The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Auckland Waste Lands Act 1867.”

The Acts specified in the first Schedule to this Act annexed and all proclamations relating thereto respectively are hereby repealed provided that nothing in this Act contained except where otherwise expressly provided shall affect any contract promise or engagement made with or by and on behalf of Her Majesty previously to the coming into operation hereof and then incomplete or unfulfilled and nothing in this Act shall be deemed to affect any licenses or leases for the occupation of Waste Lands for depasturing or other purposes granted or issued under any former Acts Ordinances or Regulations and existing and being in force at the time of the coming into operation of this Act or during the terms or currency of such licenses or leases the Waste Lands held thereunder or the rights of the holders thereof except when otherwise expressly provided but such licenses or leases and the right of the holders thereof and the Waste Lands held thereunder shall be and continue to be during the terms and currency of such licenses and leases except as aforesaid regulated by and subject to the Acts Ordinances and Regulations to which the same were subject at the time of the coming into operation of this Act notwithstanding the repeal of such Acts Ordinances or Regulations respectively.

Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to repeal alter or in any way affect the provisions of “The Crown Lands Act 1862.”

In the construction of this Act the term “Waste Lands” shall mean all such lands within the Province of Auckland as are already or hereafter may be subject to the disposal of the Government thereof.

All Waste Lands shall from and after the day on which this Act shall come into operation be sold let and disposed of as in this Act provided and not otherwise Provided always that nothing in this Act contained shall be held to repeal or interfere with the provisions of “The Bay of Islands Settlement Act 1858.”

For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act there shall be a Waste Lands Commissioner (hereinafter called “the Commissioner”) who shall be appointed and be removable by the Superintendent with the advice and consent of his Executive Council.

It shall be lawful for the Superintendent from time to time to appoint one or more fit and proper persons to act as deputy for the Commissioner at any place within the Province and the person so appointed shall have the same powers and authority as the Commissioner and all acts done by such deputy shall be as valid as if done by the Commissioner.

The Superintendent shall from time to time divide such portions of the Waste Lands as are about to be offered for sale into the following or such of the said classes as he shall think fit viz.—

Town lands

Suburban lands

General country lands

Land for special settlement

and may from time to time vary alter and annul such division and make a new division thereof.

No town or suburban land shall be offered for sale or disposed of by auction or otherwise until it shall have been properly surveyed and marked off on the ground and a map thereof deposited as a record in the office (hereinafter called “the Land Office”) of the Commissioner.

All reserves streets roads sections and allotments and other divisions of town and surburban land shall be so marked off on the ground and distinguished on the map thereof by numbers or otherwise as to be easily identified.

Reserves for the uses of the Provincial Government and for other public purposes may upon the recommendation of the Provincial Council be made by the Superintendent and shall not be alienated from the specific purposes to which they shall have been severally dedicated except under the provisions of an Act of the General Assembly intituled “The Public Reserves Act 1854” and a full and complete description of every such reserve and of the purposes to which it shall have been dedicated shall so soon as possible after it shall have been made be published in the Government Gazette of the Province and set forth on the authenticated maps in the Land Office Provided that the Superintendent may if the Provincial Council be not then sitting temporarily reserve land for such purposes until the next session of such Council.

Reserves for public highways bridlepaths and footpaths shall be made by the Superintendent and shall be set forth on the authenticated maps of the Land Office The Superintendent and the Provincial Council may by Ordinance alter the line of any such highways bridlepaths and footpaths and dispose of the land theretofore used for the same.

In every town or village set apart there shall be at least ten allotments containing as nearly as may be one half of an acre each reserved in the most eligible situation as sites for places of worship and as soon as any allotments in such town or village have been declared open for sale the Superintendent shall by notification in the Provincial Government Gazette invite the representatives of the several religious bodies recognized as having officiating Ministers residing within the Province coming within the provisions of “The Marriage Act” who may wish to obtain sites for places of worship to make to the Commissioner on or before a day to be named written application for one of such allotments and at noon of the Monday following the day appointed for such application the priority of the right of selection shall he decided by lot by the Commissioner in the presence of the parties applying or their representatives if any shall attend. Provided always that such application shall be made within six months from the date of reservation and that if no such application be made the reserve shall be dealt with as if no reserve had been made.

