The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Hawke’s Bay Rivers Act, 1876.”

Prom and immediately after the date of this Act, the provisions of “The Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough Rivers Act, 1868,” “The Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough Rivers Act 1868 Amendment Act, 1870,” “The Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough Rivers Acts Amendment Act, 1872,” shall cease to have any force operation or effect within the Province of Hawke’s Bay.

In interpreting this Act, save where there is something in the context repugnant thereto or inconsistent therewith, the following words and expressions shall mean or include the matters following:— The word “Province” shall mean the Province of Hawke’s Bay; the word “Board” shall mean the Conservators for any district to be created under the provisions of this Act; the word “Superintendent” shall mean the Superintendent for the time being of the Province of Hawke’s Bay.

Por each district of the province to be constituted as hereinafter mentioned, there shall be a Board of Conservators, who shall be elected as hereinafter provided.

Upon the petition of the owners or occupiers of not less than two-thirds of the acreage of any district therein defined, any part of the province intersected or bounded by any river or rivers from the overflow of which damage may be apprehended, the Superintendent shall, by Proclamation in the Provincial Gazette, declare that this Act shall come into operation within such part of the province, and shall by such Proclamation define the boundaries of the same, and declare the same to be a district under this Act, and shall also fix the name by which such district shall be known.

The Superintendent shall also in such Proclamation determine the number of Conservators who are to constitute the Board for each such district, but in no case shall the number be less than five nor more than seven.

Por the purpose of electing the first Board under the Act, the Superintendent shall, within one month after the Proclamation as aforesaid, cause a list to be made of the owners or occupiers of property within such district, and shall therein affix opposite to the name of each person in such list the number of acres owned or occupied by him; and every person whose name shall appear therein shall be entitled to vote at the election of the first Board in the manner and according to the scale hereinafter provided.

As soon as the list as aforesaid is completed, the Superintendent shall cause a copy thereof to be posted up in some conspicuous place in the district, and shall within fourteen days, by notice in some newspaper in general circulation within the district, summon a general meeting of the voters at a convenient time and place within the district, and the said voters, having assembled and having appointed a Chairman, shall elect from amongst the persons qualified to vote at such meeting a sufficient number of persons to be the Board of the district: Provided that if any candidate or elector shall demand a poll, the polling shall take place on such day and at such place, being not less than three nor more than seven days after the day of nomination, as the Chairman shall appoint, and the mode of voting shall in all other respects be conducted in the same manner as is provided for the election of members of the Provincial Council, and the Chairman of such meeting or some person to be appointed by him shall preside at such polling, and shall report in writing to the Superintendent the names of the persons so elected.

All questions and disputes which may arise concerning the election of any member of the Board shall be referred to the Superintendent by the petition in writing of not less than five electors, setting forth the ground of dispute, within fourteen days after the election, and all questions respecting the vacancy of the office of members shall be referred to the Superintendent, whose decision shall be final.

Immediately after any such election as aforesaid, the names of the persons elected as Conservators shall be published by the Superintendent in the Provincial Gazette, and shall constitute the first Board for the district.

Whenever a Board shall have been elected under the provisions of this Act, the Superintendent shall, by notice in the Provincial Government Gazette of the Province, appoint the day, time, and place for the first meeting of the Board, and such meeting shall be held on such day and at the time and place in the notice mentioned.

On the first Thursday in the month of January next following the date of the first general meeting for the election of the Board of Conservators of any district, and on the first Thursday in January of each succeeding year, two members of the Board of each district the Board whereof shall consist of five members, and three of the members of the Board whereof shall consist of more than five members, shall go out of office; and the members who shall so go out of office shall always be the members who have been the longest time in office without re-election; and if, by reason of two or more members having become members at the same time, it shall not be apparent under the foregoing part of this section which of such last-mentioned members ought at any time to go out of office, then the Board shall itself determine in what order and which of such members shall go out of office: Provided always that any retiring member of the Board of any district shall be eligible for re-election.

Every election after the first of members of the Board of each district shall be held at a convenient place within the district, to be fixed by the Board, or if there be no Board then by the Superintendent; and the voters shall in manner hereinafter provided elect from the persons qualified to vote a sufficient number of persons to fill the vacancies occasioned by the retirement of the members going out of office by rotation in that year, and the Chairman of the meeting shall report in writing to the Superintendent the names of the persons so elected.

If any Conservator shall resign or shall refuse to act or absent himself from the meetings of the Board for three months at any time without leave, or become bankrupt or a public defaulter, or be convicted of any crime, he shall cease to be a Conservator, and another person shall be elected as herein provided to supply the vacancy occasioned thereby.

Every Board at its first meeting, and from time to time, whenever the office becomes vacant, shall elect one of its members to be the Chairman thereof, who shall preside at the meetings of the Board, and shall have an original and also a casting vote thereat: Provided that if the Chairman shall be absent from any meeting, the members present shall appoint an acting chairman, who during such absence may exercise the powers by this Act vested in the Chairman.

