PROPOSED "AUCKLAND HARBOUR TRUST ACT."

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 119, 27 May 1870, Page 2

PROPOSED "AUCKLAND HARBOUR TRUST ACT."

Whereas it is expedient to commit the care and management of the Harbotu' of Auckland, together with the wharves, piers, and improvements thereof unto a local Board, Be it therefore enacted : 1. The Short Title of this Act shall be " The Auckland Harbour Trust Act, 1870." 2. There shall be constituted for the Port and Harbour of Auckland a Board of Trustees, who Bhall, under the name of " The Auckland Harbour Trust," be a Corporation, with all the incidents, privileges, duties, liabilities, and responsibilities of a Corporation. 3. The said Board shall consist of the Superintendent of the Province of Auckland, four persons to be appointed annually by the Provincial Council of the said province, and four persons to be elected annually by the persons liable to pay, and who during the preceding year aball have paid, ten pounds or upwards of port, harbour, pilotage, Oi* wharfage dues or charges. 4. On the first Monday in October iv each year a meeting of persons qualified to elect, as aforesaid, shall be held at noon, in the Provincial Council Chambers, at which meetin er four members, as aforesaid, shall be elected by the persons, not being less than ten, present thereat; the said meeting having power to elect its own chairman, wbo shall bave a casting but no deliberative vote. 5. If, from any cause whatever, no election takes place on the day aforesaid, such meeting shall stand adjourned from week to week until an election takes place. 6. The members appointed or elected as aforesaid shall hold office till the appointment or election of their successors respectively. 7. Any vacancy in the Board shall be filled up by the Board until the next annual appointment or election. 8. The death, resignation, bankruptcy, or insolvency, refusal to act, or absence from the province for six months, of any member, shall create a vacancy of his seat. 9. The Superintendent of tho Province of Auckland shall have power to determine all questions which may arise as to the validity of any elections, and shall have power to take all necessary measures for the amendment of any error or neglect which may occur in the appointment or election of members or in the proceedings of the Board. 10. No error or defect in the appointment or election of members or in the proceedings of the Board shall invalidate the proceedings. The first meeting of the Board shall be held at such time and place as the Superintendent shall appoint. 11. The Board shall havo power to elect its own Chairman and other officers, fix its own quorum, appoint its own times and places of i meeting, and generally to regulate its own proceedings. 12. The Board shall have the sole charge and management of the Harbour of Auckland, together with the wharves, piers, jetties, docks, endowments, and improvements thereof, the appointment of all harbourmasters, wharfingers, pilots, piermasters, signalmen, aud other officers, and the fixing and levying all port, harbour, wharf, dock, and pilot dues and charges, anything in lhe Marine Act, 1867, or any other Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand to the contrary notwithstanding.

13. The Board shall have and exercise in respect of the Port and Harbour of Auckland all the powers conferred by the Marine Act, 1867, sections 7, 10, 12, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 50, upon the Superintendent, the Governor, and the Governor in Council.

14. All by-laws and regulations now in force shall continue in force until altered, amended, or repealed by the Board. 15. The endowments specified in the schedule hereto are hereby vested in the said Auckland Harbour Trust, with power to sell, lease, mortgage, grant, convey, or otherwise dispose of the same, and to apply the proceeds thereof in furtherance of the objects of the said Trust, subject nevertheless to all existing leases and contracts in respect thereof, and to the liquidation of all burdens and debts thereon by way of mortgage, debentures, or otherwise.

16. No sale or disposal of the said endowments, or any part thereof, by way of lease or otherwise, for a longer period than 21 years, shall be valid, without the concurrence iv writing of the Superintendent of the Province and his Executive Council.

17. In case of the refusal or neglect of the said Board to exercise the powers hereby conferred, or to perform tho duties incumbent upon them, it shall be lawful for the Superintendent, upon such refusal or neglect beiug represented to him by the Province 1. Council, to exercise the said powers and perform the said duties in name of the said Board. 18. The Treasurer of the Board shall give such security as may be fixed by the Board, aud shall keep full, true, and particular accounts of all moneys received and paid by him on account of the Trust, and all such accounts, with all vouchers and papers relating thereto, together with a full abstract and balance-sheet showing all liabilities of the Trust up to tbe 30th September in each year, duly audited., shall be transmitted by the Treasurer to the Provincial Council within fourteen days of its first meeting thereafter, under a penalty of £50, recoverable in a summary way at the suit of any member of the Provincial Council, and such abstract and balance-sheet shall be laid before the Board and published in the Provincial Government Gazette annually in the month of October. 19. All vessels belonging to or employed in the service of her Majesty, the Colonial, or Provincial Governments, and all officers in the employment of the Imperial, Colonial, or Provincial Governments, and all goods, stoves, or other articles or things belonging to or for the service of her Majesty or the Colonial or Provincial Governments shall be exempt from all pilot, port, harbour, and wharf dues, rates, and tolls. 20. The Board may reclaim from tbe sea any portion of the endowments in the schedule mentioned without compensation to any person !or persons for any water frontage, rights, or privih'ges which may- be thereby affected.

21. All fines, fees, or penalties incurred under this Act, or any by-laws or regulations mado or continued in force hereunder shall be p;iid to the Board as part of the revenue thereof, anything to the contrary in section 49 of the Marine Act, 1867, notwithstanding.

22. None of the said endowments shall be deemed to be with'n the limits of the city of Auckland for any purposes of rating. 23. Nothing in this Act contained shall be

deemed in any way to affect any right or prerogative of lier Majesty, her heirs, or successors. _________