This Act may be cited as the Main Highways Amendment Act, 1936, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Main Highways Act, 1922 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

For the purposes of the principal Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

If any question arises as to whether any work in relation to a main highway is a work of construction or a work of maintenance it shall be decided by the Board, and the decision of the Board shall be final.

The enactments specified in the Schedule to this Act are hereby consequentially amended in the manner indicated in that Schedule.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the principal Act or in this Act, no work of construction in relation to a main highway shall be commenced, whether by or on behalf of the Board or by or on behalf of any local authority acting pursuant to a delegation from the Board or to an agreement with the Board, except with the precedent consent of the Minister.

The Minister, in his discretion, may refuse his consent under this section to the commencement of any work or works, or may grant his consent either unconditionally or upon or subject to such conditions as he thinks fit to impose. Any consent under this section may relate to any specified work or works or to a general programme of works.

The Board may from time to time, with the approval of the Minister, classify any main highway or portion of a main highway as a State highway.

The Board may from time to time determine a standard with respect to the construction and maintenance of any main highway or portion of a main highway.

Any classification or determination made under the foregoing provisions of this section may in like manner from time to time be varied, or may be at any time in like manner revoked.

This section is in substitution for section ten of the principal Act, and that section and section eleven of the Main Highways Amendment Act, 1925, are hereby accordingly repealed.

Subject to the provisions of this section, where a main highway or portion of a main highway has been classified under the last preceding section as a State highway the whole of the cost of the construction and maintenance of the State highway in accordance with the standard prescribed by the Board shall, as from the date of the classification, be provided by the Board out of the Main Highways Account.

In respect of any State highway the Board may undertake, at the request of a local authority, or may authorize any local authority to undertake any work of construction or maintenance that is of a higher standard than the standard prescribed by the Board or is in addition to the works required to be undertaken in order to comply with that standard. In any such case the Board may, in its discretion, and subject to such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, provide out of the Main Highways Account the whole or such part (if any) as the Board thinks fit of the cost of the work in so far as, in the opinion of the Board, it exceeds or is in addition to the cost that would have been incurred in carrying out works of the standard prescribed by the Board. Except as provided in this subsection, the additional cost, or so much thereof as is not provided by the Board as aforesaid, shall be payable by the local authority concerned.

Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be construed to relieve any local authority from any liability or obligation to which it may be subject in respect of any main highway at the time of the classification of the highway as a State highway. In any case where, pursuant to an arrangement made between the Board and a local authority before the classification of a highway as a State highway, the local authority is liable for a contribution towards the cost of the construction or maintenance of the highway, the Board may, if it thinks fit, remit the contribution in whole or in part in so far as it relates to a period after the classification of the highway as a State highway. If any amount so remitted has been paid it shall, without further appropriation than this section, be refunded out of the Main Highways Account.

If any local authority is dissatisfied with any final decision of the Board fixing the proportions of the cost of any work to be provided by the several local authorities in a highway district under section eighteen or section nineteen of the principal Act, or refusing in whole or in part an application for a remission under subsection three of the last preceding section, it may appeal to the Minister against the decision.

Every appeal under this section shall be made in writing within one month after the local authority has received notice of the decision of the Board and of the fact that it is final.

Upon an appeal under this section the Minister may either confirm the decision appealed against or vary it as he thinks fit.

For the purposes of this section a decision of the Board shall be deemed to be final when the Board expressly states that it is final. It shall be the duty of the Board whenever required so to do by a local authority that is affected by any decision of the Board to state forthwith whether or not the decision is final.

Section five of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—