Council Papers.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 5, Issue 256, 15 February 1862, Page 3

Council Papers.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH REFERENCE TO WATER FRONTAGES IN EASTERN HARBOUR. Superintendent's Office, Napier, Aug. 29, 1861. Sib, — I desire to bring to the notice of His Excellency's Government the following circumstances which have arisen since a Deed of Grant under the Public Reserves Act of 1854, dated 24th December 1860, to the late Superintendent and his successors, of lands to be reclaimed from the sea within certain boundaries about the town and harbour of Napier, was executed by the Governor. Tt is stated in the Grant that all that parcel of land, be the same above or below high water mark, situated in the harbour and other portions around the Town of Napier as delineated in a plan attached to the Deed of Grant, the limits of which are defined by a red line, is granted to the Superintendent in trust for the improvement of the harbour of Napier, for the construction of docks, piers, and other works therein as may be deemed advisable for facilitating trade and commerce. Upon this Deed of Grant the Provincial Council passed an Act intituled " Harbour Eeserves " during the last session, empowering the Superintendent, by and with the consent of the Executive Council, to sell, lease, or reserve for public purposes all lands to which the Act applies. I beg to refer you to a letter (dated 9th Nov.) from the late Superintendent, Mr. FitzGerald, in which he states that he forwarded a plan shewing the limits within which, as delineated by a red dotted line, the proposed improvements in the harbour are intended to be carried on, in. order that a grant may be made to the Superintendent of the Province in conformity with the provisions of the Public Reserves Act of 1854, of whatever land may be reclaimed within these limits. Accompanying the letter above alluded to was a memorandum specifying the boundaries within which it was proposed to reclaim land from the sea. Included within these boundaries and commencing from the Eastern entrance of Port Napier were Town Sections Nos. 518, 517, 516, 515, and 514, as shewn on the plan attached to the Deed of Grant. Some doubt has arisen as to whether the water frontage of these sections should have been included in the boundaries within which the Superintendent of the Province has a right to reclaim land for public parposes. I beg to enclose herewith copies of correspondence which ensued on the subject of an implied guarantee of water frontage to the purchasers of these sections given on the day of sale, between the proprietors of some of them and the late Superintendent ; also a letter to the Commissioner of Crown Lands at Napier and his reply thereto. I also beg to enclose copies of the Grants under which the proprietors hold their sections. Would you have the goodness to obtain as soon as possible from the Hon. the Attorney-General an opinion on the question which has arisen on the subject referred to, it being absolutely necessary for the improvement of the harbour of Napier that a wharf should be erected in front of. the sections, as well as the Custom-house reserve, to enable vessels to discharge and load their cargoes with facility, which they are at present precluded

from by the shallowness of the water in the locality known as the Iron Pot. I wish to know if the Provincial Government are still justified, after the representations which have been lately been made to me by a deputation of some of the proprietors of the sections referred to, in interfering with them, the owners of which having claimed exclusive right to the water frontage; and further, if the land is reclaimed in ♦ front of these sections by the Provincial Government for public purposes, whether the owners could claim compensation for depriving them of their water frontages. I also beg to enclose copies of correspondence which passed between the late Superintendent and Mr. Ward, Barrister at Law, (then of Wellington) ' whom Mr. FitzGerald consulted on a very similar case, and by which you will perceive Mr. Ward was of opinion that no compensation could be claimed. I have, &c, (Signed) J. C. Lambton Carter, Superintendent. The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Auckland. Colonial Secretary's Office, * ' Auckland, 30th Sept., 1861.Sib, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of Your Honor's letter of the 29th August last, on the subject of a proposed embankment ot land from the sea within the Port of Napier. Having referred your letter to the Attorney- General, I have the honor to inform you that in his opinion there is nothing, so far as he can form a judgment from the information before him, upon which the proprietors of land adjoining the harbour can found a claim for special rights of water frontage. At the same time, without being informed of the circumstances under which such land was disposed of, or laid out for sale, it would be impossible to give an absolute opinion on that point. The public service, and the Crown on behalf of the public service, possess rights in ports and harbours which possibly may be interfered with by embankments such as those now proposed at Napier. It ie essential that in any such risk proper guarantees should be taken for securing the rights and convenience of the public service. The proper course, in the opinion of the Attorney- G-eneral, will be for the Provincial Government of Napier to obtain an Act of the General Assembly authorizing the embankment. Parties who may think themselves aggrieved will then have an opportunity of putting forward their claims. I have, &c, (Signed) WniiiAM Fox. His Honor The Superintendent, Hawke's Bay.