of this section.
(12)
The classification list may from time to time be amended by the Council:
Provided that no such amendment shall have effect until the expiration of two months after the service of notice of the amendment on all ratepayers affected thereby.
(13)
The provisions of this section relating to appeals and to the authentication of the classification list shall apply to every such amendment of the list.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 173; 1934, No. 24, s. 2; 1946, No. 40, s. 19
233 Exercise of powers outside county
As to such parts of the drainage works constructed under this Part of this Act as are outside the county, the following provisions shall apply:
(a)
Before interfering with any road or other public work for the purpose of constructing any such drainage works, the Council shall give not less than one month’s notice to the local authority having the control of the road or public work:
(b)
If that local authority objects to the interference, the matter shall be referred to the Minister of Works, whose decision thereon shall be final:
(c)
The Council may at any time interfere with any such road or public work for the purpose of effecting all necessary repairs in any drainage works theretofore lawfully constructed on or under the same, but shall give to the aforesaid local authority three days’ notice of its intention so to do:
(d)
In any sudden emergency or danger to the drainage works or property adjoining, the Council may effect the necessary repairs forthwith, but shall as soon as possible give notice thereof to the local authority.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 174
234 Entry upon private land
(1)
Nothing in this Part of this Act shall authorise the entering on any private land without the consent of the owner except for the purpose of making surveys, unless the right of constructing drainage works over the land is acquired by the Council as hereinbefore provided.
(2)
Where that right has been acquired, the Council may at any time enter on any such land for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, inspecting, or repairing any drainage works as if the land had been purchased by the Council; and every pipe or other part of the drainage works at any time put on or under any such private land shall be subject to the provisions of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 175
235 Compensation
Compensation, assessed in the manner provided by the Public Works Act 1928, shall be paid by the Council to all persons suffering injury or damage by or in the construction of any drainage works under the provisions of this Part of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 177
236 Bylaws for protection of land drainage works
The Council may from time to time, in relation to drainage works constructed under this Part of this Act, make bylaws—
(a)
To regulate the use of any constructed drain under the control of the Council:
(b)
To determine the conditions on which other constructed public or private drains may be connected or continue to be connected with any constructed drain under the control of the Council, including in those conditions the payment to the Council of any annual or other charges:
(c)
To compel owners of land on or adjoining which there are any watercourses or drains to construct, maintain, and renew crossings thereover at places and in manner approved by the Council:
(d)
To regulate the construction and maintenance of crossings over watercourses and drains:
(e)
To provide that in the case of specified watercourses or drains, or parts thereof, the crossings shall be bridges or culverts constructed at places and in manner approved by the Council:
(f)
To prohibit the passing over any watercourse or drain except at appointed crossings:
(g)
To punish persons for interfering without the consent of the Council with dams, reservoirs, headworks, and buildings connected with drainage works:
(h)
To protect rangers and other persons employed by the Council in connection with drainage works in the discharge of their duties:
(i)
To prevent the widening and deepening of drainage works, or the alteration of the course thereof, without the consent of the Council:
(j)
Preventing or regulating the planting of any trees, hedges, or other plants or the erection of any structures on or within a specified distance from the banks of any watercourse or drain where they will obstruct or be likely to obstruct the free passage along the banks of the drain of machinery or apparatus used for the purpose of improving, maintaining, or cleaning watercourses or drains, and requiring owners and occupiers of land on which any trees, hedges, or other plants are planted or structures are erected in breach of the bylaws to remove the same:
(k)
Regulating the erection of any structures or fences within a specified distance of any watercourse or drain or in any place where they will obstruct or be likely to obstruct the free flow of flood waters in any existing flood channel:
(l)
Authorising the Council to require the removal, burning, poisoning, cutting, or treating (whether with or without the removal of the burnt, poisoned, cut, or treated portions) of trees, plants, weeds, or growths that obstruct or will be likely to obstruct the free flow of water in any watercourse or drain or the free flow of flood waters in any existing flood channel:
(m)
To prohibit or regulate the pumping or releasing of water into any watercourse or drain:
(n)
Generally, to prevent trespasses, nuisances, and obstructions to drainage works, and to make all such provision as to the Council may seem necessary or expedient for the protection and proper management of drainage works.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 178
237 Proceeds from drainage works to be paid into separate account
All money accruing from any drainage works constructed under this Part of this Act and vested in the Corporation shall be paid into a separate account, which shall be charged with the cost of maintaining the drainage works in good repair.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 179
238 Existing drainage works may be brought under this Part
(1)
The Governor-General may, upon petition of the Council of any county in the Corporation of which are vested any drainage works constructed under the provisions of any special Act, by Order in Council, declare those drainage works to be subject to the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act, as from a day to be named in the Order in Council.
(2)
From and after that day the special Act shall be repealed as to any such drainage works, saving as to anything done, or any loan raised, or any rate authorised to be levied as security for the loan.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 181
Part XVII Sanitary and Stormwater Drainage
239 This Part to be subject to Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941
Nothing in this Part of this Act shall derogate from any of the provisions of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941.
240 Interpretation
(1)
In this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
“Drain” means a sanitary drain or a stormwater drain; and “drainage” has a corresponding meaning:
“Sanitary drain” means a drain for the reception and discharge of pollutants:
“Stormwater drain” means a drain for the reception and discharge of stormwater that is free of pollutants of a poisonous or noxious nature:
“Urban drainage area” means an urban drainage area in the county constituted under this Part of this Act.
(2)
Without limiting the meaning of the term “public drain”
, it is hereby declared that every sanitary or stormwater drain in the county that has actually, and whether legally or not, been under the control of any County Council, Borough Council, Road Board, or Town Council for not less than twenty years as a drain shall be deemed to be a public drain under this Part of this Act.
241 Constitution of urban drainage areas
(1)
The Council may from time to time, by special order, declare the county or any specified portion of the county to be an urban drainage area for the purpose of the construction and maintenance of works for the sanitary and stormwater drainage of land in the area; and by any subsequent special order may alter the boundaries of any such area.
(2)
The special order shall fix the day on which the urban drainage area shall be constituted or on which the boundaries shall be altered, as the case may be, and, in the case of the constitution of an urban drainage area, shall also give a name thereto.
242 Council may make provision for sanitary and stormwater drainage of urban drainage areas
The Council may provide and maintain all buildings, engines, machinery, and other things necessary for the efficient drainage of any urban drainage area.
243 Public drains to vest in Corporation
Every public sanitary or stormwater drain in the county shall vest in the Corporation.
244 Drainage map to be prepared
(1)
The Council shall, within two years after the making of a special order constituting an urban drainage area, cause a map to be made showing the course and levels of all drains made or intended to be made for the efficient drainage of that area; and may from time to time cause any new drains, or any alteration of existing drains found to be necessary, to be marked on that map.
(2)
The drainage map shall be open for public inspection at all reasonable hours at the office of the Council.
245 Council may construct and repair drains
(1)
The Council may cause to be constructed, of such dimensions and such materials as it thinks fit,—
(a)
Upon or under the roads and other land within the county vested in the Corporation all such drains as are from time to time shown on the said map, and until the map is made all such drains as the Council from time to time thinks needful for the efficient drainage of any urban drainage area:
(b)
Upon or under any private lands or buildings within the county all such drains as aforesaid, subject to the conditions set out in subsection two of this section: Provided that it shall not be lawful for the Council to make any drain upon or under any private land or building, other than an underground covered drain, unless the permission in writing of the owner has been first obtained.
(2)
Before the Council constructs any drain through or upon any private lands the following conditions shall be complied with:
(a)
A plan and description of the drain, showing how it affects any such lands, shall be deposited for public inspection at the office of the Council or at some place within the urban drainage area:
(b)
The Council shall give notice in writing to the occupier of the lands, and also to the owner when known, of the intention to construct the drain, and shall refer in the notice to the plan and description, and state where the same are on view:
(c)
If within one month after the notice is given the occupier or owner serves on the Council a written objection to the proposed work, the Council shall appoint a day for hearing the objection, and shall give notice of the same to the objector:
(d)
The Council shall hold a meeting on the day so appointed, and may, after hearing any person making any objection, if present, determine to abandon the work proposed, or to proceed therewith, with or without such alterations as the Council thinks fit.
(3)
Every such drain under any building shall, throughout so much of its length as passes under that building, be constructed of brick, concrete, stone, or tiles.
(4)
Every sanitary drain shall be wholly enclosed and covered in.
(5)
The Council may from time to time alter, renew, repair, and cleanse any public drain, including any public drain constructed on private land.
246 Council may cover in watercourse so as to make it a public drain
(1)
The Council may enclose and cover in any stream or watercourse within any urban drainage area which, by reason of any pollutant therein, or from any other cause whatever, is, or in the opinion of the Council may become, a nuisance or dangerous to the public health, whereupon the work shall become a public drain.
(2)
For that purpose the Council may make, construct, and lay down such drains or do such other works as in the opinion of the Council are necessary for the covering-in of the stream or watercourse.
(3)
The Council may do such work as in its opinion is necessary to exclude from any watercourse in any urban drainage area any pollutant which in the opinion of the Council should be excluded therefrom, and for that purpose and for the purposes of subsection one of this section the Council may straighten or otherwise alter the course and direction of any such stream or watercourse, and take up, disconnect, alter, relay, or otherwise deal with any private drains communicating with any such stream or watercourse.
(4)
The Council shall not be liable to pay compensation in respect of any one being deprived of the water flowing in the stream or watercourse, or of the right to that water, nor for any damage or inconvenience occasioned to the owners or occupiers of those lands or premises, but shall nevertheless make good any damage or injury caused during the construction of the works:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply in any case in which the nuisance or danger has been caused by the act or default of the Council.
(5)
The powers conferred on the Council by this section shall be exercised pursuant to a special order, in which shall be given a general description of the proposed work, with or without reference to a plan thereof deposited at the public office of the Council; and the Council shall serve copies of the proposed special order on all owners of land affected thereby, so far as they can reasonably be ascertained, at least fourteen days before the date fixed for the confirming meeting.
(6)
The special order shall not come into force until a day named therein for that purpose, not being less than ten days from the confirmation thereof.
(7)
Any owner or occupier of land affected by the proposed work may, at any time before the coming into force of the special order, apply to a Magistrate’s Court for an order preventing the Council from undertaking the said work, and the Court may in its discretion, make an order allowing the work with or without modification, or prohibiting it, and the decision of the Court shall be final.
(8)
The Court may adjourn the date fixed for the confirming meeting or the coming into force of the special order, and may award any costs against any party.
(9)
The Council may nevertheless at any time, upon the certificate in writing of the Medical Officer of Health or of two registered medical practitioners that immediate action is necessary in the interests of public health, and without passing a special order, execute any temporary works whatever for abating a nuisance in any stream or watercourse in an urban drainage area.
247 Council may erect structures for drainage purposes on roads or other public places
The Council may also, without liability to pay any compensation in respect thereof, erect any buildings, structures, machinery, or manholes, manhole and other entrances, light and lamp holes, ventilating grids, and other works and things of every description in connection with drainage, in, upon, or under any road or public place in the county.
248 Stormwater may be led into watercourses
The Council may lead any stormwater into any stream or watercourse, whether covered or open, within any urban drainage area.
249 Council may make dams, etc., in watercourses
The Council may also, without liability to pay any compensation in respect thereof, make and erect such dams, tanks, reservoirs, and other appliances as it thinks fit across and in the bed of any stream or watercourse within any urban drainage area, or contiguous thereto, for the purpose of retaining water to flush and cleanse any public drain or covered or open watercourse, and lay pipes therefrom for the purpose of conducting water to any of those drains and watercourses.
250 Council may drain areas outside county
(1)
The Council may with the consent of the local authority of any adjoining district of any kind extend its drainage system into any area within that district; and at the request of the owner of any premises in that area, and on such terms and conditions as the Council determines, including the payment by the owner of an annual charge in respect of the service rendered by the connection, the Council may connect those premises with the system as so extended. For the purposes of this section all the provisions of this Part of this Act relating to drainage, and all the powers given to the Council thereby, shall apply equally to all places, persons, and things in any such area outside the county as aforesaid as they apply to the same in any urban drainage area within the county.
(2)
At any time after giving twelve months’ notice in writing of its intention so to do the Council may disconnect any such premises from its drainage system without being liable to pay any compensation in respect thereof.
(3)
Where any such area becomes part of the county at a time when a sanitary and stormwater drainage rate pursuant to section one hundred and twenty-five of this Act is not charged within the part of the county in which that area is situated, the Council may, until it makes and levies such a rate, continue the service rendered by the connection at the charge that was in force immediately before the inclusion of the area in the county.
Private Drains
251 Council may require owners of lands in certain cases to provide private drains
(1)
In respect of any land or building within any urban drainage area the Council may, subject to subsection seven of this section, by notice in writing, require the owner thereof to do all or any of the following things:
(a)
To provide, construct, and lay a private drain from any land or building which is not drained by some drain to the satisfaction of the Council, and to connect that private drain with any public drain or watercourse or road channel or the sea, as the Council thinks fit:
(b)
To cleanse and repair or to relay or alter the course, direction, and outfall of any existing private drain of or belonging to the premises:
(c)
To connect any such existing private drain with any public drain or watercourse or road channel other than the public drain, watercourse, or road channel with which the same was previously connected:
(d)
To provide and affix in and to any such existing private drain, and in and to any such new private drain, all such traps, methods of ventilation, and other sanitary appliances whatever as the Council directs:
(e)
To connect or disconnect any existing or new private drain with or from any water closet, urinal, bath, sink, grease trap, or other sanitary appliance:
(f)
To execute, provide, and do generally any works, materials, and things which in the opinion of the Council are necessary or expedient for the efficient drainage of the premises and every part thereof.
(2)
The Council may, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it by subsection one of this section, instead of requiring several owners each to provide, construct, and lay a private drain, and to connect that private drain with any public drain, or watercourse, or road channel, or the sea as provided in that subsection, require those owners—
(a)
Jointly to provide, construct, and lay a common private drain through such of the separately owned lands as the Council thinks fit, and to connect that private drain with any public drain, watercourse, or road channel, or the sea as aforesaid; and
(b)
Severally to provide, construct, and lay a private drain from the land or building of which each is the owner, and to connect the same with the common private drain.
(3)
The powers conferred upon the Council by paragraphs (b) to (f) of subsection one of this section may also be exercised with respect to private drains provided, constructed, and laid under subsection two of this section, and to similar private drains heretofore provided, constructed, and laid in the urban drainage area.
(4)
Every notice under this section shall specify the works, materials, and things to be executed, provided, or done thereunder, and the public drain or watercourse or road channel with which any private drain is required to be connected, and shall limit a time within which the works, materials, and things shall be so executed, provided, and done.
(5)
The foregoing powers shall, amongst other things, enable the Council to require any owner of premises to cause any pollutant of a poisonous or noxious nature and any water that does not contain any such pollutant to be drained respectively by sanitary drains and stormwater drains to separate outfalls:
Provided that the Council shall not in any such notice require any such pollutant to be drained into any road channel.
(6)
If the owner fails to do any work specified in the notice and as therein directed, the Council may, if it thinks fit, cause the same to be done, and may recover from him the costs and expenses of the work, together with five per cent of those costs and expenses for supervision, and interest at the rate of six per cent per annum on the total sum until payment thereof. Where any work done by the Council pursuant to this subsection is on account of several owners, the Council may apportion the total amount as aforesaid between those owners, and the amount so apportioned to each such owner shall be the amount recoverable from him.
(7)
No owner shall be required—
(a)
To construct any private drain, other than a common drain, to connect with any public drain or the sea at a point more than one hundred feet from his land; or
(b)
To construct any private drain for the drainage of a building if the nearest part of the building is situated more than two hundred feet from the public drain, watercourse, road channel, or sea to which it is required to be connected.
252 Channels for stormwater
If stormwater lies upon any land in any urban drainage area, the Council may make an open drain so as to carry off that water into the public drain or watercourse most convenient for the purpose, but shall do as little damage as possible thereby, and shall not make the drain under or so as to interfere with any building; and the Council may recover the cost of the drain from the owners or occupiers of the lands drained thereby in such proportions as the Council thinks fair.
253 Special provisions as to private drains serving several separately owned premises
(1)
Where any existing private drain passes through or serves several separately owned premises, or any new private drain is required by the Council so to pass through or serve such premises, the Council may, pursuant to a resolution in that behalf of which notice shall be given to the owners of the lands affected, execute, provide, and do all or any of the works, materials, and things which the Council deems necessary in order that the drain shall be efficient and without nuisance.
(2)
The Council may impose upon the owners of the several premises all or any part of the cost of the works, materials, or things in such proportions as the Engineer certifies to be reasonable.
254 Further provisions with respect to such private drains
Where any private drain constructed with the consent of the owners of all the lands affected passes through or serves separately owned premises, there shall be attached to each and all of the lands served by that private drain the following rights, namely:
(a)
A right to the free and uninterrupted use of that private drain; and
(b)
A right for the occupiers or any of them to enter upon all lands served by that drain, or through which it passes, for the purpose of relaying or effecting necessary repairs to the drain; and
(c)
A right to contribution from the owners or occupiers of other lands so served by that drain towards the cost of executing, providing, and doing all or any of the things required in respect of the drain by this Act or any bylaw; and
(d)
A right to contribution from the owners or occupiers of those other lands towards the cost of all necessary relaying of or repairs to the drain—
and those rights, upon a certificate being furnished by the County Clerk that any of the lands is actually served by that drain, shall be registered by the District Land Registrar against the titles (whether under the Land Transfer Act 1952 or not) to all the other lands so served by the drain, and also, in the case of the right to free and uninterrupted use of the drain and the right to enter upon land to effect necessary relaying or repairs, against the titles (whether under the Land Transfer Act 1952 or not) to the lands through which the drain passes.
255 Council may declare common private drain to be public drain
(1)
The Council may, by resolution passed at a meeting of which at least fourteen days’ public notice has been given, declare any common private drain in an urban drainage area to be a public drain.
(2)
For the purposes of this section every private drain constructed for State housing purposes under the Housing Act 1955 and serving two or more properties, or carrying water from any road channel or sump over or under any land to a watercourse or public drain, shall be deemed to be a common private drain.
Money Payable by Owners and Occupiers
256 Advances by Council to owners in respect of cost of drainage connections
(1)
The Council may make advances to the owner of any premises for the purpose of enabling him to do all things necessary (including the provision of all fittings for the proper disposal of waste waters and sewage matter) to connect the premises with the drainage system in an urban drainage area in compliance with the due requirements of the Council under this Part of this Act or under any other Act or any bylaw relating to drainage and sanitation. Instead of making an advance as aforesaid to any owner the Council may, by agreement with him, itself do such things as aforesaid, and all money expended by the Council pursuant to that agreement, together with a sum equal to five per cent of the amount so expended by the Council to cover the cost of supervision by the servants of the Council, shall be deemed to be an advance for the purposes of this section.
(2)
The Council and the owner may agree that the amount of any advance shall be repayable in one amount at a fixed time with interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent per annum, or by instalments extending over a number of years with interest at the rate aforesaid. That agreement may contain any incidental provisions and may provide for the earlier payment of instalments, or any of them, on terms to be mentioned in the agreement:
Provided that where the agreement makes no provision as aforesaid for early payment of instalments the Council shall accept the whole of the unpaid instalments at any time when the same is tendered, and for the purpose of any such tender interest shall be calculated and paid up to and including the day of tender.
(3)
That agreement may, where the money is repayable in one amount, contain provisions for securing the repayment thereof; and, where the money is repayable by instalments, each such instalment shall for all purposes be deemed to be a rate, subject nevertheless to the following conditions:
(a)
The owner for the time being of the premises in question shall in all cases be deemed the person primarily liable for payment:
(b)
A separate book shall be kept by the Collector of Rates to the Council, in which particulars of the instalments (distinguishing capital from interest), and of the works in respect whereof they are payable, and of the dates for payment thereof, and of the names of persons paying the same, shall be entered; and that book shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness of its contents.
(4)
Interest money on any advances shall be applied in or towards payment of the interest or other annual charges in respect of any special loan raised under subsection five of this section.
(5)
For the purpose of providing funds out of which advances as aforesaid may be made, the Council may borrow money by way of special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, and any such special loan may form part of a special loan raised for the execution of drainage works in any urban drainage area, or it may be raised at any time after the execution of the works.
(6)
The provisions of subsections two and three of this section shall apply to all money, other than advances as aforesaid, payable to the Council by the owner of any property for or in respect of any work, materials, or things executed, provided, or done by the Council on or to that property in relation to drainage or sanitation under any power in that behalf.
257 Owner may recover proportion of cost of drainage connections from tenant under a lease with not less than three years unexpired
(1)
If by the direction of the Council an owner executes any work under this Part of this Act, or under any bylaw made thereunder, or pays any instalment under section two hundred and fifty-six of this Act, and at the time of the completion of the work (to be certified under the hand of the principal officer of the Council having charge of drainage works in the county) the premises whereon or for which the work has been executed are held by a tenant under him having a term of at least three years then unexpired, the owner may recover from the tenant, in like manner as if the same were rent reserved under the tenancy, five per cent per annum during the unexpired term of the tenancy on the cost of the work so executed by him, or, as the case may be, on each such instalment paid by him, that percentage to be computed from the date of the payment of the cost or instalment, and to be payable at the end of each year during the residue of the term.
(2)
If the tenant paying that percentage has, at the time of payment, a tenant under him with at least three years’ unexpired tenancy, he may recover the amount so paid by him from the last-mentioned tenant.
258 Money payable to Council in respect of drainage to be a charge on property
All money payable to the Council by the owner of any property in respect of advances made under section two hundred and fifty-six of this Act in relation to the property, or for or in respect of any work, materials, or things executed, provided, or done by the Council on or to that property in relation to drainage or sanitation under any power in that behalf, shall be a charge on the property.
