The Short Title of this Act is “The Hokitika Racecourse Reserve Act, 1884.”

On the passing of this Act the lands described in the First and Second Schedules hereto shall, without any conveyance, be vested in a Board of Trustees (hereinafter called “the Board”), consisting of the following persons: James Alexander Bonar, Richard John Seddon, William Llewellen Fowler, John Bevan, James Holmes, James Clarke, and Thomas Paterson, and shall be held by them in trust for the purposes of racing, as provided by this Act.

The Board shall be a corporate body by the name of “The Trustees of the Hokitika Racecourse,” with perpetual succession and a common seal, and with full power and authority by that name to sue and be sued in all Courts whatsoever, and shall be capable in law for the purposes and subject to this Act to do and suffer all such acts and things as bodies corporate may do and suffer, with power to take and hold all such lands, tenements, and hereditaments as may be in any manner acquired by or vested in the Board, either as a site for a racecourse, or for any other purpose in connection therewith.

If any member of the Board shall be directly or indirectly concerned in any contract with the Board, or shall receive, or be entitled to receive, any money or emolument for any work done or to be done for the Board, or shall be absent from the colony for the space of twelve consecutive calendar months, or shall be adjudicated a bankrupt or insolvent, or take the benefit of or be brought under the operation of any Act relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors, or shall become a public defaulter, or shall become convicted of any felony, his seat in such Board shall become vacant.

It shall be lawful for any member, by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor, to resign his seat on the Board, and upon the acknowledgement of the receipt by the Governor of such writing the seat of such member shall become vacant.

If a vacancy occurs in the Board through death, or through any of the reasons aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Governor to appoint a fit and proper person to fill the vacancy.

It shall be lawful for the Board, by deed under their corporate seal, to lease from time to time, at such rent and on such conditions as they may think reasonable, the whole or any part of the lands specified in the said Schedules hereto, for any term or terms of years not exceeding seven years at any one time, and on conditions not inconsistent with the purposes of the racecourse.

All moneys received by the Board for the rents, issues, and profits of the said lands shall, after deducting therefrom all necessary expenses incurred in the management thereof, be applied in and towards the cultivation and improvement of the said lands, and in rendering any part thereof that may be set apart as a racecourse suitable for that purpose, and in discharging any liabilities that may have been hitherto incurred for the said purpose, and in and towards providing prizes for races to be run on the said racecourse, and generally in and towards the encouragement of the breeding of horses.

The racecourse, subject to the Board, shall be available to any racing or jockey club for the purpose of holding race meetings, upon such terms and conditions as shall from time to time be notified by the Board, and at such dates as they may in every such case appoint.

It shall be lawful for the Board, and they are hereby authorized and empowered, from time to time to make and alter rules for regulating their own proceedings; for the terms, conditions, and dates on which the racecourse may be from time to time used by any racing or jockey club, as in section nine provided; for prescribing the conditions on which the public shall be permitted to have access to the said racecourse upon any day when the same shall be used for racing purposes, and for regulating the price for admission on such occasions; for excluding the public from such parts of the said lands as it may be found necessary and desirable to plant, improve, or lay down in artificial grasses; for regulating the charges that may be made for the occupation of the said racecourse, for the erection of booths or stalls for the sale of refreshments, merchandise, goods, or chattels, and for the admission of horses and vehicles to the said racecourse; and for the preservation of order thereon during race meetings.

The Board shall keep accurate accounts of all sums of money received for rents, issues, and profits on account of the said lands, and of all costs, charges, and disbursements in connection with the management and maintenance thereof; and on the first day of June in every year, or within one week thereafter, the Board shall prepare accounts and a balance-sheet showing the receipts and disbursements of the Board during the previous year, and the actual financial state of the Board on the first day of June in that year; and such accounts and balance-sheet shall be forwarded to the Governor, who may, if he think fit, order such accounts and balance-sheet to be published in any local paper circulating within the district.