All such reserved lands with the exception of such as shall be reserved as sites of towns and villages may upon the request of the Superintendent be granted by the Governor to any body coporate or to any person or persons gratuitously to be held in trust for the public uses for which the same were reserved and no other.

Town lands and suburban lands excepting such as shall be reserved for public purposes or for any purpose in this Act specified shall be offered for sale by public auction at an upset price to be fixed by the said Superintendent with the advice and consent of the Executive Council.

The Superintendent shall from time to time notify in the Government Gazette of the Province of Auckland and in such newspapers in the Colony of New Zealand or elsewhere as to him shall seem meet what lands are to be sold at such public sales and the upset prices thereof respectively and such lands shall not be so offered for sale until at least one calendar month shall have elapsed after the first publication of each notification.

Such public sales shall be held and conducted by such person at such times and in such places within the said Province as the Superintendent shall by notification in the Government Gazette for the Province of Auckland from time to time nominate and appoint.

The purchase money of each allotment of land sold at such sale shall be paid by the purchaser thereof or his agent to a Receiver of Land Revenue as follows namely one-fourth of the price thereof at the time of sale by way of deposit and the remaining three-fourths at any time within one calendar month after the sale In the event of the second payment not being made to such Receiver within the said period of one calendar month the sale shall be void and the deposit forfeited.

It shall be lawful for any person within twelve calendar months after any such auction to purchase any land in respect of which the deposit shall have been forfeited as aforesaid by paying for the same in cash the sum for which such land was knocked down at the auction.

It shall be lawful for any person within twelve calendar months after any auction to become the purchaser by private contract of any land so put up for sale as aforesaid and not knocked down to any bidder on paying for the same in cash the upset price at which the same was put up for sale Provided always that it shall be lawful for the Superintendent instead of permitting any land to be purchased as authorized by the last two clauses to cause any lands which shall not have been already applied for under the said clauses to be put up again to auction giving such notice thereof as is hereinbefore provided in respect of land to be offered at auction.

As it is expedient that persons emigrating at their own cost from the United Kingdom and elsewhere for the purpose of settling on land in the Province of Auckland should be permitted to acquire land free of cost on account of their expenditure on emigration it shall be lawful for the Superintendent from time to time to appoint emigration agents in the United Kingdom or elsewhere with authority to grant land orders to persons intending to emigrate and settle on land in the Province of Auckland and any such agent at any time to remove Provided always that no person shall be entitled to demand any such land order as a right or be entitled to receive any land whatever free of cost in respect of any such expenditure unless he shall have obtained previously to his emigrating from some one of such agents of the said Province a land order as herein provided Nothing herein contained shall authorize any such agent to issue a land order to any New Zealand settler who may be about to return to New Zealand from any place where land orders may be issued.

Such land orders shall be granted according to the following scale namely for any person eighteen years of age and upwards forty acres and for any person upwards of five years and under eighteen years of age twenty acres Provided always that in any case in which a child under eighteen years of age shall accompany a parent the order shall be granted to the parent and not to the child And in case in which a servant shall be brought into the Province at the sole expense of a master the allowance shall be made to the master and not to the servant.

No such land order shall be transferable but in the event of the death before the expiration of the five years as hereinafter mentioned of any person to whom any land order shall have been granted in respect of his own emigration all his right and interest under such order shall vest in his appointee constituted in writing or in default of such an appointee in his legal representative who shall be at once entitled to a grant of the land in case all the terms and conditions to which such deceased person was subject have been fulfilled up to the time of his death.

Every such land order shall be null and void unless the person in respect of whom the same shall have been granted shall present the same in person to the Commissioner or his deputy within the said Province within three calendar months from the date of his arrival in the Province.

On presentation thereof to the Commissioner or his deputy such officer on being satisfied that the person presenting the same is the person in respect of whom the land order was granted and also of the true date of his arrival shall make a note thereon stating the fact of such presentation and of the day of the arrival in the Province of the person presenting the same and shall date and sign such note.

Every such land order when so signed shall authorize the person entitled to the same to select the number of acres mentioned therein out of the special settlement land if any specified in such order or out of any general country land that may at the time be open for selection.

Every such land order when so signed as aforesaid shall be in force for six months from the day of the arrival stated in such note as aforesaid and if no selection be made within that time such land order shall be null and void.

