This Act may be cited as the Balclutha Borough (Forestry) Empowering Act 1954.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Council is hereby empowered to do all or any of the following things:

• (a) to purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire any area or areas of land, either with or without improvements, or any interest therein which the Council may deem it desirable to hold for afforestation purposes or other purposes incidental thereto:

  provided that no land which in the opinion of the Minister of Lands is or should be used exclusively or principally for agricultural purposes, as defined in subsection 1 of section 2 of the Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act 1952, shall be purchased, leased, or otherwise acquired for such purposes as aforesaid:

• (b) to carry on the business of forestry, afforestation, and the nursery production of forest trees, whether indigenous or exotic:

• (c) to cut down, remove, recover, and sell by private sale, tender, or auction any trees, timber, or firewood on or from any existing plantation the property of the Corporation or on or from any area or areas hereafter acquired pursuant to the authority hereinbefore granted:

• (d) to recover from the trees, timber, or wood or any other like thing by any process whatsoever any products capable of being put to commercial use or profit or to any scientific or other useful purpose, and to sell such articles and things:

• (e) to purchase any tree seeds or nursery stock necessary for the aforesaid business and to recover and sell tree seeds and other forest products from the trees grown by the Council:

• (f) to take all steps which in the opinion of the Council may be necessary or desirable for the prevention or control of fire, including for that purpose the purchase of sheep and cattle and the proper care and maintenance of the same:

• (g) to enter into any contract or agreement for the carrying out of the purposes of this Act.

The Council may for the purposes of this Act establish and carry on any operations or industry relative to the felling, cutting, extraction, removal, conversion, manufacture, transport, distribution, or sale of timber, forest produce, or finished products derived from forest produce, and may construct, purchase, rent, lease, or hire any buildings, machinery, or plant required in connection therewith.

(1) The Council shall from time to time cause working plans to be prepared for all land under the control of the Council which is for the time being appropriated to forestry purposes.

(2) Every such working plan shall, subject to the rights existing when the plan comes into operation, and subject to the provisions of this Act, regulate the management of the land described in the plan for such period, not exceeding 20 years, as may be stated in the plan.

(3) Every such working plan shall specify, with respect to the period thereof,—

• (a) the silvicultural operations to be carried out:

• (b) the maximum area from which forest produce may be disposed of or the maximum quantity of forest produce that may be disposed of, or both, as the Council thinks fit:

• (c) the protection and development operations to be carried out:

• (d) such other matters as the Council thinks fit.

(4) Every working plan shall be subject to the approval of the Minister of Forests, and, when so approved, shall have effect according to its tenor from a date specified therein, and shall not be altered except by the Minister at the request of the Council.

(5) The Council shall, within 1 year after the passing of this Act, or within such extended period as the Minister of Forests may allow, prepare a general forest working plan of future operations in respect of a period of not less than 5 years. The plan shall specify fully the silvicultural operations proposed to be carried on during the currency of the plan, and all other matters necessarily connected with forestry operations.

(6) It shall not be lawful for the Council to carry on such silvicultural operations as aforesaid until the plan has been approved by the Minister of Forests, and all such operations shall be carried on according to the plan as so approved.

(7) In the month of June in each year the Council shall send to the Minister of Forests a report for the year ending on the 31 March then last past specifying full particulars of the technical operations and of the administration of all land used for the purposes of this Act; and shall at the same time submit a plan of operations and management for the ensuing year, which shall take effect on being approved by the Minister.

The Council may from time to time, subject to the provisions of this Act and of any working plan for the time being in force thereunder, grant licences and permits to take forest produce from any land to which this Act applies or to occupy any such land for any purpose which in the opinion of the Council is not prejudicial to forestry operations, upon and subject to such terms and conditions whether as to royalties, charges, or otherwise as the Council thinks fit.

The Council may from time to time make such bylaws as it thinks fit for the purpose of regulating the subject matter of this Act, and in particular for protecting from damage, injury, or misappropriation any property, whether real or personal, belonging to the Corporation or controlled by the Council for the purposes of this Act, whether within or beyond the Borough of Balclutha.

The Council may raise a special loan under the Local Bodies' Loans Act 1926 for any of the purposes hereinbefore mentioned:

provided that the Council shall not borrow more than 3,000 pounds pursuant to the authority conferred by this section.

The operations of the Council under this Act shall be deemed to be a trading undertaking within the meaning and for the purposes of Part 11 of the Municipal Corporations Act 1933, and the provisions of that Part shall apply accordingly.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit or affect in any way the provisions of the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1947 or the Forests Act 1949 or any other enactment.