DRAINAGE BOARDS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4930, 25 January 1926, Page 3

DRAINAGE BOARDS.

hauraki and horahia. PROVISICNS FOR AMALGAMATION. .The subject of the proposal; of the Horahia Drainage Board .to amalgamate' with the Hauraki Board :amc before the; latter body at its! meeting on Friilay. The Under-Secretary, Department of Internal Affairs, wrote on January 8 advising that a request had been received It the amalgamation of the Hauraki and Horahia, drainage districts’ under the provisions of section 15 of' the Lands Drainage Act. BeJfcrfore taking action the department desired the views of the board on the matter. In reply to .the board’s letter advising that it did not favour the amalgamation of the two boards a,t the present time, as, it was not considered opportune, and the boaid • would have nothing to gain but much to lose, so i would take all possible steps to oppose the ama'llgamitior, the department advised, on j.anuaiy 18, that the matter was receiving very careful consideration. The matter was discussed in committee. Section 15 of the Lands Drainage is as follows :— — "(IX Notwithstanding .anything, in this Act, the Governor may from time to .time, by Order-in-Council gazetted, declare .that any two or”more adjoining districts shall form one united district with some name as is. assigned thereto by the Order. “(2) On the making of any such qrder the boards oj| the districts so untied shall be dissolved, and all P’operty of any of'the districts, so united shall be vested in the board of the united district, and. all liabilities and engagements of any district so’ united shall be liabilities and engagements of the.united district, and all proceedings pending by or against the board of any district so united may be carried on by or against the board of the united district: Provided that on any fcr'fejuch union it shall be lawful for the boards of the district so united to agree, as, a condition precedent ,to such union, that alii special rates made as, security for loans then, exist- - ing shall, continue to be levied only within the area over which they were 'respectively originally levied, and every such agreement shall be binding on the board of the united district. “(3) Every . such united district shall be deemedl to be a district constituted under this Act, and the pioiisions of this Act shall apply thereto accordingly. “(4) No order shall be' made under this section except on the petition of the boards of the district, or, if such - boards do not agree, then on the recommendation of a commission apunder the. Commissions of ’ Inquiry Act, 1908.” Among the other provisions of the Act relative to the matter are those that provide for the election, of the Board of Trustees by the setters of the whole area to be administered- ' The board shall consist of not less than five nor more more than seven trustees, a,nd these shall hold office ' until* the first triennial election, which shall, be held on the first Monday in the month of November in .the year following the year in which the first trustees are elected. The board may. from time'to time divide the district into subdivisions " and fix the representation thereof. Section 22 of the Act is also relevant to the dispute between the two boards, as, the Horahia Board dqsires a commission to consider'amalgamation as a means of securing outlets through the Haurjiki Boaid’s area, whereas the Hauraki Board is of opin- ■'■■■ ion that the matter sould be settled without amalgamation, though a commission might be advisable to secure a definite and binding agreement. The wording of Section 22 is as follows : — “For the execution of any works either wholly or partially within its district, or outside .thereof, the board may join with the board of any other district, or if the lands, through which the works a,re to be constructed are not within the jurisdiction of any board, then with the owner of such lands or with' any local authority, and may agree for the apportionment of the cost of such works among the parties thereto in such proportion*' as are deemed fair and equitable by the 1 said parties, or "as any person whom they appoint as referee in The case decides. "Any dispute shall, on the application of either party, be heard 1 and decided, and the cost of the works,, and their, future maintenance between the parties to the dispute apportioned, hy a magistrate sitting with two assessors.’.’ Section 85 provides for the appointment, etc., of the assessors.