Drains Outside County
259 Council may make main drains outside the county
Subject to the provisions of any Act relating to pollution of waters or to nuisances, the Council may make such main drains as it thinks necessary through any lands outside the county for the purpose of carrying off sanitary or stormwater drainage into the sea, or into any lagoon, river, or watercourse, or to any places convenient for the purpose of collecting, utilising, treating, and selling that treated substance for fertilisers and other purposes, or to any land convenient for the disposal of that drainage.
260 Main drains under roads and streets
(1)
The Council may make any main drain under any road or street outside the county, but shall give one month’s notice in writing to the local authority or other body having the control of the road or street before interfering with the same.
(2)
If that local authority or other body objects to the proposed work, the matter shall be referred to the Minister of Works, whose decision thereon shall be final.
261 Council may agree to use drain under control of other local authority
The Council may agree with any local authority for the use of any drain under the control of that local authority for the purpose of carrying off sanitary or stormwater drainage, upon such terms and conditions for that use, or for the alteration, enlarging, covering in, or maintenance of that drain as may be agreed on by the Council and that local authority.
262 Provisions applicable to drains outside the county
All main drains outside the county but under the control of the Council shall vest in the Corporation, and all the provisions of this Part of this Act in respect of drains within the county shall equally apply to the main drains and places for the reception of sewage matter which the Council is hereby authorised to make or provide outside the county; and the provisions of section two hundred and forty-seven of this Act shall apply in connection with all such drains and places as if they were in the county.
Drainage Into Harbours
263 Restrictions on drainage into harbours
(1)
It shall not be lawful for the Council or any person to construct any drain whereby any silt or refuse or trade wastes or sewage matter is carried into any harbour or other waters under the control of any Harbour Board, except in such manner and on such conditions as are approved of by that Harbour Board.
(2)
If the Council and Harbour Board are unable to agree as to the mode of disposing of any silt, or refuse, or trade wastes, or sewage matter, or as to any other matter in respect of drainage in which the powers and duties of the Council and Harbour Board conflict, the difference shall be determined by arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1908, and this section shall be deemed a submission within the meaning of that Act.
Protection of Drains
264 Unlawful interference with drains
(1)
Every person commits an offence against this Act who—
(a)
Negligently destroys or injures any public or private drain or covered watercourse, or any building, erection, structure, method of ventilation, machinery, dam, tank, reservoir, or other work or thing, being part of or connected with any drainage works vested in or under the control of the Council; or
(b)
Not having the written authority of the Council in that behalf, connects any private drain with a public or private drain or covered watercourse; or
(c)
Stops or obstructs or otherwise interferes with any public or private drain or covered watercourse or other drainage work.
(2)
The Council may replace or repair any property so destroyed or injured, or remove or alter as it thinks fit any such private drain, and may recover from that person the full cost of the work, or of removing any stoppage or obstruction effected by him, and the full amount of all damage done or caused by him.
Part XVIII Waterworks
265 Interpretation
(1)
In this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
“Water supply area” means a water supply area in the county constituted under this Part of this Act:
“Waterworks” includes all streams and waters and all rights appertaining thereto, and all lands, watersheds, catchment areas, reservoirs, dams, tanks, and pipes, and all buildings, machinery, and appliances of every kind acquired or constructed by the Council under the authority of this Part of this Act, for collecting or conveying water for or to any water supply area in the county or to any place beyond the county.
(2)
All waterworks which heretofore have been purchased or acquired, or constructed, and established by any Council under any special or other Act (other than the Water Supply Act 1908) for the supply of water within or outside the county shall be deemed to have been purchased or acquired, or made, constructed, and established under this Act, and all the provisions of this Act relating to waterworks shall apply to those waterworks accordingly.
(3)
Nothing in the Water Supply Act 1908 shall apply with respect to any waterworks to which this Part of this Act applies.
266 Constitution of water supply areas
(1)
The Council may from time to time, by special order, declare the county or any specified portion of the county to be a water supply area for the purpose of the construction and maintenance of waterworks and the supply of water to persons within the area; and by any subsequent special order may alter the boundaries of any such area.
(2)
The special order shall fix the day on which the water supply area shall be constituted or on which the boundaries shall be altered, as the case may be, and, in the case of the constitution of a water supply area, shall also give a name thereto.
Construction and Maintenance
267 Council may construct waterworks
(1)
The Council may construct waterworks for the supply of pure water for the use of the inhabitants of any water supply area or of the shipping in any harbour adjoining, and may keep the same in good repair, and may from time to time do all things necessary thereto; and in particular may—
(a)
Subject to the provisions of this Act and to any right granted under any other Act, take the water from any river, stream, lake, or pool:
(b)
Break up or dig into the surface of any road or public place within the county, or of any road or street outside the county:
(c)
Alter any drain, sewer, or gas pipe on or under any such road or street so far as is necessary for that construction or repair:
(d)
Prospect for water by boring, whether the land to be prospected is situated within or outside the county.
(2)
The powers granted by this Part of this Act in respect of the construction of waterworks shall be deemed to include the power of extending or enlarging any such waterworks.
(3)
All such waterworks shall be vested in the Corporation of the county.
268 Entry on private land
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this section, the Council may cause to be placed on or under any private land or under any building in the county such pipes as it considers necessary for the conveyance of water in connection with any waterworks:
Provided that it shall not be lawful so to place any such pipe other than an underground pipe unless the permission in writing of the owner of the land or building has been first obtained.
(2)
Before the Council places any pipe on or under any private land the following conditions shall be complied with:
(a)
A plan and description of the pipe showing how it affects any such lands, shall be deposited for public inspection at the office of the Council or at some place within the water supply area:
(b)
The Council shall give notice in writing to the occupier of the lands, and also to the owner when known, of the intention to place the pipe on or under the land, and shall refer in the notice to the plan and description, and state where the same are on view:
(c)
If within one month after the notice is given the occupier or owner serves on the Council a written objection to the proposed work, the Council shall appoint a day for hearing the objection, and shall give notice of the same to the objector:
(d)
The Council shall hold a meeting on the day so appointed, and may, after hearing any person making any objection, if present, determine to abandon the work proposed, or to proceed therewith, with or without such alterations as the Council thinks fit.
(3)
Except as provided in subsection one or subsection four of this section or where entry is to be made for the purpose of making surveys, nothing in this Part of this Act shall confer any right of entry on to private land without the consent of the owner or occupier.
(4)
Where pursuant to subsection one of this section or with the consent of the owner or occupier any pipe or other part of the waterworks is at any time put on or under any private land, the Council may thereafter from time to time enter thereon to alter, renew, repair, or cleanse any such pipe or other part of the waterworks when required.
269 Special provisions as to waterworks outside the county
(1)
Before interfering with any road or street or other public work outside the boundaries of the county for the purpose of constructing waterworks, the Council shall give not less than one month’s notice in writing to the local authority or public body having the control of the road, street, or work.
(2)
If that local authority or public body objects to the interference the matter shall be referred to the Minister of Works, whose decision shall be final.
(3)
The Council may at any time interfere with the road, street, or work, so far as may be necessary to effect all necessary repairs in the waterworks, on giving to that local authority or public body three days’ previous notice in writing of its intention so to do.
(4)
In any sudden emergency or danger to the waterworks or property adjoining the Council may, without any previous notice, proceed to effect the necessary repairs, but shall as soon as practicable thereafter inform the local authority or public body.
Supply of Water
270 Persons supplied with water to provide appliances
Every person supplied with water from the waterworks shall provide such proper taps, stop cocks, and other apparatus as the Council requires, and shall keep the same in good repair so as to prevent the water running to waste; and, in default of his providing or keeping in repair any such apparatus, or in case of his wilfully allowing water to run to waste, the Council may stop the supply of water to that person in any manner it thinks fit.
271 Council may inspect appliances in houses
(1)
Any person acting under the authority of the Council may, for the purpose of ascertaining whether water supplied from the waterworks to any land or building is being wasted or misused, enter on that land at any hour of the day or night, or into that building at any time between the hours of eight o’clock in the forenoon and six o’clock in the afternoon of any day except a Sunday.
(2)
Every person commits an offence against this Act who refuses to admit to any land or building any duly authorised person seeking to enter thereon or therein under the powers conferred by subsection one of this section, or who obstructs any such person in the carrying out of any examination under that subsection.
272 Notice of removal of water pipes to be given to Council
Any person may remove any pipe or other apparatus belonging to him connected with the waterworks, after giving to the Council fourteen days’ notice in writing of his intentions so to do, and of the time of the removal, but shall be liable for all damage done to any part of the waterworks thereby; and, if any person removes any such pipe or apparatus without giving that notice, he is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and to pay for all damage done to the waterworks by the removal:
Provided that, where with the consent of the Council some other person receives water by means of that pipe or apparatus, the pipe or apparatus shall not be removed without the consent in writing of the Council and that other person.
Use of Water for Motive Power
273 Council may use water from waterworks for motive power
Subject to the provisions of Part XIII of the Public Works Act 1928, the Council may use the water supplied by any waterworks belonging to the Corporation for the purpose of obtaining motive power in connection with the production of electricity for lighting the roads and public places, and for supplying the inhabitants with electricity under the provisions of section two hundred and ninety of this Act, but so that the ordinary supply shall not thereby be interfered with.
274 Surplus water may be sold for motive power
The Council may from time to time, where the supply of water in any water supply area is in excess of all demands for general, ordinary, and extraordinary supply within the meaning of any bylaw, enter into contracts to supply any person with an extraordinary supply of water for use as a motive power for any term not exceeding seven years, upon such terms and conditions and at such charges, to be paid in such manner, as the Council thinks fit; and may at any time, on giving three months’ notice in writing, or, if the aforesaid excess of water fails, may at any time without previous notice, discontinue that extraordinary supply, without being liable to pay any compensation for the discontinuance.
Supply to Persons Outside County
275 Supply of water outside the county
(1)
The Council may, with the consent of the local authority of the district in which the supply is given, supply any person outside the county with water; and for that purpose all the provisions of this Part of this Act relating to waterworks, and all the powers given to the Council thereby, shall apply equally to all places, persons, and things outside as they apply to the same within the county.
(2)
The Council may contract, and shall be deemed to have always had power to contract, with the local authority of any adjoining district of any kind to supply water to that local authority.
(3)
The Council may supply such water to places outside the county at such charges, and for such times, and on such terms and conditions as the Council from time to time determines.
(4)
The Council may at any time, on giving twelve months’ notice in writing of its intention so to do, discontinue the supply of water outside the county without being liable to pay any compensation for the discontinuance:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall apply in any case where water is supplied to any local authority pursuant to a contract entered into under subsection two of this section.
276 Charge for water to inhabitants of area added to county in certain cases
Where any area to which water is supplied by the Council pursuant to the authority conferred by section two hundred and seventy-five of this Act becomes part of the county, the Council may, until it makes and levies in that area a water rate under this Act, continue to supply water to the inhabitants of the area at such charges as were in force immediately before its inclusion in the county.
Purchase of Waterworks
277 Council may purchase waterworks
The Council may purchase any waterworks within or outside the county, and those waterworks when purchased shall be deemed to be waterworks constructed under this Part of this Act.
278 Council may contract for water supply
The Council may contract, for any period not exceeding twenty-one years at one time, with the owners of any waterworks or any other person for such supply of water as the Council thinks necessary for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
Provisions for Protection of Water
279 Drawing off water from streams supplying waterworks
If any person does any act whereby the waters of any river or stream, being a part of any waterworks under this Part of this Act, are drawn off or diminished in quantity, and does not immediately on receiving notice in writing in that behalf from the Council restore the river or stream to the state in which it was in all respects before that act, he is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds for every day during which the act has continued; and the Council may, if it thinks fit, itself restore the river or stream to the said former state, and may recover from that person all the expenses incurred by so doing.
280 Offences with respect to waterworks
(1)
Every person commits an offence who does any of the following things, namely:
(a)
Negligently injures or destroys any part of the water works; or
(b)
Unlawfully draws off or diverts any water belonging to the waterworks; or
(c)
Wilfully or negligently allows any pipe or apparatus on his premises to be out of repair so that water is wasted, or alters any meter, or does or suffers any act whereby his supply of water is improperly increased; or
(d)
Not having agreed to be supplied with water from the waterworks, takes any such water from the supply furnished to another person; or
(e)
Being supplied with water from the waterworks, supplies another person who has not agreed to be so supplied with, or permits him to take, any such water; or
(f)
Bathes, or washes clothing or other thing, in any water of the waterworks; or
(g)
Throws any animal or refuse or litter or debris of any sort into any water of the waterworks; or
(h)
Obstructs any person acting under the authority of the Council in doing anything which the Council is by this Part of this Act empowered to do; or
(i)
Opens the ground so as to uncover any pipe belonging to the waterworks, or connects any pipe with any such pipe, without giving the Council seven days’ notice in writing of his intention so to do; or
(j)
Connects any pipe with a pipe belonging to the water works without giving the Council two days’ notice in writing of the day and hour he proposes to do so, or without having obtained the permission of some person acting under the authority of the Council in that behalf; or
(k)
Connects any pipe with a pipe of the waterworks except in the presence of and pursuant to the direction of the officer appointed by the Council to superintend the same, unless that officer fails to attend at the time named in the notice; or
(l)
Connects with a pipe of the waterworks any pipe of a strength or material not approved by the Council.
(2)
Every person who commits an offence against this section may, in addition to any penalty for the offence, be ordered to pay the cost incurred by the Council in repairing the injury done to any part of the waterworks by any such act.
Protection of Waterworks
281 Pollution of waterworks
(1)
Every person commits an offence against this Act who throws or pours any pollutant, or suffers or allows any pollutant to fall or flow, into any water or watershed being a part of or taken or used for supplying water to any waterworks, or who suffers or permits any livestock of which he is the owner or of which he has control to trespass on to any waterworks.
(2)
Every person who commits an offence against this section is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, and to a further fine not exceeding ten pounds for every day during which the offence has continued after he has received notice in writing from the Comity Clerk to discontinue the same.
282 Factories, etc., may be examined
The Council may at any time, by any authorised officer or servant, enter upon any works, factory, or business premises and cause the same to be thoroughly examined in order to ascertain whether any pollutant therefrom is flowing into any water or watershed being a part of or used for supplying water to any waterworks, and may take samples of liquids being discharged therefrom; and, if it appears upon that examination that such is the case, the Council may recover from the person carrying on or managing or having charge or control of the works, factory, or business premises all the expenses incurred in making the examination and in analysing any sample so taken.
283 Diversion of water from waterworks in case of flood
The Council may in time of flood or other emergency lead any surplus water from any waterworks vested in the Corporation into any natural stream with a view to the protection of the waterworks.
Part XIX Prevention of Fires
284 Fire prevention
(1)
The Council may from time to time out of the County Fund provide such apparatus and buildings as may be required by any fire brigade or industrial fire brigade which is under an obligation to protect any area or property in the county from fire, or may agree with the Crown or with any Urban Fire Authority or with any other persons or with any local authority or public body for the supply of the necessary appliances and labour for the purpose of extinguishing fires; and may provide for payment out of the County Fund of such remuneration in respect of that service as the Council thinks fit.
(2)
Any payment under this section may be charged against the General Account or the separate accounts of any ridings or any appropriate County Town Account or against any appropriate separate account or accounts kept pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection one of section one hundred and forty-six of this Act, or may be apportioned by the Council among those accounts.
(3)
Any separate rate made and levied by the Council for the purpose of providing for any such payment may be made and levied on the rateable property in the area in respect of which the service is provided on the system of rating in force in that area or, if the Council so decides, on the value of the improvements on that property.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 183; 1927, No. 22, ss. 11, 16; 1949, No. 18, s. 86
285 Fire hydrants
(1)
In every part of the county in which there is a water supply provided under Part XVIII of this Act, the Council shall fix fire hydrants in the main pipes, other than trunk mains, of the waterworks at the most convenient places for extinguishing any fire as the Council determines, or, in any part of the county that is included in the district of an Urban Fire Authority, as the Urban Fire Authority approves, and shall keep those fire hydrants in effective working order.
(2)
Fire hydrants shall be so fixed at distances not more than one hundred yards from each other or, in the case of valve type hydrants, at such greater distances as the Council decides or, in the case of valve type hydrants fixed in any part of the county that is included in the district of an Urban Fire Authority, as the Urban Fire Authority approves.
(3)
The Council shall put near each fire hydrant a conspicuous notice or a mark of a kind approved by the Council, or, in the case of a hydrant fixed in any part of the county that is included in the district of an Urban Fire Authority, approved by the Urban Fire Authority, showing the situation of the hydrant, and that notice may, if the Council thinks fit, be put on any building.
(4)
In this section the term “trunk main”
means a main used for the purpose of conveying water from a source of supply to a filter or reservoir or from one filter or reservoir to another filter or reservoir, or for the purpose of conveying water in bulk from one part of the limits of supply to another part of those limits, or for the purpose of giving or taking a supply of water in bulk.
(5)
Where the Council is dissatisfied with any decision of an Urban Fire Authority under this section, it may within one month after receiving notice of the decision appeal against that decision to a Magistrate’s Court, whose decision shall be final.
286 Pipes to be kept charged with water
(1)
Except in case of unusual drought, or of unavoidable accident, or of shortage from any cause of the water supply, or during necessary repairs, the Council shall at all times keep charged with water the pipes in which fire hydrants are fixed.
(2)
The Council shall allow all persons to take and use water from any waterworks or water race for extinguishing fire without any payment for the same.
287 Council may appoint Inspector of Buildings
(1)
The Council may appoint a competent person (to be called the Inspector of Buildings) whose duty it shall be, by direction of the Council, to inspect buildings in the county erected or used for residential purposes, and any buildings which, being over one storey in height, are erected or used for other purposes, and to decide what fire escapes or means of escape in the case of fire are necessary in the case of any such building.
(2)
Every Inspector of Buildings appointed under this section may for the purposes of this section enter into any building used for residential purposes at any time between the hours of eight o’clock in the forenoon and six o’clock in the afternoon of any day except a Sunday, and may enter into any other building referred to in this section during ordinary business hours.
(3)
Every person commits an offence against this Act who obstructs or hinders any Inspector of Buildings in the execution of his powers under subsection two of this section.
288 Council may make bylaws in respect of prevention of fire
(1)
The Council may from time to time make bylaws for the purpose of—
(a)
Preventing danger from fire, and requiring owners of buildings to provide such safeguards against fire and means of escape in case of fire as the Council deems necessary:
(b)
Requiring owners of buildings to install and maintain fire fighting equipment, fire protection systems, and fire alarms:
(c)
Requiring owners and occupiers of buildings to under take schemes for evacuation from the buildings, and fire and panic prevention drill for staffs:
(d)
Specifying the minimum requirements to be observed in respect of the matters set out in clause two of the Fifth Schedule to this Act before a building may be licensed in accordance with the provisions of that Schedule:
(e)
Protecting the public from danger from fire or other emergency in buildings that require to be licensed under section three hundred and twenty-six of this Act.
(2)
No bylaw made under this section shall come into force unless and until it is approved by the Minister.
(3)
The Minister may at any time, by writing under his hand, require the Council to make bylaws under this section, and in particular, but without limiting the generality of his powers hereunder, may require the Council to make bylaws prohibiting the use of any electrical installation until the installation has been inspected and approved by officers of the Council, or, in the case of an installation in any part of the county that is included in the district of an Urban Fire Authority, by officers of the Urban Fire Authority, and prescribing fees to be payable in respect of any such inspection.
(4)
The Minister may at any time, by writing under his hand, require the Council to revoke, alter, or extend any bylaws made by it under this section.
(5)
If the Council does not within three months from the receipt of a requisition of the Minister under the foregoing provisions of this section comply with the requisition, such regulations may be made under section four hundred and forty-nine of this Act as in the opinion of the Governor-General are necessary to give effect to the requisition, and those regulations shall have the full force of bylaws made by the Council under this section and approved by the Minister.
(6)
Any person who in respect of any building has paid or incurred the expenses of executing any work or installing any equipment under any bylaw made under this section, or of any regulations made under this section and having effect as bylaws, may make application to the Court for an order apportioning the expenses among the several persons entitled to any estate or interest in the building or in any part thereof, and the Court may make such order concerning those expenses and their apportionment among the several persons so interested as appears to the Court to be just and equitable in the circumstances of the case, having regard to the terms of any lease or contract affecting the building or any part thereof.
(7)
In subsection six of this section the term “Court”
in any case where the expenses paid or incurred do not exceed five hundred pounds means a Magistrate’s Court, and in any other case means the Supreme Court.
Compare: 1927, No. 22, s. 9(1)(a), (aa), (ab), (ac); 1949, No. 27, s. 21
289 Council may require removal of scrub, etc., likely to constitute a fire hazard
(1)
The Council may, by notice in writing under the hand of the Chairman or the County Clerk, require the occupier or, in any case where there is no occupier, the owner of any land within the county to cut down or otherwise eradicate and remove any broom, gorse, scrub, weeds, undergrowth, dry grass, or other growth on that land which in the opinion of the Council is or is likely to become a source of danger from fire.
(2)
Within ten days after service of the notice the occupier or owner, as the case may be, may apply to a Magistrate’s Court for an order setting aside the notice. Pending the determination of the application the notice shall be deemed to be suspended.
(3)
On the hearing of the application the Court, whose decision shall be final, shall determine whether the notice should or should not be set aside, and in the former case the notice shall be deemed to be void.
(4)
In the case of a notice which is not set aside as aforesaid, if the occupier or owner fails to do any such act in compliance therewith within fourteen days from the service thereof or, where application as aforesaid has been heard, within fourteen days after the giving of the decision of the Court, he commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding one pound for every day thereafter during which the failure continues, and the Council may enter upon the land and do that act and recover the cost from him.
(5)
The said cost shall be a charge on the land.
(6)
The powers conferred by this section shall be in addition to and not in substitution for any powers of the Council in that behalf under any other Act.