The business of the Board shall be conducted at meetings to be held at such times and places as they shall appoint, and a minute of every resolution agreed to shall be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose and signed by the Chairman, and any two Conservators shall have power to convene a special meeting on giving five days’ prior notice to the other Conservators, stating therein the business to be transacted at such meeting.

At the first meeting of the Board they shall make such rules as may be necessary for the orderly conduct of their business, but no meeting shall be deemed sufficient for the conduct of business unless three Conservators shall be present.

The Board may appoint a Secretary, Treasurer, and other necessary officers, and may employ necessary servants and workmen, and may fix the salaries and wages to be paid to each.

All rivers streams and watercourses within any district constituted under this Act shall, whether the same be navigable or not, so far as may be requisite for the construction or maintenance of any works necessary to prevent or léssen any damage which may be occasioned by the overflow or the breaking of the banks of the same, be to all intents and purposes within and subject to the jurisdiction of the Board.

The Board shall, in addition to any other powers given to them by this Act, have and possess the following powers, that is to say,—

They may, without any previous agreement with the owner or occupier of any land within the district, enter upon any such land, whether the same shall be waste lands of the Crown or not, and take levels of the same.

They may enter upon take and hold any such land for the purposes of this Act.

They may from time to time make maintain alter or discontinue any defence works or any other works whatsoever upon any land to be taken as aforesaid, or upon any land bounded or intersected by any stream or river under their control or within their jurisdiction, or upon any such stream or river, for the purpose of preventing or lessening any damage which may be threatened, or which may actually have occurred by the overflow of any such streams or rivers, or from the breaking of the banks of the same.

They may from time to time divert impound or take away any water from any such streams or rivers, or alter the course of the same.

They may for any of the purposes aforesaid, at all reasonable times, by themselves, their servants or workmen, and with or without carriages loaded or unloaded, enter into and pass through and over any lands within the district, for the purpose of carrying out any works to be constructed under the provisions of this Act, and for the purpose of maintaining and repairing any existing works, doing thereby no unnecessary or avoidable damage to such lands.

They may lay or deposit upon any such lands any materials whatsoever, to be used in the maintenance or construction of any such works, and may erect thereon any temporary shelter for any workmen or persons engaged in such maintenance or construction, causing thereby as little damage or inconvenience as may be.

In exercising the powers of compulsory taking of or entering upon or using lands hereinbefore conferred upon them, the Board shall make to the owners, and to persons having any lesser estate or interest therein, compensation for such lands and for all riparian rights therein or thereon, and for all damages sustained by such owners or other persons by reason of the powers vested in the Board by this Act; the amount whereof shall be ascertained in the manner set forth in “The Bands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1863.”

All land permanently taken for the purposes of this Act, and any land or river bed reclaimed by works carried out under the authority of this Act, shall be conveyed to or vested in the Superintendent, to be held by him upon trust for the purposes of this Act for the district within which the same shall be situated: Provided always that upon any alienation of such lands, whether absolute or otherwise, the moneys to accrue from such alienation shall be paid over to the Board for the time being, to be appropriated by them for the purposes of this Act.

For the purpose of creating and maintaining works to be constructed and maintained by any Board under the provisions of this Act, and for the purpose of enabling the Board to carry out any other powers given to them by this Act, there may be levied upon all lands within the district, except as hereinafter provided, the rates following, that is to say, upon lands in the district situated outside the limits of any town a rate not exceeding in any one year the sum of three shillings per acre, and upon lands situated within the limits of any town comprised in such district a rate not exceeding one shilling in the pound upon the annual value of the same, to be assessed as herein-after mentioned: Provided also that over all lands situated within the district liable to be flooded by the overflow of the Tutaekuri River, a rate may be levied not exceeding five shillings per acre on lands outside the limits of a town, and two shillings in the pound upon lands situated within the limits of any town comprised in such district, upon the annual value of the same, to be assessed as hereinafter mentioned.

For the purposes of such rating, all lands without the limits of a town shall be annually classified by the Board, or by some person appointed by them in that behalf, into the following classes, that is to say,—

Lands liable to great actual damage

Lands liable to less actual damage

Lands not liable to actual damage.

The rate payable in any one year in respect of lands outside the limits of a town shall be levied upon the several classes of land aforesaid in the proportion following, that is to say,—

Class 1 shall be rated at double the amount per acre payable by class 2;

Class 2 shall be rated at one-half the amount per acre payable by class 1;

Class 3 shall be rated at one-fourth the amount per acre payable by class 1.

