America's Cup Road Stopping Bill
America's Cup Road Stopping Bill
America's Cup Road Stopping Bill
America’s Cup Road Stopping Bill
Government Bill
73—2
As reported from the Environment Committee
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Hon David Parker
America’s Cup Road Stopping Bill
Government Bill
73—2
Contents
The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows:
1 Title
This Act is the America’s Cup Road Stopping Act 2018.
2 Commencement
This Act comes into force on 1 November 2018.
3 Purpose
The main purpose of this Act is to remove the road status from part of Brigham Street, in Wynyard Point in Auckland, so that the land can be used for construction relating to, and the operation of, the 36th America’s Cup.
4 Interpretation
In this Act,—
36th America’s Cup means—
(a)
the operation of the 36th America’s Cup; and
(b)
any construction or other matter relating to the 36th America’s Cup, whether before, during, or after the event
Registrar-General means the Registrar defined by section 5(1) of the Land Transfer Act 2017
stopped road means the area of land that has ceased to be road under section 7(1).
5 Transitional, savings, and related provisions
The transitional, savings, and related provisions set out in Schedule 1 have effect according to their terms.
6 Act binds the Crown
This Act binds the Crown.
7 Road stopped
(1)
The road shown as Section 1 on SO 524347 is stopped.
(2)
Section 345 of the Local Government Act 1974 does not apply to the stopping of the road or to the stopped road.
(3)
To avoid doubt, the stopped road remains continues to be owned by Auckland Council.
(3A)
The use of the stopped road for the 36th America’s Cup is a public work for the purposes of the Public Works Act 1981 where the use is by, or under the control of, the Crown or any local authority as defined by that Act.
(3B)
In addition, section 40 of the Public Works Act 1981 does not apply to the stopped road while Auckland Council continues to own it after it is stopped.
(4)
See Schedule 2 for a map showing the area of the stopped road, but the map is merely indicative and has no legal effect.
8 Record of title for stopped road
(1)
Auckland Council, as the owner, may apply in writing to the Registrar-General for a record of title for the stopped road.
(2)
The Registrar-General must, as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving the application and in accordance with the application,—
(a)
create a record of title for the fee simple estate in the stopped road in the name of Auckland Council; and
(b)
record on the record of title any interests that are registered, noted, or to be noted and that are described in the application.
9 Repeal of this Act
This Act is repealed 12 months after its commencement.
Schedule 1 Transitional, savings, and related provisions
s 5
Part 1 Provisions relating to this Act as enacted
1 Continued effect of certain provisions
Section 7(2), (3A), and (3B) continues to have effect despite the repeal of this Act.
2 References relating to Land Transfer Act 2017
In this Act, until the Land Transfer Act 1952 is repealed by the Land Transfer Act 2017,—
(a)
a reference to a record of title is a reference to a computer freehold register under the Land Transfer Act 1952:
(b)
a reference to an owner is a reference to a proprietor under the Land Transfer Act 1952:
(c)
a reference to a provision in the Land Transfer Act 2017 is a reference to the provision in the Land Transfer Act 1952 that is replaced by, or corresponds to, that provision in the Land Transfer Act 2017.
Schedule 2 Indicative map of stopped road
s 7
Legislative history
2 July 2018 |
Introduction (Bill 73–1) |
|
5 July 2018 |
First reading and referral to Environment Committee |
1 Section 40 of the Public Works Act requires land that is no longer required for a public work to be offered for sale to the former owner or their successor.
Commentary
Recommendation
The Environment Committee has examined the America’s Cup Road Stopping Bill and recommends that it be passed with the amendments shown.
Introduction
The America’s Cup Road Stopping Bill seeks to permanently close a portion of road in Auckland to enable the construction and operation of the 36th America’s Cup. The race is set for March 2021, but construction needs to begin by November 2018, which would not be possible without legislative action. The affected portion of road amounts to 0.322 hectares of waterfront land on Brigham Street at Wynyard Point, owned by Auckland Council.
Proposed amendments
This commentary covers the main amendments we recommend to the bill as introduced. We do not discuss minor or technical amendments.
Providing for the application of the Public Works Act
We understand the intention is that section 40 of the Public Works Act 1981 would not apply to the stopped road, as is normal for a road stoppage by a territorial local authority.1 We recommend inserting subclauses (3A) and (3B) into clause 7 to provide for this intention. These subclauses would specify that the use of the stopped road for the 36th America’s Cup would be a public work under the Public Works Act. They would also state that section 40 of the Public Works Act would not apply to the stopped road while ownership of the land remains with Auckland Council.
We also recommend inserting clause 1 into Schedule 1 to ensure that the relevant provisions in clause 7 would continue to apply even after the bill had repealed itself. The relevant clauses are 7(2), 7(3A), and 7(3B) which relate to the operation of other legislation.
Wider issue for future consideration
We note that this bill is not the first legislation used to bypass normal processes in order to speed up progress on a project of national importance. The National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Act 2012 is another example.
However, we do not see it as desirable to resort to legislation whenever usual processes are not able to meet desired outcomes. We note that this issue has also been raised by the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee. We would like to see further consideration given to this issue.
Appendix
Committee process
The America’s Cup Road Stopping Bill was referred to the committee on 5 July 2018. The closing date for submissions was 23 July 2018. We received and considered three submissions from interested groups and individuals.
We received advice from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Committee membership
Deborah Russell (Chairperson)
Sarah Dowie
Jenny Marcroft
Todd Muller
Hon Scott Simpson
Erica Stanford
Chlöe Swarbrick
Angie Warren-Clark
Poto Williams