Part XX Lighting, and Supply of Electricity
290 Council may light roads with electricity and supply electricity to private persons
(1)
The Council may do all things necessary to light the roads, bridges, public buildings, and public places of the county with electricity, and to supply electricity to the inhabitants thereof; and in particular may—
(a)
Acquire land and erect buildings within or outside the
(b)
Procure and construct all machinery and plant necessary for electricity works:
(c)
Contract for a supply of electricity upon such terms and conditions as it thinks fit:
(d)
Erect poles with all requisite fittings thereto in the roads and public places:
(e)
Lay cables under the roads and public places:
(f)
Alter any drains or water pipes thereunder in such manner as may be necessary, but so as not injuriously to affect the same:
(g)
Do all things necessary to keep the electricity works, and everything appertaining to the supply of electricity, in good repair:
(h)
Procure and sell fittings and appliances for the use of electricity:
Provided that where electricity works are at any time established in the county under the authority of any Act, it shall not be lawful for the Council to establish any similar works to supply the same locality or any part thereof, except under the authority of a special Act in that behalf, but nothing herein shall affect the exercise by the Council of the power to purchase the first-mentioned electricity works pursuant to subsection four of this section.
(2)
Where the supply of electricity is at any time insufficient or not available, the Council may use any other method for lighting the roads, bridges, public buildings, and public places which it thinks proper.
(3)
The powers granted by this Act in respect of the construction of electricity works shall be deemed to include the power of extending or enlarging any such electricity works, and the said powers of construction or extending or enlarging any such works aforesaid shall be deemed also to apply in respect of any electricity works acquired under any Act at any time before the commencement of this Act.
(4)
Instead of or in addition to constructing any electricity works the Council may purchase any electricity works constructed in the county, and those works shall, when so purchased, be deemed to be constructed under this Act.
(5)
In the exercise of the powers conferred by this section the Council shall conform to the provisions of the Public Works Act 1928 relating to the electric lines.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 185, 186
291 Council may contract with other persons for lighting of roads and supply of electricity
The Council may contract with any other corporation or person to light the roads, bridges, public buildings, and public places of the county with electricity and to supply electricity to the inhabitants of the county, and therein may authorise the corporation or person acting under the contract to exercise all or any of the powers conferred upon the Council by sections two hundred and ninety, two hundred and ninety-two, and two hundred and ninety-three, and sections two hundred and ninety-five to three hundred and two of this Act, so far as those sections are applicable to the construction and maintenance of the works necessary for effecting that lighting and to the supply of electricity as aforesaid.
292 Council may install, purchase, or sell electric fittings and equipment
In the exercise of the powers conferred on it by section two hundred and ninety of this Act, the Council shall have power—
(a)
To install motors, electric wires, electric lamps, electric stoves, and other fittings and equipment in public or private buildings, works, dwellings, and other places, and to charge rent for the use thereof, or to accept payment therefor by instalments or otherwise:
(b)
To purchase motors, stoves, fittings, machinery, and other equipment for the use of electric energy as applied to individual, domestic, and other purposes, and to sell the same to users of electric power at such prices as it thinks fit, either for cash or on terms, or lease the same, with or without purchasing clauses:
(c)
Generally to do all things which, in its judgment, may promote the use of electric energy within the county.
293 Supply of electricity to persons outside the county
A Council, having constructed or acquired electricity works for the purpose of lighting the roads, bridges, public buildings, and public places of the county and of supplying electricity to the inhabitants of the county, may—
(a)
Supply electricity to any person residing outside the county, with the consent of the local authority of the district in which the supply is given, and the provisions of this Act as to the supply of electricity to the inhabitants of the county shall, as far as they are applicable, extend and apply to the case of the supply of electricity outside the county; and
(b)
Contract with the local authority of any adjoining district of any kind to supply electricity to that local authority upon such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon.
294 Electricity works to be vested in Corporation
All electricity works constructed or acquired by the Council shall by virtue of this Act be vested in the Corporation of the county.
295 Private consumer to supply fittings
Every private consumer of electricity shall provide such fittings and appliances for the proper use of electricity as the Council approves of, and shall keep the same in good repair; and if any person neglects to provide or to repair those fittings and appliances on any premises when required to do so by the Council, the Council may cut off the supply of electricity from those premises.
296 Right of entry on land or buildings for inspection of fittings
Any person acting under the authority of the Council may, between the hours of eight in the forenoon and six in the afternoon, on any day except a Sunday, enter upon any land or building supplied with electricity under this Act in order to examine the electric wires, meters, and other fittings and equipment thereon or therein, and in any case of emergency involving possible danger to life or property from any cause any such person may make such an entry for those purposes at any hour of the day on any day in the week; and, if he is refused admittance, or obstructed in his examination, the Council may, without prejudice to any other remedy, cut off the supply of electricity from the land or building.
297 Offences with respect to meters
(1)
Every person commits an offence against this Act who alters the index of or in any other manner tampers with an electricity meter, with intent to defraud the Corporation.
(2)
No private consumer of electricity shall alter the position of any meter without giving to the Council three days’ notice in writing of his intention so to do; and any person making such an alteration without that notice is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.
298 Except as specially provided Council not to interfere with private property
Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to authorise the Council to lay any part of the electricity works or anything connected therewith on or under any private property without the consent of the owner and occupier thereof; but the Council may enter upon any such property where electric wires or fittings or equipment have been lawfully laid under this Act, and may alter, repair, or replace the same as it thinks fit.
299 Council to fix price of electricity
The Council may from time to time fix the price at which electricity shall be supplied to consumers, and the times when the same shall be payable.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 186(3)
300 Recovery of electricity charges
All money receivable as the price of electricity supplied shall be deemed to be a separate rate, and may be recovered accordingly.
301 Council may cut off supply of electricity
If any person fails to pay any money due on account of electricity or any electricity rate, the Council may, without prejudice to any other remedy in that behalf, cut off the supply of electricity from the premises of that person.
302 Electricity company may sell works to Corporation
The directors of any electricity company pursuant, in the case of a company registered under the Companies Act 1955, to a special resolution of the members passed in manner provided by that Act, and, in the case of any other company, to a resolution passed by not less than three-fourths in number and value of the members present, either personally or by proxy, at a meeting specially convened, with notice of the business to be transacted may sell and transfer to the Corporation of the county, on such terms as may be agreed on, all the rights, powers, and privileges, and all or any of the lands, premises, works, and other property of the company, but subject to all the liabilities attached to the same at the time of purchase.
303 Council may advance to occupier of premises the cost of installation of electricity
(1)
The Council may make advances to the owner or occupier of any premises for the purpose of enabling him to do all things necessary (including the provision of fittings, appliances, and meters) to connect those premises with any electricity main. Instead of making an advance as aforesaid to any owner, the Council may, by agreement with the owner, itself do all such things as aforesaid, and all money expended by the Council pursuant to that agreement, together with a sum equal to five per cent of the amount so expended by the Council to cover the cost of supervision by the servants of the Council, shall be deemed to be an advance for the purposes of this section.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, all money owing to the Council by the owner or occupier of any premises in respect of anything done to or installed in the premises or sold for use in the premises pursuant to section two hundred and ninety-two of this Act, shall be deemed to be an advance made by the Council to the owner or occupier under subsection one of this section.
(3)
The Council and the owner or occupier may agree that the amount of any advance shall be repayable in one amount at a fixed time with interest at a rate not exceeding six per cent per annum, or by instalments extending over a number of years with interest not exceeding the rate aforesaid. The agreement may contain any incidental provisions and may provide for the earlier payment of instalments, or any of them, on terms to be mentioned in the agreement:
Provided that where the agreement makes no provision as aforesaid for early payment of instalments the Council shall accept the whole of the unpaid instalments at any time when the same is tendered, and for the purpose of any such tender interest shall be calculated and paid up to and including the day of tender.
(4)
Subject to section three hundred and four of this Act, the amount of every advance shall be a charge on the land upon which the premises are situate, and that amount or the amount of any instalment thereof may be recovered as rates are recovered under the Rating Act 1925, and the provisions of that Act as to recovery of rates shall apply accordingly.
(5)
A separate book shall be kept by the Collector of Rates to the Council, in which particulars of the instalments (distinguishing capital from interest), of the works in respect whereof they are payable, of the dates for payment thereof, and of the names of persons paying the same shall be entered; and that book shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness of its contents.
(6)
Interest money on any advances shall be applied in or towards payment of the annual charges in respect of any special loan raised under subsection seven of this section.
(7)
For the purpose of raising funds out of which advances as aforesaid may be made the Council may borrow money by way of special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
304 When advance not to be made a charge on land
(1)
Where the total amount of any advance made to the occupier of any premises, pursuant to section three hundred and three of this Act, in respect of the cost of installing electricity therein, together with any amount then outstanding in respect of prior advances for a like purpose, exceeds thirty pounds, the amount of the advance shall not be a charge on the land upon which the premises are situated, unless before that installation consent in writing is given thereto by or on behalf of the owner (if the occupier is not the owner), and, where the land is subject to any registered mortgage, is also given by or on behalf of the mortgagee or mortgagees.
(2)
Subsection four of section three hundred and three of this Act shall be read subject to the foregoing provisions of this section.
305 Saving of agreements
Nothing in this Part of this Act shall prejudicially affect any agreement for the time being existing between any Council and any person or corporation in respect of electricity works.
Part XXI Public Health and Convenience
General
306 Powers of Council with respect to preservation of public health
The Council may do all things necessary from time to time for the preservation of the public health and convenience, and for carrying into effect the provisions of the Health Act 1956, so far as they apply to the county.
307 Council may appoint County Health Inspectors
(1)
[Subject to the provisions of the Health Act 1956], the Council may from time to time appoint, remove, and reappoint [such County Health Inspectors (in this Part of this Act referred to as Inspectors)], and such other officers and servants as may be necessary for the due carrying out of the provisions of this Part of this Act and of any bylaws made thereunder.
(2)
Every person appointed under this section shall be paid such remuneration as the Council thinks fit.
In subs. (1) the words “Subject to the provisions of the Health Act 1956”
were inserted and the words “such County Health Inspectors (in this Part of this Act referred to as Inspectors)”
were substituted for the words “one or more competent persons to be Sanitary Inspector or Sanitary Inspectors”
by s. 139 of the Health Act 1956.
308 Duties of County Health Inspectors
The Council may from time to time define the duties of .... Inspectors.
The word “Sanitary”
was omitted by s. 139 of the Health Act 1956.
309 Inspector to have warrant of appointment
(1)
Every .... Inspector shall be appointed by warrant under the hand of the Chairman, and shall produce that warrant when so required by any person upon whose premises he enters in the course of his duty; and the Council shall publicly notify in the county every appointment, resignation, or removal of any such Inspector.
(2)
In the absence of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman or any two Councillors may, by direction of the Council, sign the warrant of appointment of any person as [an Inspector], or sign any cleansing order under the Health Act 1956.
(3)
Where the case requires immediate attention the Chairman, or in his absence the Deputy Chairman or any two Councillors, may, without the direction of the Council, sign any such warrant or order; but the person or persons so signing shall report the case to the Council at its first meeting for confirmation.
The word “Sanitary”
was omitted from subs. (1) and the words “an Inspector”
were substituted for the words “a Sanitary Inspector”
by s. 139 of the Health Act 1956.
310 Penalty for acting without warrant
If any person represents himself to be [an Inspector], not having such a warrant, or acts under such a warrant after he has ceased to hold office as [an Inspector], he commits an offence against this Act.
The words “an Inspector”
were substituted for the words “a Sanitary Inspector”
by s. 139 of the Health Act 1956.
Nuisances
311 General penalty in respect of nuisances
(1)
Any land, building, erection, water closet, earth closet, privy, cesspool, urinal, ashpit, dust bin or receptacle for dust, rubbish, or refuse, or any natural stream, or any pool, ditch, gutter, or watercourse, or any sewer, culvert, or drain, or any accumulation or deposit situate or being within the county, or any offensive matter used as manure and placed on any land in the county, which is, or is in such a state as to be or become, a nuisance shall be deemed a nuisance within the meaning of this section.
(2)
Every person by whose act, default, or sufferance a nuisance arises or continues (whether that person is or is not the owner or occupier of the premises in respect of which the nuisance exists) is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds; and if the person convicted can without trespass or other breach of the law abate the nuisance, he commits a further offence and is liable to a further fine not exceeding five pounds for every day or part of a day from and after the conviction during which the nuisance remains unabated.
(3)
This section is in addition to all other powers and remedies in relation to nuisances given by this or any other Act or any bylaws.
312 Council may take proceedings for abatement of nuisances
The Council may, if in its opinion summary proceedings would afford an inadequate remedy, cause any proceedings to be taken against any person in any Court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the abatement or prohibition of any nuisance under this Act, or any bylaw made thereunder, and may order the expenses of and incident to all such proceedings to be paid out of the County Fund.
313 Provisions of this Part to be in addition to other remedies in respect of nuisances
The provisions of this Part of this Act relating to nuisances shall be deemed not to abridge or affect any right, remedy, or proceeding under any other provisions of this Act or under any other Act or at law or in equity:
Provided that no person shall be punished for the same offence both under the provisions of this Act relating to nuisances and under any other law or enactment.
314 Application to Crown
The provisions of this Act relating to nuisances shall bind the Crown.
Public Baths
315 Council may provide public baths, sanitary conveniences, and washing facilities
The Council may provide and maintain public baths (including paddling pools), sanitary conveniences, and washing facilities, either within or outside the county, and may purchase or otherwise provide all such land, buildings, appliances, and conveniences as are necessary to enable the inhabitants of the county to use those baths, sanitary conveniences, and washing facilities, with or without any charge for the same, and under such regulations for the decent and orderly use thereof, as the Council by any bylaws in that behalf from time to time directs.
316 Public baths, sanitary conveniences, and washing facilities to be subject to bylaws
All public baths, sanitary conveniences, and washing facilities or baths, sanitary conveniences, and washing facilities open to the public with or without charge now existing, or which may hereafter be established, within the county or in the waters of the sea adjacent to the county, whether or not they are owned by the Corporation, or owned by the Corporation (either alone or with any other local authority or public body) and situated in the district of any other local authority, shall be deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the Council for the purpose of making bylaws for the maintenance of order and decency at those baths, sanitary conveniences, and washing facilities.
Dangerous, Deserted, and Dilapidated Buildings
317 Powers of Council with respect to dangerous, deserted, ruinous, and dilapidated buildings
(1)
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 on any adjoining land or to passers-by, the Council may—
(a)
Put up a hoarding or fence so as to prevent persons approaching nearer thereto than is safe:
(b)
Give notice to the owner of the building to remove the danger either by securing or by taking down the building within a time specified in the notice, and the Council shall send a copy of the notice to every person having a registered interest in the land under any mortgage or other encumbrance.
(2)
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.
(3)
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.
(4)
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.
(5)
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.
(6)
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.
(7)
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’s address is not known and he has no known agent and the building is unoccupied, by fixing the same on the building.
(8)
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.
(9)
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.
(10)
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.
(11)
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.
(12)
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.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 204b; 1954, No. 35, s. 11
318 Money expended under section 317 to be a charge on the land
(1)
In any case where an order has been made under section three hundred and seventeen of this Act 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 County 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.
(2)
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.
(3)
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.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 204c; 1954, No. 35, s. 12
Part XXII Public Recreation, Instruction, and Amenities
319 Powers of the Council in relation to public recreation and other amenities
(1)
In order to provide for the health, amusement, and instruction of the public the Council may—
(a)
Take, purchase, or otherwise provide and maintain land and buildings, within or outside the county, to be used as, or for the purpose of, pleasure grounds, sports grounds, camping grounds, gymnasia, physical training schools, gardens, zoological gardens, public halls, music and dance halls, libraries, mechanics’ or youths’ institutes, athenaeums, mortuaries, museums, art galleries, rest rooms, crèches, nurseries, and other public amenities:
(b)
Lay out, improve, and plant any such land, and provide the same with all materials and equipment of any kind whatever and all animals necessary for the full use of the land for the purpose for which it is acquired:
(c)
Furnish any such buildings with books, and works of nature or art, and with all such things as the Council thinks fitting for the purpose for which it is acquired or provided:
(d)
If it thinks fit, fix reasonable charges to be paid for the use of any such land or buildings, subject in the case of a library to the following provisions:
(i)
In the case of a library supported or partly supported by means of a rate, admission thereto shall be open to the public free of all charge; but
(ii)
The Council may by bylaw make charges for lending books out of any library under its control:
(e)
Provide or pay to any person or persons such sums as it thinks fit for providing musical entertainments and cinematograph or similar exhibitions in any building owned or leased by the Corporation, and make such charges for admission to those entertainments or exhibitions as it deems reasonable:
(f)
Prepare and publish handbooks, abstracts, or other publications containing information and matters of interest relative to the history, administration, and affairs of the county, purchase publications containing photographic views of the county, and prepare and disseminate information that is designed to educate and instruct the public concerning local government activities in the county or that has for its object the advancement or development of the county.
(2)
The Council may make grants of money or grant leases of land at such rental, for such term, and on such conditions as it thinks fit to the trustees or other governing authority of any body (whether incorporated or not), whether within or outside the county, which is not conducted for private profit and the object or principal object of which is to establish, maintain, control, aid, or carry on any of the following:
(a)
Technical or secondary schools, or classes conducted by the Workers’ Educational Association:
(b)
Public halls, libraries, mechanics’ or youths’ institutes, athenaeums, museums, art galleries, or trades halls:
(c)
Dental clinics, crèches, district nurses, or any branch of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children, or other body formed for the object of conserving the health of the community or tending the sick or injured:
(d)
Generally any purpose of recreation, enjoyment, health, education, or instruction, or of improving or developing public amenities.
(3)
In addition to all such powers as aforesaid, the Council may, with the consent of the trustees or other governing body of any such body as aforesaid, assume control of any institution conducted by that body and acquire the property thereof, and those trustees and governing authorities are hereby authorised to give that consent and to transfer that property to the Corporation.
(4)
Any payment under this section may be charged against the General Account or the separate accounts of any ridings or any appropriate County Town Account or against any appropriate separate account or accounts kept pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection one of section one hundred and forty-six of this Act, or may be apportioned by the Council among those accounts.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 198; 1949, No. 27, s. 18
320 War memorials
In addition to the powers conferred in respect of war memorials by section fifteen of the Finance Act 1919, or by section twenty-five of the Finance Act (No. 2) 1947, the Council may contribute out of the County Fund, towards the cost of the establishment and maintenance of any approved war memorial within the meaning of the said section fifteen erected by any other local authority or public body or by public subscription, whether the war memorial is erected within or outside the boundaries of the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 199
321 Agricultural schools and model farms
The Council may from time to time apply any portion of the County Fund for the establishment and maintenance of agricultural schools or model farms, the acquisition of land, and the construction or acquisition of all necessary buildings, implements of all sorts, and of livestock to be used for or in connection therewith.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 200(1)(a)
322 Rifle ranges
The Council may from time to time apply any portion of the County Fund for the establishment and maintenance of rifle ranges, with butts, targets, and all other necessary appliances, and the purchase or other acquisition of any land necessary for the purpose.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 200(1)(b)
323 Council may borrow for improvement of public reserves managed and controlled by it
The Council having the management and control of any public reserve not vested in the Corporation of the county may borrow money by way of special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, and expend the proceeds of the loan on the improvement and development of the reserve.
324 Surplus money appropriated for any reserve may be expended on other reserves
Where any money is appropriated to the purposes of any recreation or other reserve, and there is a surplus of that money after defraying the cost of maintenance of the reserve and other charges and expenses in connection therewith, it shall be lawful for the Council to expend all or any part of that surplus for or towards the maintenance or otherwise for the benefit of some other reserve or reserves vested in the Corporation or under the control of the Council.
Part XXIII Buildings and Other Places for Public Meetings, etc.
325 “Building”
defined
In this Part of this Act, and in the Fifth Schedule to this Act, the term “building”
includes any part of a building or any enclosure, ground, or premises whatsoever.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 111(4)
326 Buildings for public meetings to be licensed and inspected
(1)
It shall not be lawful to use any building within the county for public meetings, or as assembly rooms, or as a theatre or music hall or dancing hall, or as a stand on any racecourse, sports ground, or showground, or for any public performances or public amusements whatever, whether a charge is made for admission thereto or not, unless and until the building is licensed in accordance with the provisions of the Fifth Schedule to this Act.
(2)
This Part of this Act and also the said Fifth Schedule shall apply to all buildings used for purposes of public worship, except that no licence fee shall be payable in respect of any building exclusively used for such purposes.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 111
327 Entertainments on Sunday, Good Friday, or Christmas Day to be subject to approval by Council
(1)
No concert or entertainment of any kind which is open to the public, whether by the purchase of tickets or otherwise, shall be held or given on any Sunday, Good Friday, or Christmas Day without the written consent of the Council, and then only subject to such conditions in every respect as the Council may impose.
(2)
The Council may exercise that power either generally or in any particular case or class of cases, and may delegate that power to any of its members.
Compare: 1927, No. 35, s. 18(1a); 1952, No. 40, s. 3(1)
328 Register of licensed buildings
The Council shall keep a register of all buildings licensed in accordance with the Fifth Schedule to this Act including all the particulars stated in the application for a licence.
329 Inspection of licensed buildings
(1)
The Engineer, the Inspector of Buildings, and any other person appointed in that behalf by the Council, and, in the case of any part of the county that is included in the district of an Urban Fire Authority, the Chief Fire Officer and any other officer appointed in that behalf by the Chief Fire Officer, shall have at all times free access to any part of any licensed building in order to inspect it or to ascertain whether sufficient safeguards against fire and means of escape in case of fire are provided in respect of the building.
(2)
Every person commits an offence against this Act who obstructs or hinders the Engineer, the Inspector of Buildings, the Chief Fire Officer, or any other officer as aforesaid in the execution of his powers under subsection one of this section.