The Board may from time to time, by warrant under their hands, at a meeting to be held for that purpose, appoint one or more fit person or persons to examine and report upon all lands to be classified, or to classify the same in manner aforesaid; and such person or persons shall, within thirty days after the delivery to them of the warrant of appointment, report to the Board thereon; and the classification of such lands shall thereupon forthwith be made either by the Board or by such person or persons as aforesaid as the Board may direct.

When any classification shall have been made as aforesaid, the Board shall sign the same at a meeting of the Board; and the Board shall immediately thereafter cause public notice of such classification to be published in some newspaper generally circulated within the district, and of a place where the same may be inspected for a period of twenty-one days; and the person in whose custody such classification shall he shall permit the same to be inspected by the owner or occupier of any land included therein during office hours.

For the purpose of fixing and determining the rates to he paid in respect of lands within the limits of any town comprised within the district, the Board may from time to time either themselves assess, or by warrant under their hands, at a meeting to be held for that purpose, appoint one or more fit person or persons to be Assessor or Assessors to assess all such lands; and such Assessor or Assessors shall, within thirty days after the delivery to them of the warrant of appointment, return to the Board an assessment for the said town.

When any assessment shall have been made, the Board shall sign the same at a meeting of the Board, and shall cause public notice to be given of the same in some newspaper published or generally circulated in the town so assessed, and of a place in the said town where the same may be inspected for a period of twenty-one days; and the person in whose custody such assessment shall he shall permit the same to be inspected by every owner or occupier of property included therein during office hours.

Every such classification and assessment as aforesaid shall specify the lands comprised therein, and the names of the owners and occupiers where known.

If any person shall think himself aggrieved by such classification or assessment respectively, upon any of the grounds expressly applicable thereto as hereinafter mentioned, such person may appeal against the same on giving to the Board three days’ notice of such appeal in the form set forth in the Schedule hereto, such notice to be given within seven days next after the expiration of the twenty-one days appointed for the publication of the same, and the grounds of the appeal shall be as follows and no other:—

Within three days after the expiration of such seven days as last aforesaid, in case any notices of appeal shall have been given as aforesaid, the Board shall publish a notice in some newspaper published or generally circulated as aforesaid, of a day for the hearing of such appeals, and such appeals may be heard at the nearest Resident Magistrate’s Court or Court of Petty Sessions, to be notified in such notice; and such Court may, after hearing such appeals, cause the classification or assessment to be amended in such manner as may appear to them to be reasonable, and shall sign such amended classification or assessment, and the determination of the said Court shall be final and conclusive.

In case upon any appeal as aforesaid the classification or assessment, as the case may be, shall be confirmed, all costs and expenses whatsoever necessarily incurred by the Board in supporting such classification or assessment shall be paid and defrayed by the appellant, and may be recovered as costs awarded upon such appeal, and subject thereto the Court by which any appeals shall be heard shall have full power to award the costs incident to such appeal and the hearing thereof to either of the parties.

Every classification and assessment, when signed by the Board as aforesaid in case there be no appeal, and when signed by the Court as aforesaid after any appeal, shall, for the purpose of any proceedings for the recovery of rates payable under this Act, be conclusive evidence of the liability of the person named therein.

All rates payable under this Act shall in the first instance be paid by the occupiers of the property rated, but where any occupier shall hold the land rated for any term of which less than five years shall be unexpired, he shall be entitled, notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, to deduct such rate from the rent payable by him to his immediate landlord, unless by virtue of such contract he shall, either during or at the expiration of his term, be entitled or compellable to purchase the said land.

Every rate shall be paid by the person liable for the same to some person to be appointed by the Board for that purpose, on a day and at a place or places to be fixed for that purpose by the Board by public notice in some newspaper published or generally circulated within the district, the day of payment not being less than twenty-one days after the notification of such notice.

The Board shall cause to be posted up at each place appointed for the payment of rates, on the day of publication of such notice of payment as aforesaid, a list setting forth the names of the persons liable for the payment of such rates and the sum payable by each person, which list may be inspected during office hours on each day during the twenty-one days aforesaid by any person requiring to inspect the same.

If the rate or any part thereof payable by any ratepayer shall not be paid on the day fixed for that purpose, the same may be recovered in a summary way before any Justice of the Peace, at the suit of the person appointed by the Board to receive the same.

The Board may from time to time, as occasion shall require, borrow and take up at interest any sum or sums of money on the security of the rates, both general and special, to be raised within the district to be applied for the purposes of this Act, and may thereupon give to the person advancing or lending the same a mortgage for securing the amount advanced with interest thereon in the meantime after such rate as the Board may think reasonable: Provided always that every sum so advanced shall be made repayable and be repaid by not less than ten nor more than fifteen yearly instalments exclusive of the annual interest from time to time payable in respect of the moneys remaining due upon the security: And the first of such instalments shall be made repayable and be repaid on such day as the Board may arrange with the mortgagee, not being later than five years after the day on which the sum of money or any part thereof was advanced.

