Regulations under “The Mining Districts Land Occupation Act, 1894.”

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 6, Issue 8, 25 January 1895, Page 3

Regulations under “The Mining Districts Land Occupation Act, 1894.”

For the information of our mining friends we publish the following;— 1. The haae to be granted under these regulations shall be termed an “ occupation lease.” Every person desirous of obtaining an occupation lease for agricultural or horticultural purposes of any reserve or portion ot any reserve set apart for mining purposes, or any other Crown land within ai y mining districtnot exceeding lOOacrei, shall make application to the Commissioner of Crown Lands or the District Lsnd Officer of the land district in which the land applied for is situated, in the form of the First Schedule to these regulations, or to the like effect. 2. Every application for other than a whole section or whole sections of surveyed land shall state the estimated area, and shall be accompanied by a treeing or sketch from a survey map •efficient to identify the particular area applied for. 3. Every application for unsurreyed land shall contain a written description of the land, with estimated area, and the boundaries shall, so far as practicable, be straight lines, roads, existing survey lines or natural boundaries. tH 4. Should the land applied for be nnsurveyed, the applicant shall, within thirty days of the approval of his application, deposit the estimated cpst of surveying the area applied for, otherwise the application shall be deemed cancelled and withdrawn. The money so deposited shall be treated as rent paid in advance, and no further payment shall be required on account of rent until the beginning of the halfyear subsequent to the period for which such deposit has paid the full rent in advance. 5. All land applied for other than whole sections shall be marked out by erecting and mantaining at each angle a post not less than Sin. in diameteter and standing not less than Bft. above the surface of the ground, an! by L trenches not less than 6in, deep, lOin. wide, and sft. long. 6. Every applicant for surveyed land shall pay an amount equal to a halfyear’s reat within thirty days of his application being granted. He shall also pay for the lease a fee of £l/1, for the preparation and registration thereof, otherwise the appMcation shall deemed to be withdrawn and void. 7. A copy of every application shall be posted at each corner of the land applied for, and mantained by the applicant, tor at least fom teen days before the application can be considered by the Land Board.

8. Every application shall be advertised by and at the expense of the applicant twice in such one newspaper, or once each in such two newspapers, as the Commissioner of Crown Lands or District Land Officer may direct, and copies of such newspaper or newspapers shall be produced by the applicant at the hearing. 9. If there he no valid objection, and the Commissioner ot Crown Lsnds or District Land Officer he not aware of any sufficient reason why a lease should not issue, the Land Board may grant to the applicant an occupation lease of the land applied for, or such portion thereof as they may deem expedient, end such lease shall be in the form of the Second Schedule to these regulations, or to the like tffect. 10. In granting any such lease, the Commissioner of Crown Lands may impose such special conditions as be may deem advisable. 11. In the event of any person objecting to the granting of an occupation lease, he shall set forth the grounds of objection in writing to the Commissioner of Crown Lands or District Land Officer, and also serve a copy thereof on the Warden and upon the applicant, three da\ s at the least before the expiration of the notice ; and the person objecting may, at the Land Board, urge the objection personally or by agent. The Land Board may refuse any application il the whole or part of the land is aurife; ous, or for any other reason in its discretion, whether objections are lodged or not. 12. The lessee shall pay to the Receiver of Land Revenue, during the currency of the lease, the half-yearly rental in advance, on the firat daya of January and July in each year. Rent shall be fixed by the Board, bnl shall ant be less than at the rate of -/6 for •every acre or portion of an acre per annum.

13. Occupation leases will be granted lor the term of twenty-one years ; bat at the expiration of the term the lease may be renewed, subject, however, in each case to the provisions of sections 10 end 11 of “ The Mining Districts Land Occupation Act, 1594.” 14. Free access shall be given to and aver the land occupied under any such lease to holders of miner’s right for the purpose of enabling them to cut and remove timber (except kauri or re* jerved trees) for fencing and for their own domestic use, or for props, caps, laths, sluice-boxes, or paving-blocksfor filuice-boxes, to be used in connection with claims held by them personally or .conjointly with others, or in which they are working a» wages-men; also to prospect for gold, and to mark out and take up claims, and to taka levels for and mark out the proposed course and politico of races, dams, tunnels, and tramways for mmng purposes ; and the Warden may on application grant any snob maim, rare, or mining privilege without any compensation to the lessee, subject, however that, if the Under any portion thereof

is cultivated or otherwise improved, such cultivated or improved land shall not, unless by consent of the lessee, be interfered with or taken possession of for mining purposes until after three months’ notice to the lessee, who shall be entitled to compensation for any buildings or other substantial improvements that he may have on the land, and if the land be in cmp he shall be allowed a reasonable time to save and remove the crop.

15. In case any portion of any land occupied under any such lease shall be taken for mining purposes, the lessee shall be entitled to a redaction of rent in proportion to the acreage so taken, or to apply for an equal area of adjacent Crown Land, subject to objection as in case of an original application. 16. The lessee shall be required to reside upon and occupy the whole of the land held under his lease. 17. If it be shown to the satisfaction of the Warden that the ground occupied under any lease or any portion thereof contains a payable deposit of gold, then any miner may lodge an application at the nearest Warden’s Office for leave to mine upon or under the ground thus occupied. The applicant shall serve the leasee with a true copy ot such application, and such application and any objections that may be made thereto shall be heard by the Warden in accordance with the provisions of the mining regulations. And upon proof of the service of the copy of application upon the lessee, and upon hearing such application and objections (if any), the Warden may refuse to grant the application, or may grant the same upon the applicant depositing in Court such amount as, in addition to the amount standing at the credit of the Mining Districts Land Occupation Account, the Warden may consider sufficient to re-pay the lessee the compensation provided for in Section 9 of the said Act for the loss of or damage that may be done to the dwelling-house, buildings, orchard, or garden, or other improvements made under the lease, is the result of such grant. 18. The provisions of sections 81, 82, 88, 84, 85, as amended, and 86, 87, 88, 89. 90, of “The Land Act, 1892,” shall apply to all leases granted under these regulations.