330 Passages in and exits from licensed public buildings to be kept clear
(1)
The occupier or person having control of any building licensed in accordance with the provisions of the Fifth Schedule to this Act shall keep all aisles and exit passages in the building and all exits therefrom free from obstruction, and shall prevent persons from standing or sitting in those aisles, exit passages, and exits while the building is being used for any of the purposes specified in section three hundred and twenty-six of this Act. The Engineer, the Chief Fire Officer, or any person authorised in that behalf by either of them, may himself remove any such obstruction or direct any person remaining in any such aisle, exit passage, or exit to leave the same.
(2)
Every person commits an offence against this Act who commits any breach of the provisions of this section, or who fails to comply with any direction of the Engineer, Chief Fire Officer, or other person as aforesaid, or who in any way hinders or prevents the removal of any such obstruction.
331 Regulations for protection of public from danger from fire or other emergency in theatres, etc.
(1)
Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by section four hundred and forty-nine of this Act, such regulations may be made under that section as in the opinion of the Governor-General may be necessary or expedient for the protection of the public from danger caused by any emergency or fear of an emergency (whether arising from fire or earthquake or otherwise) in buildings licensed under this Part of this Act.
(2)
Without limiting the general power hereinbefore conferred, it is hereby declared that regulations may be made pursuant to this section for all or any of the following purposes:
(a)
Requiring and regulating the employment in buildings to which this section applies of qualified persons as fire protection watchmen, and of other persons, and prescribing their qualifications, training, duties, and powers:
(b)
Requiring the provision for and the wearing by any such persons of uniforms or other distinctive indications of their positions:
(c)
Prescribing the duties and powers of managers of such buildings:
(d)
Requiring and regulating the keeping of records and the provision, maintenance, repair, testing, and operation of systems of communication:
(e)
Prescribing the duties and powers of Councils and other bodies and persons:
(f)
Providing for the education and training of the public in safety precautions, and for the giving of directions to members of the public:
(g)
Providing for appeals from decisions made under the regulations:
(h)
Prescribing penalties (not exceeding fifty pounds in any case) for breaches of the regulations or of any directions given under the regulations.
332 Cancellation or suspension of licence
(1)
Upon being satisfied that any licensed building has become insecure, or is not provided with sufficient safeguards against fire or means of escape in case of fire, or is being used in a disorderly manner so as to be obnoxious to the neighbouring inhabitants or to the public, or that it is being used for other purposes than those stated in the licence, the Council may cancel or suspend the licence either wholly or for such period as it thinks fit, and shall forthwith give notice to the licensee of the cancellation or suspension.
(2)
The licensee shall have the same right of appeal from the cancellation or suspension of his licence as is given in the Fifth Schedule to this Act to a person to whom a licence is refused, and a Magistrate’s Court shall have the power to revoke any such cancellation or suspension.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 111(3)
333 Penalty for using unlicensed building
If any owner or occupier or person having the control of any such building uses it, or allows it to be used, for any of the purposes mentioned in section three hundred and twenty-six of this Act, not having a licence for the same, or while the licence is cancelled or suspended as hereinbefore provided, he is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
334 Further provisions with respect to licensing buildings for public meetings, etc.
(1)
Notwithstanding anything in this Part of this Act or in the Fifth Schedule to this Act, the Council may—
(a)
Refuse to grant a licence to use a building for any of the purposes mentioned in section three hundred and twenty-six of this Act to any person if it is satisfied that he is not a person of good character and reputation:
(b)
Suspend or cancel a licence, either wholly or for such period as it thinks fit, if satisfied that the licensee has since the granting of the licence become of bad character and reputation or otherwise not a fit and proper person to hold such a licence, and forthwith give to the licensee notice of the suspension or cancellation.
(2)
Before refusing any licence pursuant to the authority conferred by paragraph (a) of subsection one of this section the Council shall give to the applicant an opportunity to be heard before a committee of the Council.
(3)
Every person aggrieved at the refusal of the Council to grant a licence, or any licensee aggrieved at the cancellation or suspension of his licence, pursuant to the authority conferred by this section, shall have the same right of appeal as is given in the Fifth Schedule to this Act to a person to whom a licence is refused, and a Magistrate’s Court shall have the power to direct the Council to issue a licence or to revoke any such cancellation or suspension.
Part XXIV Markets, Weighing Machines, and Public Services
335 Council may provide market places
The Council may provide market places in the county, and for that purpose may acquire land and erect thereon all such buildings and provide all such things as are necessary or convenient for holding markets thereon, and may make all convenient approaches thereto.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 187(1)
336 Council may fix market charges
(1)
The Council may, by special order, fix and may demand and receive tolls and dues from all persons exposing or offering for sale within any such market place any property of any description whatsoever allowed by the Council to be sold therein; and may let, for such term not exceeding three years as it thinks fit, stalls or standing places for goods or animals, and may receive stallages and rents for the same.
(2)
All such money is in this Part of this Act referred to as market charges.
(3)
The Council may from time to time alter the scale of market charges, but no change shall be made during the continuance of any lease thereof without the consent of the lessee.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 187(3), (5)
337 Council may let market charges
The Council may let, for any period not exceeding three years, all or any of the market charges which it is hereby empowered to receive.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 187(4)
338 Recovery of market charges
(1)
If any person neglects or refuses to pay any market charge on demand, the Council may cause the charge to be levied by distress and sale of the property in respect of which the charge is payable, or of any other property in the market belonging to or under the charge of the same person, in such manner as may be prescribed by bylaws.
(2)
This provision shall not be deemed to affect any other remedy which the Council or any officer or lessee of the Council may have for the recovery of any such charge.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 187(8), (9)
339 Council may provide public weighing machines
The Council may provide public weighing machines either in a market place or elsewhere, and may fix charges for the use of the same, and those charges shall be deemed to be market charges for the purposes of sections three hundred and thirty-six to three hundred and thirty-eight of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 188
340 Council may sell fuel
The Council may sell coal and firewood on such terms as it thinks fit.
341 Road metal and lime
(1)
The Council may—
(a)
Quarry, purchase, and sell road metal, gravel, sand, scoria, soil, or other like material on such terms as it thinks fit:
(b)
Quarry, burn, purchase, and sell lime on such terms as it thinks fit.
(2)
For the purposes of this section the Council may acquire any land either within or outside the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 202
342 Stock dips
(1)
The Council may, with the consent of the Minister of Agriculture, construct stock dips on any land acquired or appropriated by it for the purpose, or may with the like consent purchase or lease any existing stock dip, and may make bylaws regulating the use of those dips and prescribing such fees and charges for that use as the Council thinks fit.
(2)
For the purpose of purchasing any such stock dip the Council may, by special order, raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 203(1); 1925, No. 49, s. 11
343 Stock paddocks
The Council may acquire or appropriate for the purpose any land for the purpose of paddocking driven stock, and may make bylaws regulating the use of that land and prescribing such fees and charges for that use as the Council thinks fit.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 203(1a); 1948, No. 77, s. 7
344 Rabbit-proof wire netting
(1)
The Council may purchase and sell rabbit-proof wire netting on such terms as it thinks fit, and for the purpose of purchasing any such wire netting may, by special order, raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
(2)
Where the Council agrees to sell any rabbit-proof wire netting to the owner or occupier of any land for use in respect of that land, on terms requiring payment by instalments of the price of that wire netting, either with or without the payment of interest, the following provisions shall apply:
(a)
The agreement between the Council and the owner or occupier shall define the land in respect of which the wire netting is to be supplied:
(b)
The amount of each such instalment shall be a charge upon the land defined in the agreement, and may be recovered as rates are recoverable under the Rating Act 1925, and the provisions of that Act as to recovery of rates shall apply accordingly:
(c)
A separate book shall be kept by the Collector of Rates to the Council in which particulars of the instalments (distinguishing capital from interest), of the debt in respect whereof they are payable, of the dates for payment thereof, and of the names of persons paying the same shall be entered; and that book shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness of its contents.
(3)
Capital money received under this section or otherwise in respect of the price of wire netting supplied by the Council as aforesaid may be used for the purchase by the Council of further supplies of rabbit-proof wire netting, and subject thereto all such capital money shall be applied in or towards the repayment of any special loan raised pursuant to subsection one of this section, either by payment into the sinking fund (if any) or in such other manner as the Council, with the sanction of the Audit Office, determines.
(4)
Interest received by the Council under this section in respect of any unpaid purchase money shall be applied, so far as may be necessary, in or towards the payment of interest or other charges in respect of any special loan raised as aforesaid.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 203(2); 1925, No. 49, s. 12
Part XXV Housing
345 Interpretation
In this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
“Building society” means a society formed under or subject to the Building Societies Act 1908:
“Estimated value” means the value as estimated in a valuation made on behalf of the Council for the purposes of this Part of this Act:
“Financial institution” means any Government department, building society, savings bank, company, or body corporate (whether incorporated in New Zealand or elsewhere) empowered to lend money on mortgage of land:
“House” means any house, or part of a house, occupied as a separate dwelling; and includes a lodginghouse; and also includes outbuildings, paths, and fences and any land appurtenant to a house not exceeding twenty acres where the house is situated in a county, and not exceeding three acres where the house is situated in a borough or town district (whether dependent or independent):
“Insurance fund” means an insurance fund established under section three hundred and sixty-four of this Act:
“Savings bank” means a trustee savings bank constituted under the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1948:
“Services” includes water supply, sewerage, drainage, electricity, and gas:
“Valuer” means the officer or valuer appointed from time to time by the Council as Valuer for the purposes of this Part of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 192(1); 1952, No. 75, s. 20(a)(b)
Acquisition and Subdivision of Land for Housing
346 Council may acquire land for housing
(1)
The Council from time to time may purchase any area or areas of land whether within or outside the county for housing purposes.
(2)
The Council from time to time may take or otherwise acquire under the Public Works Act 1928 any area or areas of land within the county for housing purposes.
(3)
Subject to the provisions of section eighteen of the Public Works Act 1928, land may be purchased or taken or otherwise acquired under this section whether or not there are buildings on the land
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 192(2), (6); 1951, No. 81, s. 4(1); 1952, No. 75, s. 20(c); 1954, No. 35, s. 14(a)
347 Council may subdivide land
The Council may subdivide or resubdivide any land acquired as aforesaid, and any other land vested in it and not held upon trust for any particular purpose other than housing, into suitable building allotments, and may construct thereon roads, streets, service lanes, and access ways, and such other public works as may be deemed necessary for the use, convenience, and enjoyment of the land for residential purposes, and may provide services and develop the land as building allotments.
Compare: 1951, No. 81, s. 4(2); 1954, No. 35, s. 14(b)
Erection and Purchase of Houses
348 Council may erect or purchase houses
(1)
The Council may, on any land purchased, acquired, or appropriated by it for the purpose, erect houses, or may purchase or otherwise acquire any buildings with or without lands for that purpose, and may convert any buildings into houses, and may alter, enlarge, repair, and improve the same respectively, and fit up, furnish, and supply the same or any of them respectively with all requisite furniture, fittings, and conveniences.
(2)
The Council may make bylaws in reference to the letting of houses.
(3)
The Council shall manage and control every such house that it so fits up, furnishes, and supplies as aforesaid.
(4)
The Council may make reasonable charges for the tenancy or occupation of the houses provided under this section.
(5)
It shall be obligatory on every Council that establishes any lodginghouse under this section to make bylaws for the management and control thereof by the Council, and for the observance of proper conduct therein.
(6)
The erection of houses for the purposes of this section shall be deemed to be a public work within the meaning of the Public Works Act 1928.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 192(2)–(6); 1952, No. 75, s. 20(c)
Sale and Lease of Houses and Building Sections
349 Council may sell or lease houses and building sections
The Council may—
(a)
Sell any building allotment upon such terms as in its absolute discretion it thinks proper to any person desirous of building thereon for the personal occupation of himself and his family:
(b)
Sell to any person desirous of personally occupying the same with his family any house with or without the allotment upon which it is erected upon such terms as in its absolute discretion it thinks proper:
(c)
Lease any building allotment to any person desirous of personally occupying with his family any house already on the allotment:
(d)
Lease to any person for the purpose of erecting a house any building allotment (not being a public reserve under the Reserves and Domains Act 1953 or land held upon trust for any particular purpose other than housing) on which no buildings are erected:
(e)
Either itself erect and sell to the lessee a house on any building allotment so leased, or lend money to the lessee to enable him to erect a house thereon, and may provide for the repayment of any such loan, with interest, by instalments as hereinafter mentioned:
(f)
Advance money to any person to enable him to erect a house on any land of which he is the owner, or to acquire land and erect a house thereon, or to acquire land with a suitable house already erected thereon, and may provide for the repayment of the advance with interest by instalments.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 193; 1951, No. 81, s. 5
350 Provisions as to leases
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this section, every lease under section three hundred and forty-nine of this Act shall, at the option of the Council, be granted either—
(a)
In accordance with the provisions of section one hundred and seventy-two of this Act, but the provisions of section one hundred and seventy-three of this Act shall not apply to any such lease if there is a covenant therein that the lessee will erect one or more houses on the land not later than two years after the commencement of the lease; or
(b)
On any of the tenancies authorised by section five of the Public Bodies’ Leases Act 1908. If the lease is granted on the terms mentioned in the First Schedule or Second Schedule to that Act, then to the extent to which the house has been paid for by the lessee (whether out of his own money or by repayment by instalments of the loan money) the house shall be deemed an improvement effected by the lessee during his tenancy.
(2)
Where any such lease is granted as provided in paragraph (a) of subsection one of this section, the following provisions shall apply, namely:
(a)
The annual rent throughout the term of any terminating lease shall not be less than four per cent of the unimproved value of the land to be fixed by the Valuer and approved by the Council:
(b)
The annual rent for renewal terms of any such lease shall be fixed by valuation as provided in the said section one hundred and seventy-two, but shall in no case be less than four per cent of the unimproved value of the land according to the Government valuation roll for the time being in force:
(c)
Any such lease may contain a provision whereby the lessee shall have the right at any time to purchase the fee simple of the land comprised therein at a price equal to twenty-five times the annual rent payable under the lease at the time of the tenant’s election to purchase. Every such purchase shall be completed within six months after the date of the election:
(d)
On any such election by the lessee to purchase during the subsistence of any mortgage under this Part of this Act affecting the leasehold interest of the lessee in the land concerned, the lessee shall, on the completion of the purchase, either fully pay off and satisfy the mortgage or execute in favour of the same mortgagee a new mortgage of the fee simple of the land securing the money still remaining owing under the mortgage of the leasehold interest and containing the same covenants, terms, and provisions, so far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, as are contained in the last-mentioned mortgage; and all guarantees and agreements entered into pursuant to this Part of this Act between the Corporation or the Council and the financial institution concerned in relation to the mortgage of the leasehold interest shall, so far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, enure in respect of and apply to the new mortgage instead of the mortgage of the leasehold interest.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 193; 1921–22, No. 24, s. 10; 1951, No. 81, s. 5
351 Leases to employees of Council may be by private contract
Any lease under section three hundred and forty-nine or section three hundred and fifty of this Act to any employee of the Council may be disposed of by private contract instead of by public auction or public tender or public application and ballot at a fixed rent as provided in section one hundred and seventy-three of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 194
352 Repayment of advances and purchase money
(1)
In any case mentioned in section three hundred and forty-nine of this Act where money is advanced to any person or any purchase money is unpaid, interest shall be paid at a rate not exceeding five and a half per cent per annum, or such higher rate as may be approved by the Minister of Finance.
(2)
In any case mentioned in section three hundred and forty-nine of this Act where provision is made for the repayment of any advance or for the payment of any purchase money by instalments, those instalments may be made weekly, fortnightly, or monthly, as may be arranged, for a period not exceeding thirty years in the case of houses erected mainly of wood, and thirty-six and a half years in the case of other houses.
(3)
Every weekly or other instalment made as aforesaid shall consist partly of principal and partly of interest, and the amount of principal and interest respectively paid during each period of six months shall be calculated according to such scale or scales as may from time to time be prescribed by the Governor-General by Order in Council.
(4)
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, the Council and any lessee or mortgagor, at any time after at least one-tenth of the principal money owing by the lessee or mortgagor has been repaid, may enter into a new agreement with respect to payment by instalments of the balance of the principal then outstanding, and for the purposes of that agreement any arrears of interest may be capitalised and be treated as outstanding principal:
Provided that no such agreement shall be made for instalments to extend over a longer period from the date of the agreement than the appropriate period mentioned in subsection two of this section.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 193; 1921–22, No. 24, s. 10; 1922, No. 51, s. 29; 1933, No. 30, s. 393; 1951, No. 81, s. 5
353 Council may decline to sell or lease without giving reasons
The Council may in its discretion refuse to sell or lease to any person without giving reasons for its refusal.
Compare: 1951, No. 81, s. 5(3)
354 Council may sell surplus land
The Council may sell or lease any land which it has acquired under this Part of this Act and which it may at any time consider to be unsuitable for, or in excess of what it requires for, the purposes of this Part of this Act to such persons and upon such terms as the Council thinks fit.
Compare: 1951, No. 81, s. 5(5)
355 Proceeds of sale or lease of building allotments to be paid into a separate account
(1)
All money received by the Council on the sale or lease of any land purchased or taken or otherwise acquired under this Part of this Act for subdivision into building allotments shall be paid by the Council into a separate account to be known as the Land Subdivision Account.
(2)
Money in the Land Subdivision Account may be applied solely for the following purposes:
(a)
In reimbursement of the General Account of an amount to cover administrative charges in respect of the acquisition and development of any land acquired under this Part of this Act and the sale or lease thereof, not exceeding five per cent of the actual cost of the land to the Council and the development thereof (including survey fees and the cost of the provision of services and the erection of houses):
(b)
In repayment of any money borrowed to meet any expenditure incurred under sections three hundred and forty-six to three hundred and forty-eight of this Act in respect of any land acquired under this Part of this Act and any interest and sinking fund payments in respect of any money so borrowed:
(c)
In reimbursement of the General Account or any other account of any money expended out of that account under the said sections three hundred and forty-six to three hundred and forty-eight of this Act in respect of any land acquired under this Part of this Act.
(3)
Nothing in section one hundred and four of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956 shall apply with respect to any money to which subsection one of this section applies.
Compare: 1951, No. 81, s. 5(4)
Advances to Financial Institutions and Guarantees of Housing Loans
356 Advances by Council towards loans for housing purposes
(1)
Where any person approved by the Council is desirous of erecting a house upon land in the county and applies to a financial institution for an advance by way of first mortgage upon the security of the land and proposed house, the Council may, out of loan money raised as hereinafter provided, pay to the financial institution such sum, not exceeding the limit provided by subsection four of this section, as it thinks fit, conditionally on that sum, together with the money to be advanced by the financial institution, being secured upon the land and proposed house by a first mortgage in favour of the financial institution containing such terms and provisions as the Council may approve.
(2)
The Council and the financial institution may from time to time enter into such agreements in writing as they think fit in regard to the application and appropriation, as between the Corporation on the one hand and the financial institution on the other hand, of all payments made and sums recovered under any such mortgage or mortgages, and in regard to such other matters concerning any such mortgage or mortgages as the Council and the financial institution may deem expedient. Every such agreement may be varied from time to time by agreement in writing between the Council and the financial institution.
(3)
Before exercising in any case the power conferred on it by subsection one of this section, the Council shall be satisfied—
(a)
That the applicant for the loan has provided or is able to provide towards the cost of the land and proposed house not less than one-tenth of the total estimated value of the land and of the proposed house when erected thereon:
(b)
That the money to be advanced as aforesaid by the financial institution on first mortgage out of its own money (not including the money to be paid by the Council to the financial institution under this section) amounts to not less than two-thirds of the total estimated value of the land and of the proposed house when erected thereon:
(c)
That the total principal money to be secured by the mortgage (after deduction therefrom of the money payable to the insurance fund under this Part of this Act) does not exceed nine-tenths of the total estimated value of the land and of the proposed house when erected thereon.
(4)
The total principal money secured by any mortgage to which this section relates shall not exceed the sum of two thousand two hundred and twenty-two pounds, and the amount to be paid by the Council to any financial institution for the purpose of being advanced by the financial institution upon the security of any such mortgage shall not exceed one-fourth of the total principal money advanced under that mortgage.
357 Guarantees by Council of portions of mortgages granted for housing purposes
(1)
Where any person approved by the Council is desirous of erecting a house upon land in the county and applies to a financial institution for an advance by way of first mortgage upon the security of the land and proposed house, the Council may, in the name and on behalf of the Corporation, by deed or other instrument, guarantee to that financial institution repayment of any portion, not exceeding the limit provided by subsection four of this section, of the money which the financial institution may so advance to that person.
(2)
Every guarantee under this section shall contain such provisions as the Council and the financial institution may agree upon in regard to the application and appropriation, as between the portion of the money guaranteed by the Corporation and the other money secured by the mortgage, of all payments made and sums recovered under the mortgage and in regard to such other matters concerning the mortgage or the guarantee as the Council and the financial institution may deem expedient. Every such guarantee may from time to time be varied by deed or other instrument executed by the Council in the name and on behalf of the Corporation, and by the financial institution.
(3)
Before exercising in any case the power conferred on it by this section, the Council shall be satisfied—
(a)
That the applicant for the loan has provided or is able to provide towards the cost of the land and proposed house not less than one-tenth of the total estimated value of the land and of the proposed house when erected thereon:
(b)
That the money to be advanced by the financial institution on first mortgage as aforesaid amounts to not less than two-thirds of the total estimated value of the land and of the proposed house when erected thereon, but does not (after deduction therefrom of the money payable to the insurance fund under this Part of this Act) exceed nine-tenths of the total estimated value.
(4)
The principal money secured by any mortgage to which this section relates shall not exceed the sum of two thousand two hundred and twenty-two pounds, and the portion of that money, repayment of which is guaranteed by the Corporation, shall not exceed one-third of the total principal money secured by the mortgage.