The Board may, at the request of a majority of the ratepayers of the district for the purpose of providing for the repayment of any such loan as aforesaid, make and levy, in addition to the ordinary rates hereinbefore authorized to be raised, a special rate chargeable in respect of the lands within the district in the same proportion in all respects and payable and recoverable in like manner as the ordinary rates to be levied under this Act, but no such special rate shall in any year exceed the amount of principal and interest money payable for such year by virtue of such mortgage.

All moneys received under this Act shall be paid over by the person receiving the same to the Board for the district for which the same shall be received, and shall be appropriated by such Board in carrying out the objects and purposes of this Act.

It shall be lawful for the Superintendent, if he shall think fit, to commit to the Board for any district the expenditure of any moneys especially appropriated by the Provincial Council to purposes within the provisions of this Act, and to pay over the same to such Board to he expended accordingly.

All works involving the expenditure of any sum exceeding ten pounds shall be carried out under contract in writing, arid all contracts for works entered into by the Board shall be in the name of one of the Conservators, who shall sue and be sued on such contracts in his own proper name in like manner as if such contracts were personal contracts by such Conservator, but no execution upon mesne or final process in any action upon or arising out of such contract shall be issued or enforced against the person or property of such Conservator.

No action against any Conservator upon or in relation to any such contract shall abate by his death or by reason that he has ceased to be a Conservator, but the same may proceed against or in the name of any Conservator to be appointed or elected in his place or stead upon his being made a party to the said action by suggestion either as plaintiff or defendant as the case may be.

In case any moneys shall become payable under any order or decree in any action by or against such Conservator, it shall be the duty of the Board to pay and satisfy the same out of the first moneys at their disposal.

For the purpose of the elections of Conservators after the first elections under the provisions of this Act, all persons who, at the time appointed for any such future election, shall appear upon the classification or assessment, as the case may be, of lands within the district as owner or occupier of any lands liable to be rated, shall be entitled to vote in the election of each Conservator in manner following, that is to say,—

In respect of lands outside the limits of a town where the voter shall be assessed

And for every additional one thousand acres one additional vote. And in respect of lands within the limits of a town where the amount of rate payable by the voter shall be

And for every additional fifty pounds one additional vote.

In order to provide for the registration of electors under this Act, and for the due and orderly conduct of elections of Conservators after the first election as aforesaid, the Superintendent, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, shall make and publish in the Gazette of the province, and in some newspaper in general circulation in the district, all such regulations as may be necessary for that purpose, but so nevertheless that such regulations shall not be repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.

The Board shall, in books to be kept for that purpose, enter true accounts of all sums of money by them received paid and expended and of the several matters in respect whereof such sums shall have been received paid and expended.

At the first general meeting for the election of a Board, and afterwards at the annual meeting in each successive year for the purpose aforesaid, there shall be elected two or more Auditors to examine into and audit the accounts of the Board, and in each successive year the balance sheet as aforesaid so examined and audited shall be submitted to such meeting, and a copy thereof signed by the Chairman shall be forwarded to the Superintendent: Provided that in case of the resignation or otherwise of any Auditor, it shall be competent for the Board to appoint an Auditor in his stead, who shall act until the next general meeting of the ratepayers.

All moneys found by such Auditor or Auditors to be due by any retiring Board, together with all books of account, vouchers, and papers, and all plans and other documents, and all other property whatsoever belonging to or in the custody of the retiring Board, shall be forthwith delivered and paid over to the Board for the time being.

No member of the Board shall, during the continuance of his office, become a contractor under or hold any paid office in the gift of the Board.

No Judge, Resident Magistrate, or Justice of the Peace, shall be disqualified from acting in pursuance of any of the provisions of this Act by reason of his being assessed as a ratepayer under this Act.

All fines forfeitures and penalties imposed by this Act shall be recovered before any Resident Magistrate or any two Justices of the Peace at the suit of any Conservator for that purpose appointed at a meeting of the Board, and shall be paid over to the Board to be expended by them for the purposes of this Act; and it shall be lawful for the Board, out of moneys received by them under the provisions of this Act, to indemnify any Conservator suing as aforesaid from any costs charges or expenses necessarily incurred by him in respect of any such action or suit.

No holder of any debenture or other security under this Act shall have any claim whatever in respect of any such debenture or other security issued or given under this Act, on the revenue of the Colony of New Zealand or of the Province of Hawke’s Bay.

In case default shall be made in payment of the moneys borrowed under the authority of this Act or any instalment thereof, or of the interest which may become payable in respect thereof, for the space of six calendar months after the same shall have become due, it shall be lawful for the Supreme Court, on the application of the holders of sureties to the amount of not less than five hundred pounds, to appoint a Receiver of all rates and moneys upon which the same shall be secured.