An Act to constitute a Board of Trustees, and to vest in it a certain Public Reserve near to Township of Greymouth, in District of Omotumotu, County of Grey, for the purposes of a Racecourse.

Preamble.

WHEREAS the land described in the Schedule hereto has, under “The Public Reserves Act, 1854,” by notice in the Canterbury Provincial Gazette of July twentieth, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, been withdrawn from the gold fields, and declared to be a reserve for the purposes of recreation: And, further, that by Order in Council appearing in the New Zealand Gazette of December nineteenth, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, the said reserve has been changed from a recreation reserve to a racecourse reserve: And whereas it is expedient to vest the said land in a Board of Trustees for the purpose of a public racecourse, and for other purposes:

Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Short Title.

The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Greymouth Race course Reserve Act, 1878.”

2 Land in Schedule vested in Board of Trustees.

On passing of this Act the land described in the Schedule hereto shall, without any conveyance, be vested in a Board of Trustees (hereinafter called “the Board”), consisting of the following persons:

The Honorable Henry Herman Lahmann, Richard Nancarrow, Richard James Tonks, James Kerr, Frederick William Lahmann, Peter Bell Cameron, and John Walton; and shall be held by them for purposes of public recreation as provided for by this Act.

3 Board incorporated.

The Board shall be a corporate body by the name of “The Trustees of the Greymouth 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, or hereditaments as may be in any manner vested in the Board, either as a site for a racecourse or for any other purpose in connection therewith.

4 Vacancies.

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 district 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 felony, his seat in such Board shall become vacant.

5 Resignations.

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

6 Vacancies filled up by Governor.

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.

7 Board may set apart portion of land as a site for a racecourse.

It shall be lawful for the Board to set apart a sufficient portion of the said parcel of land as and for the purposes of a racecourse, and from time to time to vary and alter the portion which may for the time being be set apart, and to set apart another portion of the said parcel of land as a racecourse in lieu thereof, and the land not so set apart as a racecourse shall be used for purposes of public recreation.

8 Board may lease land.

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 said parcel of land specified in the said Schedule hereto, for any term or terms of years not exceeding seven years at any one time, by public auction or public tender, and on conditions not inconsistent with the purposes of the said reserve.

9 Proceeds of land to be expended in improvements.

All moneys received by the Board for the rents, issues, and profits of the said parcel of land shall, after deducting therefrom all necessary expenses incurred in the management thereof, be applied in and towards the cultivation and improvement of the said parcel of land, and in rendering any part thereof that may be set apart as a racecourse suitable for that 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, and for such other purposes as the Board may from time to time determine to apply the same.

10 Board to keep accounts.

The Board shall keep accurate accounts of all sums of money received for rents, issues, and profits on account of the said land, and of all costs, charges, and disbursements in connection with the management and maintenance thereof, and on the thirty-first day of March 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 thirty-first day of March in that year; and such accounts and balance-sheet shall be forwarded to the Governor, who may, if he shall think fit, order such accounts and balance-sheet to be published in the New Zealand Gazette.

11 Board may make rules.

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 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 parcel of land as it may be found necessary and desirable to 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.

Schedule

All that parcel of land in the County of Grey and Colony of New Zealand, being Section No. 821, Reserve No. 34, of the late Province of Canterbury, containing by admeasurement seventy-nine (79) acres, more or less, situate near the south bank of the River Grey. Commencing at a point on the Road Reserve along the north-eastern bank of the Omotumotu Creek, the same being six (6) chains seventy (70) links south-east of the Omotumotu Bridge; thence following a line bearing North 64° 30’ East (magnetic), a distance of about thirty-five (35) chains twenty (20) links; thence following another line bearing South 40° 50’ East (magnetic), a distance of sixteen (16) chains forty (40) links to the road before mentioned; and from thence returning along the same to the commencing point.

Greymouth Racecourse Reserve Act 1878