(5)
The Council shall not execute any guarantee under the powers conferred by this section if the liability to be assumed by the Corporation under the guarantee, together with the total liability originally assumed by the Corporation under all guarantees previously executed by the Council under the powers conferred by this section and under which the Corporation is or may be still liable, would exceed in the aggregate the sum for the time being fixed by the Minister of Finance as the maximum amount which may be guaranteed by the Corporation under this section.
358 Power of Council to guarantee loans for erection of flats
(1)
For the purpose of enabling any person to obtain funds required by him for the erection of residential flats on land in the county, the Council may from time to time, with the prior consent of the Local Authorities Loans Board, and upon and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed or approved by that Board, guarantee the repayment of the whole or any part of any money so borrowed by that person for that purpose and the payment of interest or any part of the interest on any money so borrowed.
(2)
Without limiting the general power of the Local Authorities Loans Board to prescribe conditions conferred by subsection one of this section, the Board may require a poll of ratepayers to be taken on the proposal to give such a guarantee.
(3)
Where the Council becomes liable to make any payment under any such guarantee as aforesaid, it may make the payment out of the General Account or out of any money borrowed under this section.
(4)
For the purpose of providing funds to enable it to make any payment for which it becomes liable pursuant to this section or for the purpose of refunding to the General Account any money paid thereout under this section, the Council may borrow money by way of special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, by special order, and, notwithstanding anything in section thirty-four of that Act, without the prior consent of the ratepayers.
359 Council may guarantee certain replacement mortgages
(1)
Subject to the provisions of subsection two of this section, where the Council has entered into any guarantee under section three hundred and fifty-seven of this Act in respect of any advance by way of first mortgage (in this section referred to as the original mortgage) granted to any person, and that person, for the purpose of repaying all money then secured by the original mortgage, applies to a financial institution for an advance by way of first mortgage (in this section referred to as the replacement mortgage) upon the security over which the original mortgage was given and on terms providing that the principal money secured by the replacement mortgage shall be free of interest but shall include money by way of premiums payable by the mortgagor, the Council may guarantee to the financial institution making the advance under the replacement mortgage repayment of the money so advanced, or of any portion of that money.
(2)
The principal money (exclusive of the money payable by way of premiums as aforesaid) secured by any replacement mortgage guaranteed by the Council under this section shall not exceed the sum of two thousand two hundred and twenty-two pounds, and the Council shall not guarantee in respect of the replacement mortgage repayment of any money in excess of the amount of the principal money secured by the original mortgage at the time of its repayment.
(3)
Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, the provisions of section three hundred and fifty-seven of this Act shall apply with respect to every guarantee given under this section.
360 Provisions affecting mortgages
(1)
Every mortgage to which section three hundred and fifty-six or section three hundred and fifty-seven or section three hundred and fifty-nine of this Act applies shall be for a period of not more than thirty years.
(2)
Every such mortgage shall contain a covenant by the mortgagor that on any transfer or agreement for sale of the property encumbered by the mortgage he will reduce the principal money then secured thereby to such sum as is equivalent to seven-tenths of the principal money originally secured by the mortgage, or to such greater sum as the Council and the financial institution may approve in the circumstances of the particular case.
(3)
Any person, firm, or company may join in or guarantee any of the covenants on the part of the mortgagor contained or implied in any such mortgage.
(4)
Collateral security may be taken by the financial institution in respect of any such mortgage; and in particular collateral security may be taken over any policy of life insurance, whether the policy be on the life of the mortgagor or on the life of any other person.
(5)
If default is made under any such mortgage the Council shall have the right, while the default continues, to call upon the financial institution to transfer the mortgage to the Corporation.
(6)
If default is made under any such mortgage and the default continues for a period of not less than three months, the financial institution, by notice in writing given while the default continues, may call upon the Council to elect whether or not it desires to call upon the the financial institution to transfer the mortgage to the Corporation, and the Council shall, if the default continues, make its election within two months after being called upon so to do; and if it elects not to call upon the financial institution to transfer the mortgage to the Corporation, or if the default continues during the two months and the Council fails to make an election in accordance with this subsection, the Council shall not be entitled thereafter to call upon the financial institution to transfer the mortgage to the Corporation.
(7)
Where the Council, pursuant to subsection five or subsection six of this section, calls upon the financial institution to transfer any such mortgage to the Corporation,—
(a)
The Council shall, within one month after the date upon which the Council calls upon the financial institution to transfer the mortgage to the Corporation, pay to the financial institution all principal and other money secured by the mortgage, including all interest secured by the mortgage down to the date of the payment, but excluding any money secured by the mortgage in respect of any sum advanced by the Council to the financial institution under section three hundred and fifty-six of this Act:
Provided that, except in cases where the Council and the financial institution have previously otherwise agreed, the Council shall not be liable to pay to the financial institution any interest which accrued due under the mortgage more than six months before the date upon which the Council called upon the financial institution to transfer the mortgage to the Corporation:
(b)
The financial institution shall, on the payment being made by the Council as aforesaid, and on the Council paying all reasonable legal and other expenses incurred by the financial institution in so doing, transfer to the Corporation the mortgage and every guarantee thereof and security collateral therewith held by the financial institution.
(8)
If default is made under any such mortgage and the default continues for a period of not less than six months, the Council may, if the financial institution has not during the period of default and prior to the Council so doing called upon the Council under subsection six of this section to make the election referred to in that subsection, require the financial institution to apply (if it may lawfully do so) to the Registrar of the Supreme Court to conduct a sale of the mortgaged property under section ninety-nine of the Property Law Act 1952, but the Council shall pay to the financial institution all reasonable legal and other expenses incurred by the financial institution in and consequent upon the making of that application.
361 Mortgages securing premium instead of interest
Where, in any mortgage to which section three hundred and fifty-six or section three hundred and fifty-seven or section three hundred and fifty-nine of this Act applies, the mortgagor is charged with a premium instead of interest, and the premium forms part of the principal sum secured by the mortgage, for the purposes of this Part of this Act the following provisions shall apply:
(a)
The amount of the principal sum secured by any such mortgage may exceed nine-tenths of the total estimated value of the land and the proposed house when erected thereon, and may also exceed two thousand two hundred and twenty-two pounds, but in each case only by an amount equal to the amount of the premium which has been added to the cash advance instead of interest:
(b)
The amount which the Council may be required to pay to the financial institution concerned under subsection seven of section three hundred and sixty of this Act shall be determined by agreement between the Corporation and the financial institution at the time of the making of the advance.
362 Mortgages of leases
The provisions of sections three hundred and fifty-six to three hundred and sixty-one of this Act shall apply, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, to applications for advances on the security of any lease granted under this Part of this Act of land purchased or taken or otherwise acquired under this Part of this Act for subdivision into building allotments:
Provided that every reference in this Part of this Act to the cost or the estimated value of the land and the house proposed to be erected thereon shall be deemed to be a reference to the cost or the estimated value (as the case may be) of the proposed house alone:
Provided also that every mortgage to which any of those sections applies of any such lease shall be for a period expiring at least twelve months before the expiration of the term of the leasehold interest (in the case of a terminating lease), or at least twelve months before the expiration of the current term in the case of a renewable lease.
363 Extending lending powers of financial institutions
Notwithstanding any rule of law or any statutory or other provision to the contrary, any financial institution may advance money (including trust funds) by way of mortgage on the terms and conditions prescribed in or under sections three hundred and fifty-six to three hundred and sixty-two of this Act—
(a)
On the security of an estate in fee simple in any land and the house to be erected thereon to an amount which does not (after deduction therefrom of the money payable to the insurance fund under this Part of this Act) exceed nine-tenths of the total estimated value of the land and of the proposed house when erected thereon:
(b)
On the security of any lease granted under this Part of this Act of land purchased or taken or otherwise acquired under this Part of this Act for subdivision into building allotments and the house to be erected on the land comprised in the lease to an amount which does not (after deduction therefrom of the money payable to the insurance fund under this Part of this Act) exceed nine-tenths of the total estimated value of the proposed house when erected thereon.
364 Insurance fund
To provide a fund for insuring the Corporation against losses arising out of mortgages to which the provisions of sections three hundred and fifty-six to three hundred and sixty-two of this Act relate, the Council may require the financial institution to deduct from the principal money to be advanced to the mortgagor upon any such mortgage so much thereof as may be the equivalent of one-hundredth of the remainder of the principal money after that deduction, and to pay the amount so deducted to the Council. Every sum so deducted and paid to the Council shall, for the purpose of the mortgage and of any agreement or guarantee relating thereto, be deemed to have been paid to the mortgagor, and all sums so deducted and paid to the Council shall become the property of the Corporation and shall form part of a special fund (in this Part of this Act called an insurance fund) which shall be invested, held, and applied by the Council as an insurance to the Corporation against losses arising out of mortgages to which the provisions of the aforesaid sections relate.
365 Validity of documents and resolutions
(1)
Every agreement or guarantee entered into or purporting to be entered into by the Council under any of the provisions of sections three hundred and fifty-six to three hundred and sixty-two of this Act shall be executed in the name and under the seal of the Corporation, and every such agreement or guarantee shall, notwithstanding any non-compliance with any of the provisions of this Act, be valid and binding upon the Corporation according to its tenor, and the production of any such document shall in all Courts and for all purposes be conclusive evidence of the validity thereof.
(2)
Every resolution of the Council to advance money under section three hundred and fifty-six of this Act shall, notwithstanding any non-compliance with any of the provisions of this Act, be conclusive evidence of the authority of the Council to make the advance.
Borrowing Powers of Council
366 Borrowing powers of Council
(1)
The Council may from time to time raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956—
(a)
For any of the purposes mentioned in section three hundred and forty-six or three hundred and forty-seven or three hundred and forty-eight or three hundred and forty-nine of this Act, and for the construction of roads and streets and the provision of sewerage, drainage, electricity, gas, water supply, and other services on land used or intended to be used for the erection of houses under any of those sections:
(b)
For the purpose of providing money out of which the Council may make advances under section three hundred and fifty-six of this Act and pay any amount payable in respect of any guarantee executed under section three hundred and fifty-seven or section three hundred and fifty-nine of this Act.
(2)
The failure of the Council to raise money under paragraph (b) of subsection one of this section, or the insufficiency of any such money if raised, shall not in any way prejudice or affect the rights, powers, or remedies of any financial institution against the Corporation under any document purporting to be executed under any of the provisions of this Part of this Act.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 195; 1951, No. 81, s. 6
Registration of Agreements
367 Registration of agreements for sale
(1)
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Land Transfer Act 1952, an agreement for sale under section three hundred and forty-nine of this Act or the corresponding provisions of any former Act 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 subsection eight of this section, as a lease may be so registered.
(2)
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.
(3)
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 subsection eight of this section, as a similar transfer, mortgage, lease, transmission, or disposition of a registered lease.
(4)
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.
(5)
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.
(6)
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.
(7)
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.
(8)
Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by section four hundred and forty-nine of this Act, regulations may be made under that section prescribing such matters as in the opinion of the Governor-General are necessary or expedient for regulating the mode of registration of instruments under this section.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 193a; 1954, No. 35, s. 10
Part XXVI Miscellaneous Powers
Telegraphs and Telephones
368 Erection of telegraphs or telephones
(1)
The Council may from time to time contract with the Minister of Telegraphs for the erection of any line of communication by telegraph or telephone within the county, and may apply such portions of the County Fund as it thinks fit towards the cost of erection or maintenance of any such line, or for the purpose of paying an annual sum by way of interest or guarantee upon that cost.
(2)
Any expenditure under subsection one of this section may be charged against either the General Account or the separate accounts of the ridings within which the telephone lines are erected or maintained or any appropriate separate account or accounts kept pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection one of section one hundred and forty-six of this Act, or may be apportioned by the Council among those accounts.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 196; 1927, No. 22, s. 16
Noxious Weeds
369 Noxious weeds
(1)
The Council may from time to time apply or contribute out of the County Fund such sum or sums as it deems necessary to expend for the purpose of eradicating or preventing the spread of any noxious weed within the meaning of the Noxious Weeds Act 1950; and before enforcing or concurrently with the enforcement of any bylaw made for that purpose the Council shall use all necessary means to eradicate that weed from all roads, river beds, reserves, and lands under the control of the Council.
(2)
Any payment under subsection one of this section may be charged against either the General Account or the separate accounts of the ridings within which the work is done or any appropriate County Town Account or against any appropriate separate account or accounts kept pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection one of section one hundred and forty-six of this Act, or may be apportioned by the Council among those accounts.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 197; 1927, No. 22, s. 16
370 Council may purchase and dispose of sodium chlorate and other substances for eradication of noxious weeds
(1)
The Council may from time to time purchase sodium chlorate or other suitable substances in bulk at the best price obtainable, and may sell the same, or distribute the same free, in such quantities and on such terms as the Council thinks fit, for the eradication of noxious weeds in the county.
(2)
For the purpose of purchasing sodium chlorate or other suitable substances as aforesaid the Council may from time to time raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956.
(3)
All money received by the Council from the sale of sodium chlorate or other suitable substances purchased out of the proceeds of any special loan as aforesaid may from time to time be applied in further purchases of sodium chlorate or other suitable substances for the purposes of this section, but otherwise shall be applied in or towards repayment of the loan.
Compare: 1933, No. 41, s. 48; 1952, No. 81, s. 21
Destruction of Noxious Animals
371 Council may undertake destruction of noxious animals
(1)
The Council may from time to time apply or contribute out of the County Fund such sum or sums as it deems necessary to expend for the purpose of destroying noxious animals in the county.
(2)
In this section the term “noxious animal”
has the same meaning as in the Noxious Animals Act 1956.
Compare: 1943, No. 20, s. 7
Harbour Works
372 Powers of Council with respect to harbour works
(1)
Where the county is bounded on any side by the sea, or any harbour, arm, or creek thereof, or by any lake or river, or includes any part of any river, the Council may do the following things:
(a)
Erect and maintain quays, docks, piers, wharves, jetties, and harbour works of any kind upon any land, and upon the foreshore or to such distance beyond low water mark, as the Council thinks fit:
(b)
Remove obstructions or impediments to navigation from the bed of the sea, or the banks or bed of any such lake or river, and execute and maintain works which in the opinion of the Council tend to improve the navigation thereof:
(c)
Erect and maintain protective works to prevent the encroachment of the sea or of that river:
Provided that the Council shall exercise the powers hereby given only in accordance with and subject to the provisions of the Harbours Act 1950.
(2)
All wharves, jetties, and other works constructed under the authority herein contained shall be the property of the Corporation.
(3)
Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall authorise the Council to construct wharves or other works, or to levy any tolls, upon any land the property of any private person without the leave of that person; or, in any place where the foreshore is under the control of a Harbour Board or other lawful authority, without the leave of that Board or authority; or, upon any land the property of the Crown, without the leave of the Governor-General; or to vest in the Corporation any part of the foreshore or other land not otherwise the property of the Corporation.
(4)
The Council may contribute such sums as it thinks fit towards the cost of the construction, reconstruction, or extension by a Harbour Board or other competent authority of any wharf or other harbour works, whether situated within the boundaries of the county or not, which in the opinion of the Council will be of service to the inhabitants of the county, and for that purpose may raise a special loan under the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, as if for a public work.
(5)
The Council may contribute to any Harbour Board such sum or sums as it thinks fit for the construction or maintenance of any boat haven which would or may, in the opinion of the Council, be beneficial to the inhabitants of the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 189, 191; 1927, No. 22, s. 13
Protective Works
373 Council may construct protective works to prevent damage by flood
The Council may construct and maintain within or outside the county any works or do anything necessary to prevent damage to any property inside the county or to the property of the Corporation outside the county from floods or erosion of rivers or streams or from encroachment of the sea.
Public Offices
374 Council to maintain public offices
The Council may from time to time provide and maintain public offices (whether within or outside the county) with suitable furniture for the same for holding the meetings and transacting the business of the Council, and for the use of its officers, and for holding public meetings and for other purposes, and may purchase or rent land or buildings for that purpose, or may cause buildings to be erected on any land belonging to or leased by the Council, and may cause any such building to be added to or improved.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 96
Public Clocks
375 Council may install, light, and maintain public clocks
The Council may expend money on installing, lighting, and maintaining in the county any public clock.
Compare: 1912, No. 46, s. 78; 1920, No. 47, s. 185
Shops and Offices
376 Council may provide shops and offices in buildings erected or acquired by it
Where pursuant to any authority conferred on it by this Act or any other Act the Council erects or acquires any building, it may make provision therein for shops or offices, and may let any such shop or office at such rent, for such term, upon such conditions, and to such person or persons as it thinks fit:
Provided that it shall not be lawful for the Council to make provision as aforesaid for shops or offices to such an extent as to render the building less suitable for the purpose for which it was authorised to be erected or acquired, or otherwise to make its principal purpose the provision of shops or offices.
Compare: 1952, No. 75, s. 21
Cemeteries and Crematoria
377 Council may contribute towards maintenance and improvement of cemeteries and crematoria
The Council may from time to time contribute such sums as it thinks fit towards the maintenance or improvement of any cemetery or crematorium under the Cemeteries Act 1908 not vested in the Corporation of the county, whether the cemetery or crematorium is situated within or outside the boundaries of the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 201; 1944, No. 25, s. 11
Afforestation and Planting
378 Council may expend money for afforestation and planting
(1)
The Council may expend money in planting and tending trees (whether for afforestation or shelter or ornamental purposes) and shrubs and other plants on any lands not belonging to private owners, or in any manner for encouraging such planting.
(2)
The Council may from time to time apply any portion of the County Fund in the purchase of land for the planting of trees, shrubs, or other plants.
Compare: 1922, No. 51, s. 30; 1949, No. 27, s. 20
Sheep Grazing
379 Grazing of sheep on land held by, or under control of, Council
(1)
The Council may graze sheep on land vested in the Corporation or under the control of the Council, other than scenic or historic reserves under the Reserves and Domains Act 1953, and for that purpose shall have power to incur expenditure, to purchase sheep, and to sell any such sheep and the produce thereof:
Provided that, with the consent of the Minister of Lands, the Council may graze sheep on the open portion of any scenic or historic reserve vested in the Corporation or under the control of the Council.
(2)
The Council shall keep a separate account in connection with the grazing of sheep under this section, to which shall be credited all money received in connection with the sale of any such sheep and the produce thereof and to which shall be debited all expenditure properly chargeable against the account.
Plant and Equipment
380 Purchase and hire of plant and equipment
The Council may from time to time out of the County Fund purchase plant and equipment for carrying out its powers under this Act or any other Act, and may from time to time hire any such plant or equipment to any other local authority or to any person on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 204
Part XXVII Private Works
381 Order for execution of private works
Whenever by or under this Act or any other Act power is given to the Council to order or require any person, not being an officer of the Council, to execute or do any work or thing, that power may be exercised by a resolution of the Council, followed by an order or notice authenticated and served as provided in sections four hundred and thirty-nine and four hundred and forty of this Act.
382 Duties of occupier
(1)
If the occupier of any premises, when requested by any officer of the Council acting under any lawful authority to state the name and address of the owner of the premises, or the agent of the owner, refuses or wilfully omits to disclose or wilfully mis-states the same, he is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(2)
If the occupier of any premises refuses or neglects to allow the owner or the agent of the owner to carry into effect with respect to the premises any provisions of or under this Act, he is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during the continuance of the refusal or neglect; and the owner shall not be liable to any fine to which he might otherwise have become liable by reason of his default during the period in respect of which he proves that his default was due to the refusal or neglect of the occupier.
383 Occupier may act if owner of premises makes default
(1)
Where default is made by the owner of any premises in the execution of any work required to be executed by him by or under this Act, the occupier of the premises may, with the approval of the Council, cause the work to be executed.
(2)
In such a case, and in any case in which any occupier is compelled to do any work or pay any money which ought primarily to be done or paid by the owner, the expense of the work or the money so paid shall be repaid to the occupier by the owner; and the occupier may deduct the amount of that expense, or the money so paid, out of the rent from time to time becoming due from him to the owner.
384 Council may execute works on default by owner or occupier
(1)
Where by or under this Act any owner or occupier of private premises is required to execute, provide, or do any works, materials, or things on or in connection with any premises or otherwise, and—
(a)
That owner or occupier, after notice requiring him so to do, makes default in commencing to comply with the notice within the time specified in the notice in that behalf, or if no such time is specified, then within a reasonable time; or
(b)
If the work is certified in writing by any officer of the Council to be of an urgent nature, and the contents of that certificate have been communicated to the owner or occupier, then if the default is made for twenty-four hours from the time of that communication; and
(c)
If in either case the owner or occupier does not thenceforth proceed with the work with all reasonable expedition,—
then the Council may, if it thinks fit, itself execute, provide, or do those works, materials, and things, and recover from the owner or occupier as a debt the cost thereof together with a sum equal to five per cent of that cost for supervision, with interest thereon at six per cent per annum.
(2)
That cost and interest shall, until payment thereof, be a charge upon the premises, and for all purposes shall be deemed to be a separate rate.
385 Recovery of cost of works by Council
(1)
Whenever the default of any person in doing any act is by or under this Act made an offence, and the Council or any officer of the Council is authorised to do the act in default of that person doing the same, the Council may recover the cost thereof from the person so making default.
(2)
Whenever the Council has incurred any expenses on or in connection with any unoccupied land or premises which the owner is by or under this Act liable to repay to the Council, and the owner is unknown, or not known to be within New Zealand, that cost, with five per cent thereof for supervision, shall be a charge on the land and shall for all purposes be deemed to be a separate rate.
386 Council may agree with owners to execute works on private land
(1)
It shall be lawful for the Council, by agreement with and at the expense of the owner or occupier of any land within or outside the county, to execute on or in connection with that land any works in respect of access thereto or the drainage, sanitation, or improvement thereof, or the supply thereto of water or electricity, or any other works which the owner or occupier may be desirous of having executed or may be required to execute pursuant to this or any other Act.