The land selected by virtue of any such land order or land scrip as aforesaid must be surveyed at the expense of the holder thereof by a surveyor to be approved of in writing by the Provincial surveyor Provided that the holder of such land order or land scrip shall be entitled to an allowance for the cost of such survey according to a scale to be from time to time fixed by the Provincial surveyor for the cost thereof not exceeding in any case after the rate of one shilling an acre.

At the expiration of three years from the day of arrival stated in such note as aforesaid the person entitled to any land selected under any such order or land scrip shall he entitled to a Crown Grant thereof on proving to the satisfaction of the Superintendent that he has bona fide occupied the land selected by virtue of such land order or land scrip as aforesaid for a period of two years at least Provided nevertheless that if at any time within the period of three years as aforesaid the holder of any such land order or land scrip as aforesaid shall upon purchasing the said land at a price of ten shillings per acre and the receipt of such money being certified by the Receiver of Land Revenue be entitled to a Crown Grant for the same.

It shall be lawful for the Superintendent to entertain such claims arising out of land orders as shall by the Provincial Council be referred to him and to give effect to the same in like manner as if such claims were founded on purchase.

The Superintendent may from time to time reserve such general country land as he may think fit for sale by auction and the same shall be sold in like manner as is prescribed for the sale of town and suburban land Provided always that the Superintendent may withdraw at any time such land from sale or selection it shall be lawful for the Commissioner to sell at the rate of ten shillings an acre to the grantee or owner of any contiguous land any small piece of country land lying next to such granted property and between it and any block line creek river run or road the piece of land so to be sold not to exceed eighty acres.

The Superintendent shall from time to time notify a certain day on and after which any general country land shall be open for selection and sale and previous to that day any person desirous of selecting or purchasing any of the same shall send in a written application during office hours under a sealed cover directed to the Commissioner or his deputy at such place as shall be stated in such notification Every such application shall have legibly written thereon the words “Application for land” and the name of the applicant and the number of acres he proposes to select or purchase.

Every such application shall state the number of acres the applicant is desirous of purchasing or selecting and shall describe the same as accurately as may be so that the same may be identified and marked on a plan of the district to be provided by the Commissioner.

The purchase money after the rate of ten shillings an acre for the quantity of land applied for shall be paid to a Receiver of Land Revenue who shall give a receipt in duplicate and no application shall be entertained unless one of such duplicate receipts shall be annexed to the application.

The Commissioner or his deputy shall on receipt of such application (and in the presence of the intending purchaser or his agent if such purchaser or agent should desire the same) enter into a minute book to be kept for that purpose a minute of the receipt of such application.

The minutes to be entered in such book shall be consecutively numbered from one upwards and shall set forth the date of the reception of every such application the name of the intending purchaser the number of acres which he proposes to purchase and the amount which he shall have so paid as the purchase money thereof.

Such book shall be open to the public for inspection at all times in office hours during which time any person may take a copy of or extract from any minute entered therein on payment of a fee of one shilling.

The applications so received shall not he opened until noon of the first day appointed in the manner aforesaid by the Superintendent for the sale of such general rural land on which day no further application shall be received.

The Commissioner or his deputy shall on the day so appointed and in presence of such of the intending purchasers or their agents as may attend for that purpose proceed to open all such applications so received.

When it shall appear on opening the said applications that but one person has in manner aforesaid applied to purchase any land and that he has duly paid the purchase money thereof such person shall be deemed the purchaser of such land.

If it should at any time appear before the decision of the Commissioner that two or more intending purchasers have made application for the same land and that each of them has duly paid the purchase money thereof such land shall be put up to auction among such applicants in such blocks as the Commissioner may determine at an upset price of ten shillings an acre on a day to be decided by the Commissioner or his deputy.

The Commissioner or his deputy shall immediately after such auction give to each of the unsuccessful persons or his agent an order on the Receiver of Land Revenue for the purchase money so paid by him in respect of such allotment and such Receiver shall pay the same on demand accordingly.

After the day fixed for opening the applications sent in as aforesaid all the unsold portions of such general rural lands shall be open for sale to the first applicant for the same.

