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1926. NEW ZEAL A N 1)

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND SURVEY. PUBLIC DOMAINS OF NEW ZEALAND (ANNUAL REPORT ON).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Sib, — Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington, 28th June, 1926. I have the honour to report on the public domains of the Dominion for the year ended 31st March, 1926. Fourteen new domains, totalling 216 acres, were brought under the provisions of Part II of the Public Reserves and Domains Act, 1908, during the year. Boards have been appointed to control eleven of the new areas, and appointments will be made in due course for the other three. Additions totalling some 383 acres were also made to fourteen existing domains. The total number of domains administered under Part II of the Act now numbers 660, comprising a total area of approximately 69,380 acres. The various Commissioners of Crown Lands administer forty-five of these domains, 234 are controlled by local authorities acting as Domain Boards, while the remainder are under the care of local Boards appointed from time to time. Some interesting amendments and additions to the law governing domains were made by the Public Reserves and Domains Amendment Act, 1925. Section 2of that enactment provides that on the recommendation of a Domain Board the Minister may authorize an increase in the maximum admission charge of Is. allowed under the principal Act to any amount not exceeding 2s. per head. No increase has been made in the number of days in any one year on which admission charges may be made. This still stands at ten days in any year, with a condition that charges may be made by special permission in each case on additional days not exceeding five in number. Provision is made by section 2 for the payment to the Domain Board of such proportion of the increased charge as may be fixed by the Minister, such money to be expended on the improvement of the particular domain concerned. Under section 3 the Governor-General may by Order in Council direct that any moneys received in respect of any public domain may be expended in the improvement, &c., of any other specified domain. No Order in Council is to be issued without the written consent of the Domain Board concerned. This provision will meet the needs of cases where a domain has to its credit more funds than could be profitably expended on its improvement, and which could be better employed in improving some other domain not so well endowed. In-the past special legislation has had to be provided in each case of this nature. Section 4- provides that the Governor-General may by Order in Council direct that any two or more public domains shall be united to form one domain. For ease and simplicity of management it is sometimes advisable to amalgamate domains in the same locality, and the statutory provision now made in that regard should prove very useful in appropriate cases. Formerly special legislation has had to be supplied in each case of this nature. An exceptionally interesting portion of the amending Act provides a basis for solution of the problem that often arises of the upkeep of public domains that are extensively used by residents ol more than one district. The idea underlying the legislation is that in cases where a public domain is generally used by the inhabitants of the district of more than one local authority the cost of management, improvement, and maintenance should be borne by the several local authorities in appropriate .proportions. Minor provisions of the Act provide for the ending of the financial year of Domain Boards on the 31st March, to conform with the general custom, and for the remaining in office of members of Boards until the appointment of their successors. As usual, a number of matters affecting public domains were dealt with in the Reserves and other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act. Authority was granted for the expenditure on the Mount Roskill Domain of certain funds standing to the credit of the Hillsborough Square