(2)
To the cost of the execution of any works by the Council under this section there may be added such amount, not exceeding five per cent thereof, as the Council thinks fit, for supervision, and that amount shall be recoverable from the owner or occupier accordingly.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 204a; 1949, No. 27, s. 19
387 Advances by Council to land owners to meet emergency expenditure
(1)
Upon the application of the owner of any land in the county, and with the consent in writing of all persons having any registered interest in the land, the Council may advance to the owner the whole or any part of the money required to remedy conditions that have arisen in relation to the land by reason of flood, storm, landslip, earthquake, fire, or other accident.
(2)
Any such advance may be made out of money borrowed for the purpose or out of any money available for the purpose.
(3)
The Council and the owner may agree that the amount of any such advance shall be repayable in one sum at a fixed time, with interest at a rate to be fixed by the Council at the time when the advance is made, or by instalments extending over a number of years, with interest at a rate fixed as aforesaid. The agreement may contain any incidental provisions, and may provide for the earlier payment of instalments, or any of them, on terms to be mentioned in the agreement:
Provided that where an agreement makes no provision as aforesaid for the early payment of instalments, the Council shall accept the whole of the unpaid instalments at any time when the same is tendered, and for the purpose of any such tender interest shall be calculated and paid only up to and including the day of the tender.
(4)
The agreement may, where the money is repayable in one amount, contain provisions for securing the repayment thereof, and where the money is repayable by instalments each such instalment shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be a rate, subject nevertheless to the following conditions:
(a)
The owner for the time being of the land in question shall in all cases be deemed to be the person primarily liable for payment:
(b)
A separate rate book shall be kept by the Collector of Rates to the Council in which particulars of the instalments (distinguishing capital and interest), of the lands in respect whereof they are payable, of the dates for payment thereof, and all the names of persons paying the same shall be entered; and that book shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness of its contents.
(5)
The capital money advanced by the Council under this section may, when repaid, be advanced to other owners for the purposes aforesaid, and, subject thereto, all such capital money shall be applied in or towards the repayment of the money referred to in subsection two of this section, either by payment into the sinking fund in addition to the annual sinking fund payments required, if any, or in any such other manner as the Council, with the sanction of the Audit Office, determines.
(6)
Interest money on any such advances shall be applied in or towards payment of the interest or other annual charges in respect of the money referred to in subsection two of this section.
(7)
All money payable to the Council by the owner of any land in respect of any advances made under this section shall be a charge on that land.
(8)
On being satisfied after full inquiry that undue hardship would be caused if the owner had to pay in full any amount due under this section, the Council may, if it thinks fit, remit the payment of any interest by the owner, either wholly or partly or for any period or periods, and may also, if it thinks fit, remit the payment of any part of the capital money.
(9)
Where the Council is satisfied that the owner of any land in the county cannot by reason of his financial position be adequately assisted under the foregoing provisions of this section, the Council may expend any money borrowed for the purpose of any emergency referred to in subsection one of this section, or any other available money, for the purpose of enabling or assisting the owner to remedy conditions that have arisen in relation to the land by reason of any of the causes specified in subsection one of this section.
Compare: 1941, No. 26, ss. 44–46
388 Registration of charges against private land
(1)
Where by this Act or any other Act any money paid by the Council in respect of or in relation to any private land is made a charge upon the land, the charge may be registered against the land under the provisions of the Statutory Land Charges Registration Act 1928.
(2)
The omission to register any such charge shall not affect the liability of the person originally liable to pay the amount or the rights of the Corporation under the charge as against him.
Part XXVIII Offences and Legal Proceedings
Offences
389 Obstruction of Council or officer
(1)
Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds who wilfully—
(a)
Prevents the Council, or any member or officer thereof, or other person duly authorised or employed for the purpose of carrying out any provision of or under this Act, from carrying out any such provision; or
(b)
Obstructs or impedes the Council or any such person in carrying out any such provision; or
(c)
Incites any other person to do any of those acts.
(2)
Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds who wilfully destroys, removes, pulls down, injures, or defaces any board, placard, or notice set up or made or published under this Act, or incites any other person so to do.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 209
390 Wilful damage to drainage works, waterworks, and other property
(1)
Every person who wilfully or maliciously destroys, damages, stops, or obstructs—
(a)
Any public or private drain or covered watercourse or other drainage work; or
(b)
Any protective work; or
(c)
Any waterworks,—
commits an offence, and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.
(2)
Every person commits an offence against this Act who wilfully destroys, injures, damages, stops, obstructs, or otherwise interferes with anything forming part of or connected with any works or property (other than those mentioned in subsection one of this section) vested in the Corporation or under the control of the Council.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 176
391 Default in compliance with Act, or direction given pursuant to Act
(1)
Where by or under this Act any act is directed to be done or is forbidden to be done, or any authority is given to the Council or any officer thereof to direct any act to be done or to forbid any act to be done, and the act so directed to be done remains undone, or the act so forbidden to be done is done, in every such case the person making default as to the direction or prohibition commits an offence against this Act.
(2)
No provision of this Act, or of any regulation or bylaw under this Act, making any act or default an offence, or rendering any person liable to a fine or other punishment in respect of any act or default, shall be deemed to repeal or in any way affect any provision of any other Act under which the act or default may also be an offence or any person may be liable to the same or any other penalty or punishment.
(3)
Any person doing any act or making any default as aforesaid may be proceeded against either under this Act or the bylaw or regulation under this Act, or under that other Act, but no person shall be punished both under this Act, or a bylaw or regulation under this Act, and also under any other Act in respect of the same act or default.
392 General penalty
(1)
Every person who commits an offence against this Act for which no penalty is provided elsewhere than in this section is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.
(2)
Where any order is made under this Act by any Court directing the execution of any work or the doing of any act (other than the payment of a sum of money under a conviction, whether as a fine or otherwise) and no punishment for disobedience to the order is otherwise provided by this Act, every person disobeying the order is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which the disobedience has continued.
Legal Proceedings
393 Judges and Justices not disqualified as being ratepayers
No Judge, Magistrate, or Justice shall be deemed to be interested in any case in which he is acting judicially solely on the ground that he is a ratepayer.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 210
394 Proceedings in Magistrate’s Court, etc.
(1)
All applications and appeals to the Magistrate’s Court under the provisions of this Act shall be made by way of originating application in accordance with the rules of that Court.
(2)
In all proceedings in which the Council is concerned under any Rating Act or under any Act in relation to bankrupts, and in all proceedings in a Magistrate’s Court or before any justice, the Chairman, or any Councillor appointed for the purpose by resolution of the Council, or the County Clerk, or any other officer of the Council appointed by the Chairman in writing under his hand, may represent and act on behalf of the Council.
(3)
The Chairman and every Councillor, County Clerk, or other officer shall be reimbursed out of the County Fund all damages, costs, charges, and expenses incurred by him by reason of the provisions of this section.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 106
395 Service of legal proceedings on Council
Any summons, writ, or other legal proceeding requiring to be served on the Corporation or Council may be served by being left at the public office of the Council or given personally to the Chairman or to the County Clerk.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 104
396 Valuation roll to be evidence of ownership
In the course of any legal proceedings instituted for enforcing any provision of this Act, or of any regulations or bylaws thereunder, the production of the valuation roll for the time being in force shall be evidence that any person named and described therein as the owner of any property was at the time of the making of the valuation roll, and thenceforth has continued to be, and still is, the owner of the same property, unless the contrary is proved.
397 Offences punishable on summary conviction
(1)
Every offence against this Act or against any regulations or bylaws under this Act shall be punishable on summary conviction.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything in the Justices of the Peace Act 1927, any information in respect of an offence against this Act or any regulation or bylaws under this Act may be laid at any time within twelve months from the time when the matter of the information arose.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 211
398 Recovery of debts
All sums payable by any person to the Corporation or Council in respect of any works, materials, or things executed, provided, or done by the Council shall be recoverable as a debt.
399 Councillors may be required to pay costs of proceedings in certain cases
If in any proceedings by information at the suit of the Attorney-General it is decided that the Council has wrongfully or illegally disposed of or dealt with any of the real or personal property of the county, or has applied the same to any purpose to which it was not lawfully applicable, or that the Council has permitted any of the reserves the management of which is vested in it to be used for purposes not authorised by law, or if by any such proceedings the Council is restrained from doing any such things, then it shall not be lawful for the Council to pay out of the County Fund any costs or other expenses arising out of the proceedings or incurred in doing the things to which the proceedings relate; but the Court shall order that the members of the Council who, by voting or otherwise, assented to the illegal acts complained of shall pay all those costs and expenses.
Compounding
400 Council may make compositions
The Council may compound, compromise, or submit to arbitration any claim, debt, sum of money, action, or demand made, owing, or brought either by or against the Corporation.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 147
Part XXIX Bylaws
401 Subject-matter of bylaws
Without limiting the power to make bylaws conferred on the Council by any other provision of this Act or by any other Act, the Council may from time to time make such bylaws as it thinks fit for all or any of the following purposes:
(1)
The good rule and government of the county:
(2)
The more effectual carrying out of any of the objects of this Act:
(3)
Regulating any of the subject-matters of this Act:
(4)
Regulating, controlling, or prohibiting any act, matter, or thing usually the subject of county regulation, control, or prohibition:
(5)
Regulating, controlling, or prohibiting any act, matter, or thing in relation to any subject-matter to be prescribed in that behalf by regulations made under this Act:
(6)
Protecting from damage, injury, or misappropriation any property, whether real or personal, belonging to the Corporation or controlled by the Council and whether situate within or outside the county:
(7)
Prescribing the terms and provisions of leases, and the classes of buildings and improvements for which any compensation or allowance shall be made under any lease:
(8)
Conserving public safety and convenience, and preventing and abating nuisances:
(9)
Regulating and controlling hoardings and similar structures used or intended to be used for the purposes of advertising; and regulating, restricting, or prohibiting the exhibition of advertisements in such manner or by such means as to affect injuriously the amenities of any public place used by the public for purposes of recreation or enjoyment, or to disfigure or injuriously affect the natural beauty of a landscape or the view of rural scenery from any public place:
Provided that the Council in making any bylaws under this paragraph shall provide for the exemption from the restrictive provisions thereof for such period, not being less than five years from the commencement of the bylaws, as the Council thinks fit, of any hoardings and similar structures then in use for advertising purposes, and of any advertisements then being exhibited:
(10)
Restricting or prohibiting the planting or erection at or within a specified distance of corners, bends, or intersections on roads in the county of trees, shrubs, hedges, or other plants, or of fences or walls, which, in the opinion of the Council are, or are likely to become, a danger to traffic by obstructing the view:
(11)
Prohibiting the erection of any fence composed wholly or partly of barbed wire within such portions of the county as are specified in the bylaws:
(12)
Regulating the use of any reserve, cemetery, crematorium, recreation ground, or other land, and any public building or public place vested in the Corporation or under the control of the Council:
(13)
Concerning roads and the use thereof, and the construction of anything upon, over, or under a road:
(14)
Regulating the use of and protecting grass plots and flower beds laid out in roads (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) by or under the authority of the Council:
(15)
Regulating and controlling the construction and repair of buildings, including the design and construction of buildings in relation to their resistance to earthquake shocks:
(16)
Prohibiting the bringing of secondhand timber into the county from any other district without the consent of the Council:
(17)
Regulating drainage and sanitation:
(18)
Regulating or prohibiting the erection of buildings not having a frontage to a road, and preventing the overcrowding of land with buildings:
(19)
Regulating or prohibiting the construction of cellars or the making of excavations within a specified distance from any road or any adjoining land, and preventing cellars and excavations from becoming a receptacle for stagnant water or other impure matter:
(20)
Defining, licensing, and controlling common lodging-houses and billiard rooms and public baths:
(21)
Defining, licensing, inspecting, and regulating boardinghouses, being houses (other than common lodginghouses or houses for which publican’s licences are held) in which persons are lodged for a single night or longer:
(22)
Regulating the sale of all articles of human food of a perishable nature:
(23)
Regulating bathing:
(24)
The storage of dangerous goods (including the defining of areas in the county within which such goods may be stored in bulk and the prohibiting of such storage elsewhere than in those areas) and the storage of goods or materials of any kind which are of an inflammable nature or which are likely to cause or aid the spread of fire:
(25)
The inspection of any land, building, or premises for any purpose of this Act:
(26)
The licensing of eatinghouses and refreshment rooms:
(27)
Subject to section twenty-nine of the Auctioneers Act 1928 as to the sale of newly caught fish and shell fish, defining and licensing and regulating the conduct of hawkers, pedlars, itinerant purchasers of goods, keepers of coffee and other stalls, porters, and boatmen, and requiring any such person to display an armband, or other means of identification, issued by the Council:
Provided that the licence fee for a hawker or pedlar who sells only perishable articles of human food shall not exceed ten shillings a year, and in the case of any other hawker or pedlar shall not exceed one pound a year:
(28)
Defining and licensing itinerant traders (not being hawkers or pedlars), and imposing a licence fee not exceeding twenty-five pounds:
Provided that the fee shall be refunded if the licensee remains continuously in business in the county for six months:
(29)
Permitting hawkers, pedlars, and keepers of stalls (including vehicles used as stalls) to occupy stands in such roads and public places as the Council thinks fit, fixing charges in respect of those permits, and prohibiting such persons from carrying on business in specified roads or parts of roads, or in places adjoining specified roads or parts of roads, where the presence of the stand is likely to cause an obstruction or a danger to traffic:
(30)
Licensing sports grounds or other lands (whether privately owned or not) on which large numbers of persons are likely to assemble, and for requiring sufficient modes of ingress thereto and egress therefrom to be provided and maintained, and for preserving good order therein:
(31)
Regulating or licensing the keeping within the county of any animals, reptiles, birds, or bees, and prohibiting the keeping thereof in any portion of the county specified in the bylaws if the existence or keeping thereof within that portion is, or in the opinion of the Council is likely to become, a nuisance or injurious to health. Any such bylaw may apply in respect of animals, reptiles, birds, or bees within the county at the time of the making of the bylaw:
(32)
Prohibiting the running at large of pigs and goats in the county:
(33)
Prohibiting the burial of animals within such portions of the county as are specified in the bylaws, and, in the case of a Council possessing a digester or destructor, prescribing that any animals dying within any such portion of the county shall be removed to that digester or destructor for destruction:
(34)
Prohibiting or regulating the deposit or accumulation on any vacant land within the county of refuse or rubbish of any description:
(35)
Requiring any allotment in such portions of the county as are specified in the bylaws to be fenced along its line of frontage to any road, and to be kept clear of noxious weeds:
(36)
Prohibiting or regulating the soliciting of subscriptions or donations for any purpose in roads or other public places:
(37)
Regulating or controlling the construction, maintenance, or repair of dams so as to prevent damage or injury to property:
(38)
Regulating or restricting the cutting of hedges or trees adjacent to a road where in the opinion of the Council the cutting of the hedges or trees may constitute a source of nuisance or danger to the users of the road:
(39)
Regulating the use of public weighing machines and defining the duties of persons in charge thereof.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 108(1), 109; 1927, No. 22, s. 9(1)(b), (2); 1938, No. 20, s. 7; 1949, No. 7, s. 169(1), (7); 1954, No. 35, s. 15
402 Bylaws as to design and construction of buildings to resist earthquake shocks
In any case where for the time being there are no bylaws in force in the county made under paragraph (15) of section four hundred and one of this Act regulating and controlling the design and construction of buildings in relation to their resistance to earthquake shocks, regulations for that purpose may be made under section four hundred and forty-nine of this Act, and those regulations shall for all purposes be deemed to be and shall have the same force and effect as bylaws made by the Council.
403 Licences to hawkers and pedlars
The Council may agree with any other one or more local authorities (being County Councils or Borough Councils or Town Councils), upon such terms and conditions as they think fit, to the issue to hawkers and pedlars by any one of the Councils of licences granted under bylaws of the several local authorities covering the districts of all the local authorities which are parties to the agreement.
404 Bylaws as to billiard rooms and common lodginghouses
(1)
The Council, in considering any application for a billiard room licence, may take into account the question whether the locality in which the proposed billiard room is situated is suitable, and may, if it considers it undesirable that a billiard room licence should be granted within that locality, refuse to grant the licence.
(2)
The Council may refuse to issue a licence for a common lodginghouse or billiard room if it is satisfied that the applicant is not a person of good character; but before refusing a licence on this ground the Council shall give to the applicant an opportunity to be heard before a committee of the Council.
405 General provisions as to bylaws
With respect to bylaws under this Act the following provisions shall apply:
(a)
A bylaw may require any works or things to be executed or done of such materials or within such time or in such manner as is directed or approved in any particular case by the Council or any officer thereof or by any other person:
(b)
A bylaw may leave any matter or thing to be determined, applied, dispensed with, prohibited, or regulated by the Council from time to time by resolution, either generally or for any classes of cases, or in any particular case:
(c)
A bylaw may provide for the licensing of persons and property and for the payment of reasonable licence fees, and may require sanitary and other works to be executed only by qualified and licensed persons:
(d)
A bylaw may provide for the payment of reasonable fees for inspections and other services, and may 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:
(e)
Bylaws may apply to any land, building, structure, reserve, cemetery, crematorium, public works, or other property vested in the Corporation or controlled by the Council, although situated outside the county:
(f)
A bylaw shall not be deemed invalid merely because it deals with a subject dealt with by the general law:
(g)
A bylaw may apply to part only of the county.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, ss. 108(3), 108b; 1954, No. 35, s. 3
406 Limitations affecting bylaws
The powers of making and enforcing bylaws shall be subject to the following limitations and provisions:
(a)
A bylaw shall not be valid if manifestly repugnant to the laws of New Zealand or the provisions of this Act:
(b)
No bylaw shall be valid if a breach thereof would involve a breach only of some religious or moral rule.
407 Procedure as to making of bylaws
(1)
Bylaws shall be made only in the manner and subject to the conditions following:
(a)
They shall be made only by special order:
Provided that in publicly notifying the resolution making the order it shall not be necessary to set forth the whole of the proposed bylaw if the object or purport of the same is stated, and if a copy of the proposed bylaw is deposited at the office of the Council or at some other place in the county which shall be specified in the notification, and is open to the inspection of the public during office hours for at least fourteen days immediately preceding the meeting at which the resolution is to be confirmed:
(b)
They may be amended before confirmation of the special order making the same:
(c)
They shall have the common seal of the Corporation affixed thereto:
(d)
They shall come into force on a day to be fixed at the meeting last aforesaid, which day shall not be earlier than seven clear days after the date of the meeting.
(2)
Any bylaw may in like manner be altered or revoked.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 112(1); 1921–22, No. 24, s. 7; 1927, No. 22, s. 8; 1954, No. 35, s. 4
408 Penalty for breach of bylaws
(1)
Every person who commits a breach of any bylaw made under this Act is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds and, where the breach is a continuing one, then to a further fine not exceeding five pounds for every day or part of a day during which the breach has continued.
(2)
The Council may, after a conviction for the continuing breach of any bylaw, apply to any Court of competent jurisdiction for an injunction to restrain the further continuance of the breach by the person so convicted.
(3)
The continued existence of any work or thing in a state contrary to any bylaw shall be deemed a continuing offence within the meaning of this section.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 108(2), (2a), (2b); 1952, No. 75, s. 14(1), 15
409 Liability for breach of bylaw not to relieve from other liability
Nothing in this Part of this Act or in any bylaw made thereunder shall be deemed to relieve any person from any penalty or action to which he would otherwise be liable in respect of anything done by him in breach of any such bylaw.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 114
410 Removal of works executed contrary to bylaws
(1)
A bylaw may authorise the Council, or any officer thereof, to pull down, remove, or alter any work, material, or thing erected or being in contravention of any bylaw, and to recover from the person committing the breach all expenses incurred by the Council in connection with the pulling down, removal, or alteration.
(2)
The exercise of this authority shall not relieve any person from liability to any penalty incurred by reason of the breach.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 108a; 1952, No. 75, s. 16
411 Proof of bylaws
The production of any document purporting to be a printed copy of any bylaw made in whole or in part under the authority of this Act, and to be sealed with the common seal of the Corporation, shall, until the contrary is shown, be sufficient evidence of the bylaw having been duly made, and that the same duly came into force on the day mentioned in that behalf in that copy of the bylaw.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 112(2)
412 Council to provide printed copies of bylaws
The Council shall cause printed copies of all bylaws to be kept at the office of the Council, and to be sold at a reasonable charge to any person applying for the same.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 112(3)
413 Power of joining with other bodies to make bylaws
(1)
A Council may join with any other County Council or with any Borough Council or Town Council in making bylaws to be in force throughout the counties and boroughs and town districts within the jurisdiction of the Councils making the same:
Provided that the power conferred by this section shall be exercisable only as regards matters in respect of which Councils of counties and of boroughs and town districts have similar powers of making bylaws.
(2)
Where two or more Councils agree to make joint bylaws as aforesaid, they may do so either by holding separate meetings of each Council and passing similar special orders, or by meeting together either by one or more delegates from each Council, in which case the voting shall be by the delegates of each Council, or the majority of them, exercising one vote on behalf of the Council they represent.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 113
414 Saving of existing bylaws
(1)
All bylaws, rules, and regulations in force in the county at the commencement of this Act shall, so far as not inconsistent with this Act, be in force within the county until superseded by bylaws made under this Act, and shall be as valid and effectual as if made under this Act, and may be proved and enforced in manner herein provided.
(2)
This section shall extend and apply to the case of any bylaws or regulations made by the Council in reference to any cemetery, crematorium, or reserve, or recreation ground, or waterworks, or other land or work controlled by the Council but situated outside the limits of the county.
415 Area added to county to become subject to bylaws of county
Whenever any area becomes, by reason of any alteration of boundaries or otherwise, part of the county, that area shall thenceforth be subject to the bylaws, rules, and regulations then in force in the county to the exclusion of those previously in force in that area.