Every such subsequent application must be made in writing to the Commissioner or his deputy during office hours and must state the quantity and situation of the land and describe the same as accurately as may be so that the same may be identified and marked on a plan of the district to be provided by the Commissioner and no such application shall be entertained unless it be accompanied by a receipt for the purchase money signed by a Receiver of Land Revenue or by some person authorized by him.

The Commissioner or his deputy immediately on receipt of such application shall in the presence of the intending purchaser or his agent if such purchaser or agent desire it to be done enter in the minute book to be kept for that purpose the day and hour of the receipt of the application the name of the purchaser the quantity situation and description of the land and the amount paid as the purchase money of the same.

As soon as such entry shall have been so made in conformity with these regulations the land to which the same shall refer shall be deemed to be sold and the purchaser thereof entitled to a Crown Grant.

Provided always that every application for general country land shall comprise not less than forty acres and shall so far as the features of the country will permit be of a rectangular form and when fronting on a road river lane or coast be of a depth when practicable not less than three times the length of the frontage and no application which does not comply with these requirements shall be granted but it shall be competent for any applicant with the consent of the Commissioner to amend his application so that any such alteration in no way interferes with any other application duly made at the time.

The Commissioner at the time of any application being granted or as soon as conveniently may be thereafter shall inform the applicant that the land selected will be surveyed by and at the expense of the Government or that the applicant must have the same surveyed at his own expense by a surveyor to be approved of in writing by the Provincial Surveyor.

When land is surveyed by the applicant at his own expense he shall be entitled to an allowance according to a scale to be from time to time fixed by the Commissioner for the cost thereof not exceeding in any case after the rate of one shilling an acre.

Every survey to be made at the expense of the applicant must be completed to the satisfaction of the Commissioner and the plans thereof delivered to him with as little delay as possible and within a time to be fixed by him which shall in no case exceed six calendar months and in default thereof it shall be lawful for the Commissioner either to have the land surveyed at the applicant’s cost which shall be repaid by him within one month of the completion of the survey or it shall be lawful for the Commissioner to sell the land to some other person and in such latter case the purchase money paid by the first applicant shall be returned to him on demand after deducting therefrom one-fifth part as a forfeiture for the default.

When general country land shall be purchased in a district in which lines of road shall not be determined on and laid out a right of laying out roads over the said land shall be reserved in the grant but not more than five per centum of the land shall be taken for such purpose without payment of compensation for the excess to be fixed by arbitration in the usual way Provided that if such right be not exercised within five years from the date when the block within which such land is situate was first offered for sale under this Act then and in such case compensation for the whole area taken shall be given to be fixed by arbitration in the usual way.

It shall be at any time competent for the Superintendent with the advice and consent of the Executive Council to offer for sale by auction any general country land which shall be deemed to possess especial value as containing minerals and the regulations hereinbefore contained relating to auction sales shall apply thereto.

It shall be lawful for the Superintendent if any lands open for selection shall not be disposed of within the period of three months from the date of their being thrown open for selection upon a recommendation from the Provincial Council to that effect to offer such lands for sale by auction at a price not less than two shillings and sixpence per acre.

It shall be lawful for the Superintendent from time to time to declare by proclamation that a certain block of land therein described shall be set apart and reserved for certain immigrants not being fewer than fifty above eighteen years of age expected to arrive or who shall have arrived and desire to settle within the Province of Auckland.

Such land so set apart and reserved shall be sold exclusively to such immigrants upon the terms and conditions hereinbefore prescribed respectively in reference to town and suburban land and to general country land as the Superintendent may from time to time think fit.

It shall be lawful for the Superintendent at any time to revoke any such proclamation and the land therein comprised shall thereafter be open to be classified and dealt with as though the same had not been set apart and reserved as aforesaid Provided always that the validity of any act which shall have been done under such proclamation before the revocation thereof shall not be affected by such revocation.

If any person shall be desirous of making building or constructing any road bridge or other work of public utility and of being allowed a grant of land in respect of the cost of the same he shall make application in writing to the Superintendent for authority for that purpose.

If the Superintendent shall be satisfied after proper investigation and inquiry that it is desirable that the proposed road bridge or other work of public utility should be made built or constructed and the plans and specifications should be approved of by a competent person to be named by the Superintendent the Superintendent shall grant authority for the said work to be completed.