Part XXX County Towns
416 Constitution of county towns
(1)
The Council may from time to time, by special order, declare that any part of the county (not being part of a dependent town district) having a population of not less than two hundred and an average density of population of not less than one person to the acre shall be a county town under this Part of this Act.
(2)
The Council by the same or any subsequent special order may fix the boundaries of any such county town and may assign a name thereto; and from time to time, by any subsequent special order, may alter the boundaries of any county town.
(3)
Every special order under this section shall fix the day from which the county town shall be constituted or the boundaries thereof altered, as the case may be.
(4)
Before making any special order for the constitution of a county town or the alteration of the boundaries of a county town, the Council shall cause a plan of the proposed county town showing the boundaries thereof, or, as the case may be, a plan of the county town showing the proposed alterations of boundaries, to be deposited in the office of the Council and in some other place or places in the proposed county town or in the county town, as the case may be. Every such plan shall be open for inspection by the public without fee for at least one month before the passing of the resolution to make the special order, and public notice of the times when and the places where that inspection can be made shall be given by the Council.
(5)
A copy of every special order made under this section shall, as soon as practicable after the making thereof, be sent to the Secretary for Internal Affairs.
Compare: 1949, No. 27, s. 2; 1954, No. 35, s. 13(1)(a)
417 Constitution as county town of borough or town district included or merged in county
(1)
Where any borough or independent town district is abolished and the area comprising the former borough or town district is added to the county, or where any dependent town district is merged in the county, the County Council may, by special order made at any time within the period of three months after the addition or merger, declare that the area comprising the former borough or town district shall be a county town under this Part of this Act having the name assigned thereto by the special order and, notwithstanding anything in section four hundred and twenty-five of this Act, without a petition or poll of ratepayers.
(2)
The Council from time to time, by any subsequent special order, may alter the boundaries of any county town constituted under this section. The provisions of subsection four of section four hundred and sixteen of this Act relating to the alteration of the boundaries of a county town shall apply with respect to the alteration of the boundaries of any county town constituted under this section.
(3)
Every special order under this section shall fix the day from which the county town shall be constituted or the boundaries thereof altered, as the case may be.
(4)
A copy of every special order made under this section shall, as soon as practicable after the making thereof, be sent to the Secretary for Internal Affairs.
(5)
Where an area comprising a former borough or town district is constituted a county town under the provisions of this section,—
(a)
The farm land roll (if any) under the Urban Farm Land Rating Act 1932 that was in force in that area immediately before the addition to or merger in the county of that area shall continue in force until a new urban farm land roll for the county town is made under the provisions of that Act:
(b)
In any case where the system of rating that was in force in that area immediately before the addition to or merger in the county of that area differs from that in force in the county, rates shall, subject to the power of the ratepayers to change the system of rating from time to time, be made and levied in the county town on the system of rating that was in force in that area before the addition to or merger in the county of that area, and the provisions of subsections two and three of section four hundred and twenty-four of this Act shall apply as if that system of rating had been adopted in the county town under that section.
418 County town committee
(1)
As soon as practicable after the constitution of a county town, the Council shall appoint a county town committee for that county town for the purpose of advising the Council on any matter relating to the administration of the county town.
(2)
The county town committee shall consist of such number of ratepayers having a qualification in respect of property situated within the county town, being not fewer than three nor more than seven, as the Council decides.
(3)
The Council may, if it thinks fit, appoint the members of the county town committee from a panel of names chosen at a meeting of ratepayers having a qualification in respect of property situated within the county town convened by the Council and held as soon as practicable after the constitution of the county town, and thereafter within three months after each general election of Councillors, and conducted in a manner determined by the Council.
(4)
Every member of the county town committee shall hold office until the Councillors elected at the next general election of the Council held after the date of his appointment come into office, but may at any time be removed from office by the Council for disability, neglect of duty, or misconduct, or he may at any time resign his office by writing addressed to the Council:
Provided that every member of a county town committee who ceases to be a ratepayer having a qualification in respect of property situated in the county town shall thereupon cease to be a member of the committee.
(5)
On the occurrence from any cause of a vacancy in the county town committee, the Council may appoint any other ratepayer having a qualification in respect of property in the county town to fill the vacancy.
(6)
Subject to the provisions of this section, the provisions of Parts V and VI of this Act relating to committees of the Council shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to the county town committee and the members thereof as if the county town committee were a committee of the Council appointed under Part V of this Act.
Compare: 1949, No. 27, s. 7; 1954, No. 35, s. 13(1)(f)
419 Council may invite representative of county town committee to attend Council meetings
(1)
The Council may from time to time authorise a member of any county town committee appointed by that committee to attend meetings of the Council or of any committee of the Council, either generally or in any particular case, and to speak and take part in the discussion on any matter relating particularly to the county town as if he were a Councillor, but with no right to vote.
(2)
The provisions of section one hundred and thirty-six of this Act (relating to the payment of travelling allowances and expenses of Councillors) shall apply with respect to every person authorised to attend meetings of the Council under subsection one of this section as if he were a Councillor.
Development Works
420 Powers of Council as to improvement and development works in county towns
The Council may from time to time construct and maintain such public works as it thinks fit in any county town for the purposes of improving, developing, and maintaining the town as an urban area.
Compare: 1949, No. 27, s. 3; 1954, No. 35, s. 13(1)(b)
421 Advances and grants for development works in county towns
(1)
The Council may from time to time, with the prior approval of the Local Authorities Loans Board, advance out of the County Fund Account all or any part of the money required to meet the expenses incurred in executing any work in a county town under the authority of section four hundred and twenty of this Act.
(2)
Where the Council advances money under subsection one of this section,—
(a)
The cost of the works defrayed out of that money shall be debited to a separate account kept in respect of those works;
(b)
The amount of the cost so debited shall be deemed to represent money advanced out of the County Fund Account for the particular benefit of the ratepayers in the county town; and
(c)
The money so advanced, together with interest (if any), shall be recouped out of the proceeds of any rate made in respect of that work under the authority of section four hundred and twenty-two of this Act or out of the county town general rate made under the authority of section four hundred and twenty-three of this Act.
(3)
The Council may from time to time transfer money from its General Account or from the appropriate Riding Account to a separate account kept in respect of a county town, to meet expenses incurred in executing or maintaining any work in the county town under the authority of section four hundred and twenty of this Act.
Compare: 1949, No. 27, s. 5; 1952, No. 75, s. 11; 1954, No. 35, s. 13(1)(e)
Rates in County Towns
422 Separate improvement and development rates over county towns
(1)
The Council may from time to time, by special order, make and levy a separate improvement and development rate on all rateable property within a county town for the purpose of defraying the expenses incurred in executing any work therein under section four hundred and twenty of this Act; but the total amount of all separate improvement and development rates made for any one year in a county town shall not exceed threepence in the pound on the capital value of the rateable property in the county town or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value.
(2)
From the proceeds of every such separate improvement and development rate there may be deducted such sum as, in the opinion of the Council, is necessary to defray the cost of making and levying the rate and of the supervision and clerical work necessary in connection with the expenditure thereof.
(3)
The amount so deducted shall form part of the ordinary revenue of the county.
(4)
The remainder of the separate improvement and development rate shall be expended wholly within or for the benefit of the county town within which it was levied.
(5)
Every separate improvement and development rate made under the authority of this section shall be made as an annually recurring rate, leviable year by year, without further proceeding on the part of the Council until all money advanced under section four hundred and twenty-one of this Act and all money borrowed and for the time being payable out of the proceeds of the rate are repaid in full, and thereafter until the Council, by special order, declares that the separate rate be discontinued:
Provided that no such rate shall be discontinued while any work which has been commenced and in respect of which the rate has been made and levied remains uncompleted.
(6)
Every separate rate made under the authority of this section shall be appropriately adjusted in the event of any revaluation of the rateable property in the county town effecting an increase or reduction in the rateable value thereof.
(7)
The powers conferred by this section are in addition to and not in substitution for any other powers the Council may have to make and levy general or other rates in respect of the rateable property in any county town, and rates may be made under the authority of this section notwithstanding that those rates, together with any other rates from time to time made by the Council in respect of that property, shall exceed the maximum general or other rates which may be made in any year under the provisions of this Act.
Compare: 1949, No. 27, s. 4; 1954, No. 35, s. 13(1)(c)
423 Differential rating in county towns
(1)
The Council may from time to time, by resolution, declare that the general rate that would otherwise be made and levied on all rateable property within the county or, in any case where the general rate is made and levied separately in each riding of the county, on all rateable property within the riding of which the county town forms part, shall not be made and levied on the rateable property within any specified county town, and that in lieu thereof a county town general rate shall be made and levied under the provisions of this section on all rateable property within the county town, and thereupon the Council shall make and levy a county town general rate (not exceeding the maximum prescribed for the general rate by section one hundred and five of this Act) on all rateable property within the county town:
Provided that, except with the prior consent of the county town committee appointed in respect of that county town, the Council shall not make and levy a county town general rate under the provisions of this section if the total amount that that rate is calculated to produce would exceed the total amount that would be produced from all the rateable property in the county town if the general rate made and levied over all the rateable property in the county, or, as the case may be, in the riding of which the county town forms part, had been made and levied over all the rateable property in the county town.
(2)
The proceeds of any county town general rate made and levied under the provisions of this section shall be credited to the County Town Account kept in respect of that county town, and shall be expended within or for the benefit of that county town:
Provided that there may from time to time be transferred from the County Town Account to the General Account such amount as the Council considers fair and reasonable, having regard to the direct and indirect benefit derived by the county town from the general expenditure of the county:
Provided also that, in the case of a county where the general rate is levied separately in each of its ridings, there may also from time to time be transferred from the County Town Account to the Riding Account of the riding of which the county town forms part such amount as the Council considers fair and reasonable, having regard to the direct or indirect benefit derived by the county town from the expenditure out of the Riding Account.
(3)
The Council may from time to time transfer to any County Town Account from the General Account or from the appropriate Riding Account such sums as it thinks fit to meet the general expenses of the county town.
(4)
Where the Council makes and levies a county town general rate under the provisions of this section,—
(a)
The amount thereof to be expended within or for the benefit of the county town shall be disregarded in estimating the proposed expenditure of the county under the provisions of section one hundred and six of this Act, or in estimating the proposed expenditure of the riding under section one hundred and seven of this Act; and
(b)
The rateable property situated within the county town shall, in any case to which section one hundred and seven of this Act applies, be disregarded in estimating for the purposes of subsection three of that section the rateable value of the property in the riding of which the county town forms part and the rateable value of the property in the county, and, in any case to which that section does not apply, be disregarded in estimating for the purposes of subsection two of section one hundred and six of this Act the rateable value of the property in the county.
Compare: 1949, No. 27, s. 4b; 1956, No. 9, s. 2(1)
424 Ratepayers of county town may determine basis on which rates shall be collected
(1)
The ratepayers within any county town may at any time require the Council to take a poll of the ratepayers within the county town on a proposal to adopt within the county town a system of rating which differs from that in force in the county. In every such case the provisions of the Rating Act 1925 as to adopting proposals and rescinding proposals shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply as if the county town were a district within the meaning of section thirty-nine of that Act.
(2)
Where at any such poll a system of rating is adopted which differs from that in force in the county, then, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act or in the Rating Act 1925, the following provisions shall apply, namely—
(a)
Where any rate is made and levied only on rateable property within the county town, it shall be made and levied on the system of rating adopted at that poll:
(b)
Where any rate is made and levied on all rateable property within the whole county or within a part of the county which includes the county town, the Council shall, instead of levying that rate on rateable property within the county town on the system of rating in force in the county, make and levy on the rateable property within the county town on the system of rating adopted at the poll a rate calculated to produce a total amount equal to the amount that would have been produced from all the rateable property in the county town if it had been levied on the system of rating in force in the county.
(3)
In order to produce a total amount of rates equal to the amount that would have been produced from all the rateable property in the county town if it had been levied on the system of rating in force in the county, the Council may under paragraph (b) of subsection two of this section make and levy within the county town a rate of such amount as may be necessary for the purpose, notwithstanding that it may exceed the maximum rate that may be levied under the provisions of this Act.
(4)
Notwithstanding that under the provisions of this section a system of rating has been adopted in a county town which differs from that in force in the county, the number of votes to which the occupier of any rateable property in the county town is entitled under section fifty-one of this Act shall be determined having regard to the rateable value of the property as appearing on the valuation roll of the county and as if the system of rating in force in the county were also in force in the county town.
Compare: 1949, No. 27, s. 4a; 1952, No. 75, s. 10; 1954, No. 35, s. 13(1)(d); 1956, No. 9, s. 3
Special Orders Under this Part
425 Special orders to be made on petition or after poll of ratepayers
Subject to the provisions of section four hundred and seventeen of this Act, any power conferred on the Council by this Part of this Act to do anything by special order may be exercised by the Council upon a petition signed by a majority of the ratepayers in the county town, or, as the case may be, in the area proposed to be constituted a county town or to be added to or excluded from the county town, or, in the discretion of the Council, may be exercised without any such petition:
Provided that, where the Council proposes to exercise that power without any such petition, a poll of the ratepayers within the county town, or, as the case may be, the area proposed to be constituted a county town or to be added to or excluded from the county town, shall be taken on the proposals where—
(a)
Not less than five per cent of the ratepayers within the county town, or as the case may be, the area proposed to be constituted a county town or to be added to or excluded from the county town, by writing under their hands delivered or sent by post to the Council and received at the offices of the Council not later than the day before the date fixed for the confirmation of the resolution to exercise that power, demand that a poll of the ratepayers in the county town, or, as the case may be, in that area, be taken on the proposal; or
(b)
The Council so resolves,—
and the Council shall not exercise that power unless a majority of the valid votes recorded at the poll are in favour of the proposal.
Compare: 1949, No. 27, ss. 2(2), 4(1), 7, 7a; 1952, No. 75, s. 13; 1954, No. 35, s. 13(1)(g)
Part XXXI Road Districts
Road Districts and Road Boards
426 Existing road districts to be districts under this Part
The Waiheke Road District, constituted under section eleven of the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1919, and the Kenepuru and Croisilles – French Pass Road Districts, constituted under section thirty-five of the Local Legislation Act 1929, are hereby declared to be road districts under this Part of this Act; and the Road Boards thereof under those enactments are hereby declared to be Road Boards under this Part of this Act.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 3(1); 1919, No. 54, s. 11; 1929, No. 21, s. 35; 1939, No. 25, s. 28; 1946, No. 39, s. 22
427 Subdivisions of road districts
(1)
The Board may from time to time, by special order,—
(a)
Divide its district into subdivisions, with such names and boundaries as the Board thinks fit:
(b)
Vary the number of members of the Board for each subdivision:
(c)
Abolish any subdivision:
(d)
Make such alterations as it thinks desirable in boundaries of any subdivisions.
(2)
No such division or alteration shall be made as will infringe the provisions of this Part of this Act as to the number and distribution of members of the Board.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 12
428 Incorporation of road districts
The inhabitants of every road district shall be a body corporate under the name of “The Inhabitants of the [Name of district] Road District,”
and by that name shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, with power for the Board by special order to alter the seal; and shall, for the purposes and subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, be capable of purchasing, holding, disposing of, and alienating real and personal property, and of doing and suffering all such other acts and things as bodies corporate may by law do and suffer.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 25
429 Road Boards
(1)
In every road district there shall be a governing body, consisting of a Board elected as hereinafter mentioned and described as “The [Name of Road District] Road Board”
.
(2)
The body corporate of a road district shall act by the Road Board of the district, and the Board shall exercise all powers vested in the Corporation by this Act or otherwise.
(3)
Every contract, debt, or other liability entered into or incurred and every act or thing done or suffered, by the Board under this or any other Act, shall for all purposes be deemed to be the contract, debt, liability, or act of the Corporation represented by the Board.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 26
430 Members of Boards
(1)
In road districts not divided into subdivisions there shall be not fewer than four nor more than nine members, and in road districts divided into subdivisions there shall be not fewer than four nor more than nine members of the Board and there shall be at least one but not more than three members for each subdivision.
(2)
The Board may, from time to time, by special order, alter, within the limits aforesaid, the number of members to be elected for the road district or any subdivision, as it thinks fit.
(3)
Every such alteration shall come into force only at a general election of the Board, except in so far and to such extent as may be necessary to provide for that election.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, ss. 26, 28
431 Qualification for membership
The provisions of sections thirty-four, thirty-eight to forty-two, and forty-five of this Act (relating to the qualifications, disqualification, vacation of office, and ouster of office of members of County Councils) shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to members of every Road Board, as if—
(a)
References in those sections to a County Council were references to a Road Board;
(b)
References in those sections to Councillors were references to the members of a Road Board;
(c)
References in those sections to a riding were references to a subdivision of a road district; and
(d)
References in those sections to the County Clerk were references to the Clerk of a Road Board.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, ss. 29–31, 35, 36, 58–60
Electors and Elections
432 Qualification of electors, preparation of rolls, and holding of elections and polls
The provisions of sections forty-six to fifty-one of this Act (relating to the qualification and voting rights of county electors), sections fifty-two to fifty-eight and sixty-one to sixty-five of this Act (relating to the preparation of rolls of electors), and section sixty-six of this Act (relating to the holding of elections and the taking of polls) shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to the electors, electoral rolls, and elections and polls of road districts, as if—
(a)
References in those sections to a county were references to a road district;
(b)
References in those sections to a riding, in the case of a road district that is not subdivided, were references to the road district and, in the case of a road district that is subdivided, were references to a subdivision of the road district;
(c)
References in those sections to a County Council were references to a Road Board;
(d)
References in those sections to Councillors were references to the members of a Road Board; and
(e)
References in those sections to the County Clerk were references to the Clerk of a Road Board.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, ss. 27, 27a, 38–43, 45, 46; 1953, No. 16, s. 102
Chairman of the Road Board
433 Chairman of the Road Board
(1)
The provisions of Part IV of this Act (relating to the Chairman of a county), except section sixty-nine, shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to the Chairman of a Road Board as if—
(a)
References in that Part to a county were references to a road district;
(b)
References in that Part to a County Council were references to a Road Board; and
(c)
References in that Part to a County Clerk were references to the Clerk of a Road Board.
(2)
The Chairman may hold the office of Treasurer or Clerk, or both, and where there is no Clerk the Chairman shall have and may exercise all the powers, and discharge all the duties and functions, by this or any other Act vested in or imposed upon the Clerk of the Board.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, ss. 50–55
Committees and Proceedings
434 Appointment and powers of committees, and proceedings of Board and committees
The provisions of Part V of this Act (relating to the appointment of committees of County Councils and the powers of those committees) and of Part VI of this Act (relating to the proceedings of County Councils and their committees) shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to Road Boards as if—
(a)
References in those Parts to a county were references to a road district;
(b)
References in those Parts to a County Council were references to a Road Board;
(c)
References in those Parts to Councillors were references to the members of a Road Board;
(d)
References in those Parts to the County Clerk were references to the Clerk of a Road Board; and
(e)
References in section eighty-eight to a riding were, in the case of a subdivided road district, references to a subdivision of the road district.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, ss. 61–78, 81–83
Officers
435 Appointment of officers
The provisions of Part VII of this Act (relating to the appointment of officers by County Councils) shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to officers of Road Boards as if—
(a)
References in that Part to a County Council were references to a Road Board; and
(b)
References in that Part to the County Clerk were references to the Clerk of a Road Board.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 56
The Road Board Fund
436 Road Board Fund
(1)
There shall be for every road district a fund to be termed “the Road Board Fund”
.
(2)
The provisions of Part VIII of this Act (relating to the County Fund), except sections ninety-seven and ninety-eight, and of Part XI of this Act (relating to the accounts of County Councils) shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to road districts as if—
(a)
References in those Parts to a county were references to a road district;
(b)
References in those Parts to a County Council were references to a Road Board;
(c)
References in those Parts to Councillors were references to the members of a Road Board;
(d)
References in those Parts to the County Fund were references to the Road Board Fund; and
(e)
References in that Part to the County Clerk were references to the Clerk of a Road Board.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, ss. 84–105
General Powers and Duties of Road Boards
437 General powers and duties of Road Boards
The provisions of Parts IX, X, XII to XV, and XVII to XXIX of this Act shall, as far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply with respect to road districts and the Road Boards thereof as if—
(a)
References in those Parts to a county were references to a road district;
(b)
References in those Parts to a County Council were references to a Road Board;
(c)
References in those Parts to Councillors were references to the members of a Road Board;
(d)
References in those Parts to a County Clerk were references to the Clerk of a Road Board;
(e)
References in those Parts to a riding, in the case of a road district that is not subdivided, were references to the road district and, in the case of a road district that is subdivided, were references to a subdivision of the road district; and
(f)
References in Part XV to county roads were references to district roads.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, ss. 107–162, 165–167, 170; 1914, No. 43, s. 2
Part XXXII Miscellaneous Provisions
438 Special provisions as to petitions
With respect to petitions presented to the Governor-General under this Act, or to a County Council or Road Board under this Act or any other Act, the following provisions, in addition to any other provisions applicable thereto, shall apply:
(a)
Every such petition shall be dated as of the date on which the first signature is affixed thereto:
(b)
No action on any petition shall be taken unless it is received by the Minister on behalf of the Governor-General, or by the Council or Board, as the case may be, within twelve months after the date thereof:
(c)
Except in cases where it is otherwise specially provided, every petition shall be signed by at least three-fifths of the electors of the county or riding or road district or subdivision or other area to which the petition relates:
(d)
Where a petition is required to be signed by not less than a specified number of electors, or not less than a specified proportional part of all the electors of the county or road district or any portion thereof, the number of votes to which each elector is entitled may be set after his name in the petition, and the number of signatures thereto shall be deemed to be the total number of those votes, or the proportional part of all the votes on the county electors roll or the roll of electors of the road district, as the case may be, or on so much of the roll as relates to the aforesaid portion of the county or road district:
(e)
The signatures to every petition shall be verified by declaration in the following form:
“I, A. B., of , hereby declare that the signatures affixed to the above petition, initialed by me [or which I have marked (describing the mark)], are the genuine signatures of the persons whose signatures they purport to be, and that those persons are electors of the [Name of county or road district].
“A. B.”:
(f)
No person shall be capable of withdrawing his signature from the petition after it has been received by the Minister or by the Council or Board, and any act purporting to withdraw any such signature shall be null and void.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, ss. 21–24, 168; 1920, No. 47, ss. 3–5; 1927, No. 22, ss. 2, 3; 1929, No. 25, s. 4
439 Authentication of documents
Every order, notice, or other such document requiring authentication by any County Council or Road Board may, unless otherwise provided, be signed by any two members of the Council or Board or by the County Clerk or Clerk of the Board, as the case may be, and need not be under seal.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 164; 1920, No. 47, s. 105
440 Service of notices, etc.
(1)
In any case in which it is provided by this Act that an order may be made upon or notice given to any person requiring him to do or abstain from doing anything, or any notice is required by this Act to be given or sent to any person, the order or notice shall be delivered to that person, and may be delivered to him either personally or by sending the same to the last known place of abode or business of that person by messenger or by post.
(2)
If that person is absent from New Zealand, the order or notice may be sent to his agent instead of to that person in any manner mentioned in subsection one of this section.
(3)
If that person is not known, or is absent from New Zealand and has no known agent in New Zealand, and the order or notice relates to any land or building, the order or notice, addressed to the owner or occupier of the land or building, as the case may require, may be served on the occupier thereof, or left with some inmate of his abode; or, if there is no occupier, may be put up on some conspicuous part of the land or building. It shall not be necessary in any such notice to name the occupier or owner of the land or building.
(4)
A notice required to be sent to a County Council or Road Board shall be sent to the public office of the Council or Board.
(5)
Every order or notice required to be sent by a County Council or Road Board shall be signed as provided in section four hundred and thirty-nine of this Act.
(6)
Where an order or notice is sent by post it must be sent so as to arrive in the due course of post on or before the latest time on which the order or notice is required to be served.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 163; 1920, No. 47, s. 104
441 Resignations from office
Any person may resign any office held by him under this Act, but every such resignation must be in writing signed by the person resigning and delivered to the Chairman of the county or Road Board or to the County Clerk or the Clerk of the Road Board, as the case may be.
442 Chairman compellable to give information
(1)
The Chairman of the county or Road Board shall be compelled to give all information required of him by or on behalf of the County Council or Road Board, as the case may be, on any matter requisite to enable the Council or Board to carry into effect any of the provisions of this Act, and to produce all books, papers, and documents belonging to the Council or Board which relate to any such matter, to any person authorised by the Council or Board to apply for the same.
(2)
If the Chairman refuses or neglects to give any such information when called upon to do so, or to produce all or any such books, papers, or documents as aforesaid, he shall be personally liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every such refusal or neglect.
(3)
The term “Chairman”
in this section includes the acting Chairman for the time being, and also the person having the control over the books, papers, and documents belonging to the Council or Board.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 212
443 Special powers of Governor-General in relation to counties and road districts
The Governor-General may from time to time—
(a)
Make temporary appointments of Chairmen and of members of County Councils or Road Boards and officers:
(b)
Direct the preparation of any valuation roll, electors roll, and other rolls, and of any rate books and other documents:
(c)
Provide for the holding of any first election and first meeting of any County Council or new elections of any County Council or Road Board:
(d)
Make any adjustments of representation:
(e)
Provide for the making and collection of any rates:
(f)
Do any act for more effectually carrying out the provisions of this Act, either generally or in any particular case.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 73
444 In certain cases Governor-General may validate proceedings or may extend time for doing anything
Where anything is omitted to be done or cannot be done at the time required by or under this Act, or is done after that time, or is otherwise irregularly done in matter of form, or sufficient provision is not made by or under this Act, the Governor-General may, by Order in Council gazetted, at any time before or after the time within which that thing is required to be done, extend the time, or may validate anything so done after the time required or so irregularly done in matter of form, or make other provisions for the case as he thinks fit.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 171; 1920, No. 47, s. 216
445 Governor-General may settle disputes in certain cases
If any dispute arises between any County Council or Road Board and any other local authority, or between any County Council or Road Board and any other persons or body, as to the right to receive rates, or as to the possession, care, or control of any bridge, road, or any other property, the Governor-General shall decide the dispute after such inquiry as he thinks fit to make, and in such manner as he thinks fit, and his decision shall be final.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 172; 1920, No. 47, s. 215
446 Misnomer, etc., not to prevent operation of Act
No misnomer or inaccurate description contained in this Act, or in any Proclamation or Order in Council made hereunder, shall in any way prevent or abridge the operation of this Act with respect to the subject of that description, provided the same is so designated as to be understood.
Compare: 1908, No. 166, s. 173; 1920, No. 47, s. 217
447 Loss or destruction of records, etc.
Where any rate book, valuation roll or list, electors roll, or any other book or document of any sort belonging to the Corporation or to the County Council or Road Board, as the case may be, is destroyed or lost and the same is necessary for immediate use, but no copy thereof is extant for that purpose, the Governor-General may do all such acts and things as he thinks best for repairing the loss, and for providing for making a new book, roll, list, or document in place of that which was destroyed or lost as aforesaid; and, by Order in Council gazetted, may validate any book, roll, list, or other document so made, and may define the time during which the same respectively shall remain in force.
448 District Land Registrar to issue title in favour of Corporation
Where land subject to the provisions of the Land Transfer Act 1952 is expressed to be transferred under the provisions of this Act to the Corporation, the District Land Registrar shall, upon the request of the County Council or Road Board, as the case may be, cause the Corporation to be registered as the registered proprietor of the land.
449 Regulations
(1)
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 giving effect to the provisions of this Act and for the due administration thereof.
(2)
Without limiting the general power to make regulations conferred by this section, regulations may be made under this section—
(a)
For facilitating proof of any document or matter:
(b)
For extending periods of time and curing irregularities:
(c)
For the substitution of new for lost or destroyed documents:
(d)
Prescribing forms and fees:
(e)
Prescribing fines, not exceeding ten pounds, for any breach of the regulations.
(3)
Regulations under this section may be of general application or may refer to certain classes of cases, or to any particular cases, as the Governor-General thinks fit.
(4)
All regulations made under this Act 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.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 218
450 In case of default made by Council or Board the Governor-General may make provision for giving effect to Act
(1)
If in the opinion of the Governor-General any County Council or Road Board wilfully refuses to act in the performance or exercise of the duties or powers respectively reposed and vested in it by or under this Act, or in the like opinion substantially so refuses to act, the Governor-General may make such provision as he thinks fit for the due performance and exercise of those duties and powers either by himself or any other person.
(2)
In particular, and without limiting the generality of the powers conferred by subsection one of this section, the Governor-General shall have and may exercise all the powers of the Council or Board to make, levy, and recover rates within the county or road district, and to expend the same.
451 Act not to affect property of the Crown
(1)
Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, nothing in this Act or in any regulations or bylaws under this Act shall be construed to apply to or shall in any way affect the interest of Her Majesty in any property of any kind belonging to or vested in Her Majesty.
(2)
Except as provided in subsection one of this section, this Act and the regulations and bylaws thereunder shall apply to the interest of any lessee, licensee, or other person claiming an interest in any property of the Crown in the same manner as they apply to private property.
Compare: 1920, No. 47, s. 219
452 Consequential amendments
The enactments specified in the Sixth Schedule to this Act are hereby amended in the manner indicated in that Schedule.
453 Repeals and savings
(1)
The enactments specified in the Seventh Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed.
(2)
Without limiting the provisions of the Acts Interpretation Act 1924, it is hereby declared that the repeal of any provision by this Act shall not affect any document made or any thing whatsoever done under the provision so repealed or under any corresponding former provision, and every such document or thing, so far as it is subsisting or in force at the time of the repeal and could have been made or done under this Act, shall continue and have effect as if it had been made or done under the corresponding provision of this Act, and as if that provision had been in force when the document was made or the thing was done.
(3)
With respect to the enactments repealed by this Act, the following provisions shall apply:
(a)
The Corporation of each county or road district as subsisting at the commencement of this Act shall be the same Corporation under this Act, and, subject to the provisions of this Act, shall continue to have its existing name and common seal, and shall retain its property and liabilities and powers, and all existing contracts and engagements of the Corporation shall be enforceable by and against it:
(b)
The Corporation, or the Council or Board thereof, shall continue to have control over all public reserves, domains, cemeteries, crematoria, public buildings, and other property previously controlled by it or its Council or Board:
(c)
All Chairmen and members of any County Council or Road Board in office in each county or road district at the commencement of this Act shall remain in office until their respective successors are elected under this Act and come into office:
(d)
Until the first election of members of any County Council or Road Board under this Act, the number of members fixed by any law in force immediately before the commencement of this Act for each such county or road district, and the ridings and subdivisions thereof respectively, shall remain unaltered:
(e)
All roads lawfully existing in any county or road district at the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to be the same roads under this Act:
(f)
Nothing in Part XVII or Part XVIII of this Act shall derogate from any powers conferred on any County Council by any Order in Council under section one-hundred and eighty-two of the Counties Act 1920 or the corresponding provisions of any former Act.
(4)
Without limiting the provisions of the Acts Interpretation Act 1924, it is hereby declared that the repeal of section thirteen of the Counties Amendment Act 1954 shall not affect the amendments made by subsections two and three of that section.
SCHEDULES
Schedule FIRST SCHEDULE Declaration by Councillor
Section 41
I, A. B., hereby declare that I will faithfully and impartially, and according to the best of my skill and judgment, execute the powers and authorities vested in me as a Councillor of [Stating the name of county] by virtue of the Counties Act 1956.
Dated at , this day of 19 .
A.B.
Signed in the presence of the Council, and of—
C. D., Chairman or Councillor.
E. F., County Clerk.
Schedule SECOND SCHEDULE
Section 167
Tenders
1.
There shall be no obligation to accept the lowest or any tender.
Contracts
2.
The contractor shall not assign or make over his contract to any person without the previous consent in writing of the Council.
3.
The contractor shall not make a subcontract with any workman or other person for the execution of any part of the work appertaining to the contract, but shall (except as hereinafter provided) employ his own workmen therefor and pay them in wages:
Provided that the Council shall have power to permit the contractor to sublet such special portions of the work as in the opinion of the Council could not be produced or executed by the contractor in the ordinary course of his business.
4.
No subcontract shall operate to relieve the original contractor from any of his liabilities or obligations under the original contract or this Act, but he shall be responsible for all the acts, defaults, and neglects of the subcontractor as fully as if they were his own.
5.
Without in any way limiting the operation of clause 4 of this Schedule, it is hereby declared—
(a)
That all the stipulations, obligations, conditions, and liabilities by this Act or the contract imposed upon a contractor shall, in the case of a subcontract, be deemed to be imposed upon the subcontractor, and may be enforced by the Council against the subcontractor accordingly:
(b)
That in every subcontract there shall be implied a covenant by the subcontractor with the original contractor that the subcontractor will carry out his subcontract subject to and in accordance with the stipulations and conditions of the original contract and this Act.
6.
Every contractor shall, at the time of signing the contract, enter into a bond with a sufficient penalty, and (if required) with sufficient sureties, for the due fulfilment of his contract according to the terms thereof and the provisions of this Act; and that penalty shall, in case of default, be recoverable as liquidated damages in any Court of competent jurisdiction:
Provided that it shall not be obligatory upon the Council to take a bond where the contract price does not exceed £500 or, in the case of any contract for the supply of plant or material, where payment is not due until delivery has been made in accordance with the specification.
7.
The provisions of clauses 2 to 6 of this Schedule shall apply to all contracts, whether entered into pursuant to tender or not.
Schedule THIRD SCHEDULE Conditions of Fixing Levels of Roads
Section 202
1.
The Council shall publish in the county a notice of its intention to fix the level, describing therein the road by name and situation, and the proposed level thereof, by reference to plans to be open for inspection at a place named in the notice.
2.
The Council shall in the notice appoint a day, not being less than one month after the publication of the notice, at which it will hear all objections to the proposed level by persons affected thereby.
3.
All such objections must be in writing, addressed to and sent to the Council not less than ten days before the day of meeting next mentioned.
4.
The Council shall hold a meeting on the day so notified at which all persons having so made objections shall be entitled to be heard in support thereof.
5.
At that meeting the Council may, after considering all such objections, resolve to abandon the proposed level, or to adopt it with any alterations it thinks fit.
6.
The Council shall publicly notify the level so fixed, and shall in the notice refer to a plan to be deposited at the office of the Council, and to be open for inspection.
Schedule FOURTH SCHEDULE Exemptions from Tolls on Bridges and Ferries
Section 215
1.
The Governor-General and every person in attendance on the Governor-General.
2.
Every member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces when on duty, or going to or returning from parade, and in uniform.
3.
Every constable on duty, and every prisoner in his custody.
4.
All passengers by any public conveyance; but this exception shall not apply to those passengers at any ferry at which tolls are lawfully taken from foot passengers.
5.
Every child going to or from school.
6.
All cattle, the property of any person residing within one mile of a toll gate, going to or from water or feed.
7.
Every animal and vehicle employed solely in drawing fertilisers.
8.
Every person or vehicle, and all cattle, in respect of whom or which toll has been paid at the same toll gate at any time since the midnight previous.
Schedule FIFTH SCHEDULE Conditions as to Use of Buildings for Public Meetings, and for the Other Purposes Specified in Section 326 of this Act
Sections 288, 325, 326, 328, 330, 332, 334
1.
The owner or occupier of the building shall apply in writing to the Council for a licence, stating the situation and description of the building, the names of the owner and occupier, and the purpose for which it is to be used.
2.
The building shall be inspected by the Engineer, or by the Inspector of Buildings, or by some person appointed by the Council in that behalf, and by the Chief Fire Officer in the case of any part of a county that is included in the district of an Urban Fire Authority, and, if satisfied upon their reports—
(a)
That the building is secure and suitable for the purpose proposed;
(b)
That it has sufficient means of ventilation and of ingress and egress;
(c)
That sufficient sanitary conveniences are provided for the use of the public;
(d)
That the building is provided with such safeguards against fire and means of escape in case of fire as are required by bylaws of the Council or of the Urban Fire Authority of the district, as the case may be, applying to the building, or, where no such bylaws have been made, that the building is provided with safeguards against fire and means of escape in case of fire to the satisfaction of the proper officer;
(e)
That the owner or occupier of the building has provided such measures for evacuation from the building, panic and fire prevention, and the protection of the public from danger from fire or other emergency as are required by bylaws of the Council, or, where no such bylaws have been made, that the owner or occupier has made provision for such matters to the satisfaction of the proper officer; and
(f)
Where the neighbourhood of the building is supplied with water by means of waterworks, that a sufficient supply of water is laid on and proper appliances are provided for promptly using the same in case of fire,—
the Council shall issue to the applicant a licence, under the hand of the County Clerk, for a period not exceeding one year, to use the building for the purpose stated in the application; and the building may be used accordingly. For the purposes of paragraphs (d) and (e) of this clause the proper officer shall be such person as the Council appoints in that behalf, in the case of any part of a county that is not included in the district of an Urban Fire Authority, and shall be the Chief Fire Officer or such other person as the Urban Fire Authority appoints in that behalf, in the case of any part of a county that is included in the district of an Urban Fire Authority.
3.
The Council may attach to the licence any conditions as to the provision at public entertainments, by and at the cost of the licensee, of duly qualified firemen and the use in the building of any means of producing light or heat, or otherwise for the safety of persons assembled in the building, and may refuse to issue any licence until the fee thereon fixed by any bylaw is duly paid:
Provided that in the case of a building that is to be used as a theatre or music hall, or for the exhibition of cinematograph film to the public, the Council shall, if the proper officer within the meaning of clause 2 hereof so recommends, attach conditions for the provision of firemen qualified to the satisfaction of the proper officer.
4.
Any applicant who is refused a licence or who is aggrieved at any condition attached to a licence may appeal to a Magistrate’s Court for redress, and the Court shall have power to make such order as it thinks fit.
Schedule SIXTH SCHEDULE Enactments Amended
Sections 452
| Title of Act | Nature of Amendment | |
|---|---|---|
|
1927, No. 35— The Police Offences Act 1927 (1931 Reprint, Vol. II, p. 511) |
By repealing subsection (1a) of section 18 (as inserted by section 3(1) of the Police Offences Amendment Act 1952), and substituting the following subsection: “(1a) Nothing in subsection one of this section shall apply to any concert or entertainment held or given with the previous consent of any Borough Council or Town Council or County Council or Road Board, and in compliance with such conditions as it may impose pursuant to section three hundred and ten of the Municipal Corporations Act 1954 or, as the case may be, section three hundred and twenty-seven of the Counties Act 1956.” |
|
|
1932, No. 20— The Urban Farm Land Rating Act 1932 |
By omitting from section 29 the words “road districts situated in the Eden County”, and substituting the words “the Waiheke Road District”. |
|
|
1949, No. 18— The Fire Services Act 1949 |
By adding to subsection (1) of section 83 the words “or under section three hundred and twenty-six of the Counties Act 1956”. |
|
|
1949, No. 39— The Finance Act 1949 |
By adding to the definition of the term “local authority”in subsection (1) of section 14 the words “or a County Council or a Road Board”. |
|
|
1953, No. 16— The Local Elections and Polls Act 1953 |
By omitting from subsection (2) of section 6 the words “paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) or paragraph (d) of section sixty-nine of the Counties Act 1920”, and substituting the words “section forty-three of the Counties Act 1956”. |
Schedule SEVENTH SCHEDULE Enactments Repealed
Section 453(1)
1908, No. 166—
The Road Boards Act 1908. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 281.)
1912, No. 46—
The Reserves and other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1912: Section 78. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 250.)
1914, No. 43—
The Road Boards Amendment Act 1914. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 331.)
1917, No. 28—
The Statute Law Amendment Act 1917: Section 18. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 331.)
1919, No. 54—
The Reserves and other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1919: Section 11.
1920, No. 47—
The Counties Act 1920. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 180.)
1920, No. 75—
The Reserves and other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1920: Section 86.
1921–22, No. 24—
The Counties Amendment Act 1921–22. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 267.)
1921–22, No. 66—
The Road Boards Amendment Act 1921–22. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 332.)
1922, No. 51—
The Finance Act 1922: Sections 29 and 30. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 268.)
1924, No. 55—
The Reserves and other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1924: Section 12.
1925, No. 30—
The Rating Act 1925: Section 85. (1931 Reprint, Vol. VII, p. 1011.)
1925, No. 49—
The Counties Amendment Act 1925. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 269.)
1927, No. 22—
The Counties Amendment Act 1927. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 274.)
1927, No. 74—
The Finance Act 1927 (No. 2): Section 28. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 278.)
1929, No. 21—
The Local Legislation Act 1929: Section 35.
1929, No. 25—
The Counties Amendment Act 1929. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 279.)
1931, No. 36—
The Counties Amendment Act 1931. (1931 Reprint, Vol. V, p. 280.)
1932, No. 30—
The Finance Act 1932 (No. 2): Section 28.
1933, No. 41—
The Finance Act 1933 (No. 2): Section 48.
1934, No. 24—
The Counties Amendment Act 1934.
1934–35, No. 43—
The Local Elections and Polls Amendment Act 1934–35: So much of the Schedule as relates to the Road Boards Act 1908 or to the Local Legislation Act 1929.
1936, No. 58—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1936: Section 20.
1937, No. 17—
The Finance Act 1937: Section 43.
1938, No. 20—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1938: Sections 6 and 7.
1939, No. 25—
The Local Legislation Act 1939: Section 28.
1941, No. 26—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1941: Section 8.
1943, No. 20—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1943: Sections 6 and 7.
1944, No. 25—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1944: Section 11.
1946, No. 2—
The Nassella Tussock Act 1946: Section 4.
1946, No. 27—
The Local Elections and Polls Amendment Act 1946: So much of the First Schedule as relates to the Counties Act 1920.
1946, No. 39—
The Local Legislation Act 1946: Section 22.
1946, No. 40—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1946: Sections 18 and 19.
1947, No. 60—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1947: Sections 9 and 12.
1948, No. 77—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1948: Sections 6 and 7.
1949, No. 7—
The Transport Act 1949: Subsection (7) of section 169.
1949, No. 18—
The Fire Services Act 1949: So much of the Fifth Schedule as relates to the Counties Act 1920.
1949, No. 27—
The Counties Amendment Act 1949.
1951, No. 79—
The Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951: So much of the Second Schedule as relates to the Counties Amendment Act 1927.
1951, No. 81—
The Statutes Amendment Act 1951: Sections 3 to 6.
1952, No. 40—
The Police Offences Amendment Act 1952: Subsection (1) of section 3.
1952, No. 41—
The Summary Jurisdiction Act 1952: So much of Part II of the First Schedule as relates to the Counties Act 1920.
1952, No. 75—
The Counties Amendment Act 1952.
1952, No. 81—
The Finance Act (No. 2) 1952: Section 21.
1952, No. 15 (Local)—
The Western Waiheke Road Board Empowering Act 1952: Sections 5 to 7.
1953, No. 16—
The Local Elections and Polls Act 1953: So much of the Fourth Schedule as relates to the Road Boards Act 1908 or to the Counties Act 1920.
1954, No. 35—
The Counties Amendment Act 1954.
1954, No. 76—
The Municipal Corporations Act 1954: Subsection (7) of section 413.
1955, No. 66—
The Counties Amendment Act 1955.
1956, No. 9—
The Counties Amendment Act 1956.
"Related Legislation
"Related Legislation
"Related Legislation
Versions
Counties Act 1956
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