When the said work is completed it shall be examined by a competent person to be appointed by the Superintendent and if such person shall report that the same is constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications and with proper materials and proper workmanship the Superintendent shall give authority to the Commissioner to grant to such person land scrip to the extent of one-half of the value of the work performed such value to be fixed by some competent person to be appointed by the Superintendent in that behalf.

The Commissioner shall grant land scrip accordingly and such land scrip shall be available as cash at any time within three months for the purchase according to the provisions of this Act of any town suburban or general country land which may be open for sale.

It shall also be lawful for the Superintendent to authorize land scrip to be issued to the extent of the value of public works performed according to the foregoing conditions under the direction of trustees appointed under the provisions of “The Highways Act 1867” Provided that one moiety of the lands acquired by the exercise of such scrip as aforesaid shall be reserved and set apart as endowments for the construction and maintenance of roads within such district.

It shall also be lawful for the Superintendent and the Provincial Council of the Province aforesaid to authorize land scrip to be issued in payment for land taken under “The Compulsory Lands Taking Act 1866” for the purposes of roads or public works Provided always that nothing herein contained shall render it obligatory on the owner of the land so taken to accept such land scrip in lieu of money in payment for the same.

Provided always that no greater amount of land than two hundred and fifty acres shall under the provisions of this clause be granted to any person under any such contract unless in payment of work for which a vote has been passed by the Provincial Council and that no greater amount of land than two thousand acres in the aggregate shall in any one year be granted under the provisions of this clause without the special sanction of the Provincial Council.

It shall be lawful for land to the extent set forth in the clauses relating to naval and military settlers in “The Auckland Waste Lands Act 1858” to be granted to any naval and military settler who may have bond fide within twelve months prior to the first day of March one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven retired from Her Majesty’s service with a view to settling in New Zealand notwithstanding that such settler may not have applied for a land order prior to the said date Provided that nothing herein contained shall entitle military officers coming over to New Zealand on duty to obtain land orders for themselves or families.

The rules and regulations set forth in the Schedule hereunto annexed shall remain and be in force for regulating the issue of pasture and timber licenses for the occupation of Waste Lands of the Crown outside hundreds.

Any Commissioner appointed under this Act shall have exercise and perform all the rights powers and duties which the Commissioner of Crown Lands mentioned in the said rules and regulations had or could exercise and perform under the said rules and regulations.

The powers and authorities by “The Waste Lands Act 1858” vested in the Governor shall continue to be vested in the Governor in like manner as if this Act was included in the Schedule to the said “Waste Lands Act 1858.”

In respect to any act to be done wherever the word “Superintendent” shall occur in this Act it shall be understood to mean the “Superintendent with the advice and consent of the Executive Council.”

Whereas by an Ordinance of the Legislative Council of New Zealand Session X. No. 1 intituled “An Ordinance to regulate the Occupation of Waste Lands of the Crown within the Province of New Ulster” and by an Ordinance of the said Council Session XI. No. 10 intituled “An Ordinance to amend the Crown Lands Ordinance No. 1 of Session X. and to extend the operation thereof to the Islands of New Zealand” provision is made for the election of wardens for the management of Crown Lands within the limits of hundreds created under the said Ordinances and for conferring certain powers on such wardens Be it enacted that the provisions of the said Ordinances for the aforesaid purposes shall cease to be of any effect with respect to any such hundreds which have been or hereafter may be comprised within any highway district or districts established under any Act or Acts of the Superintendent and Provincial Council of the Province of Auckland from the date of the passing of this Act or within any district established for similar purposes under any Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand and all the powers given and duties imposed by the aforesaid Ordinances to or upon the Commissioner of Crown Lands or wardens aforesaid in relation to the management of Crown Lands within the limits of a hundred may from and after the date of the establishment of any such district as aforesaid be delegated by the Commissioner of Crown Lands to and in case of such delegation shall be exercised performed or fulfilled with respect to any hundred so comprised therein by the Road Board constituted under the aforesaid Acts of the Superintendent and Provincial Council or any similar body constituted under any such Act of the General Assembly as aforesaid Provided always that nothing herein contained shall alter or affect the powers given by the aforesaid Ordinances or by any existing law to the Governor or to the Commissioner of Crown Lands except so far as relates to the management of Crown Lands within the limits of a hundred and therein only to the extent aforesaid Provided further that nothing herein contained shall affect any existing license.