1444

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 71

Amended Regulations for the Formation of Special Settlements.

WM. F. DRUMMOND JERVOIS,
Governor.

ORDER IN COUNCIL.

At the Government Buildings, at Wellington, this fifth day of December, 1885.

Present:

THE HONOURABLE THE PREMIER PRESIDING IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS by the one hundred and sixty-third section of “The Land Act, 1885,” it is enacted that the Governor in Council may from time to time make, alter, and repeal regulations for fixing the terms and conditions upon which the lands in any special settlement shall be disposed of, and the mode of payment for the same:

And whereas it is desirable to revoke the regulations which were made by Order in Council issued on the eleventh day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, and to make new regulations for the formation of special settlements:

Now, therefore, I, William Francis Drummond Jervois, the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, in pursuance and exercise of the power and authority conferred upon me by the hereinbefore in part recited Act, and by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said colony, do hereby revoke the Order in Council of the eleventh day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, and do hereby fix the following terms and conditions as those upon which special-settlement blocks shall be disposed of, and the mode of payment for the same, that is to say,—

REGULATIONS.

1. Any association of persons of not less than twenty-five, who may be desirous of settling on Crown lands adjacent to each other, may arrange with the Government for a block of land on the following general conditions:—

2. In the construction of these regulations, unless the context shall otherwise require, the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them:—

“Association” shall mean the Small-Farm Association:

“Land” shall mean any block of land set apart for a special settlement:

“Settler” shall mean any member of the association or other person purchasing or leasing land under these regulations, whether male or female:

“Receiver of Land Revenue” shall mean Receiver of Land Revenue at , or other officer for the time being acting as such:

“Minister” shall mean the Minister of Lands for the time being, or any member of the Executive acting for him:

“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Land District:

“Secretary” shall mean the secretary of the association for the time being, and shall include any person acting in that capacity, and if there shall be no secretary, then the chairman of the association:

“Registered substitute” shall mean any person employed by a settler to fulfil the residential and improvement conditions, and whose name shall be registered in the office of the Minister:

“Authorized surveyor” shall mean a surveyor who holds a certificate of competency from the Surveyor-General:

“Perpetual lease” shall mean a lease with perpetual right of renewal in terms of Part IV. of “The Land Act, 1885,” but with no right to the settler to acquire the freehold of the land.

3. Any block of land to be selected under these regulations shall contain not less than 1,000 acres nor more than 11,000 acres, inclusive of roads, townships, and all other reserves; and it will be surveyed into areas not exceeding 150 acres or thereabouts, on deferred payments: Provided that the number of persons located in each block shall not be less than one person for every 100 acres of its total area.

4. If a block or any portion of a block is to be disposed of on perpetual leasing it will be surveyed into areas of 200 acres or thereabouts: Provided that not less than one person shall be located for every 150 acres.

5. Any association may, on payment in cash for the same, set apart such area, within the boundaries of any block it may select, as may be approved by the Surveyor-General, not in any case exceeding 640 acres, for a site for a township and reserves. The plan and survey of any township so set apart and approved shall be subject to the provision of regulation 6, and shall be deposited in the office of the District Land Registrar.

6. All surveys shall be conducted in accordance with instructions to be given from time to time by the Surveyor-General of the colony, and subject to his approval in every respect; and, on completion, the original plans and field-books shall be deposited at the office of the Chief Surveyor of the land district in which the block is situated.

The cost of survey and roading, not exceeding 2s. 6d. per acre, shall be paid for by the secretary in, say, four instalments, three months to elapse between each payment. The first payment shall be made when the association has agreed to take a special block; or, subject to the approval of the Surveyor-General, any association may employ an authorized surveyor, and pay the cost of survey and road-making. In such cases the aforesaid payment shall not be required. Through roads to give access to adjacent country must be laid off.

7. Such portions of the land as may be required for the purposes of the Government of the colony, or for educational, recreation, or other public purposes, and as shall be approved by the Minister, shall not be open for allotment under these regulations.

8. The allotment of sections to members of the association shall be made at such time and in such manner as the association may, with the consent of the Commissioner, determine.

9. The land shall be disposed of at such price or rental as may be arranged between the Minister and the association, subject to the provisions of the said Act, and the price or rental shall be payable as follows:—

(a.) If on deferred payments, one-tenth of the price of the whole block shall be paid by the secretary prior to the allotment of the sections. This will be in satisfaction of the two first half-yearly instalments to be reckoned as due from the next first day of January or July following. Thereafter the payments shall be made by each settler every six months in advance, at the rate of one-twentieth of the price of the land, until the whole price has been paid:

(b.) If on perpetual lease, an amount equal to one year’s rent of the whole block shall be paid by the secretary prior to the allotment of the sections. This will be in satisfaction of the two first half-yearly rentals to be reckoned as due from the next first day of January or July following. Thereafter the payments of rent shall be made by each settler every six months, in advance, at the rate of one-fortieth of the value of the land.

10. One-third of the price of the land on deferred payments will from time to time, as paid to the Government, be repaid to the local body of the district, or the association, for expenditure on roads or bridges in or leading to the block.

11. Where lands are disposed of on perpetual lease, one-third of the rents paid from time to time shall, for the first fifteen years, be repaid to the local body of the district, or the association, for expenditure on roads in or leading to the block.

12. All the moneys required to be paid for the land under these terms and conditions shall be paid to the Receiver of Land Revenue, and receipts given by him shall be sufficient discharges for the payment of the moneys therein respectively acknowledged to have been received.

13. The purchaser shall be entitled to a Crown grant of the land selected by him, upon proof to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that he has been continuously in residential occupation of the land selected by him, either personally or by a registered substitute, for a period of six years, and has fulfilled all the conditions: Provided that in bush land residence need not commence within two years from the date of allotment.

14. The provisions of the foregoing section relating to residential occupation by purchasers shall apply equally to lessees, with the exception of the right of acquiring the freehold of the land.

15. All usual and accustomed fees for the time being payable for the issue of the Crown grant shall be paid by the settler.

16. The settlers shall be members of the association, and shall not be under seventeen years of age.

17. The secretary shall inform the Commissioner of the names of the settlers, and also furnish the Commissioner with minutes of proceedings of the association if so required.

18. A certificate signed by the secretary of the association shall be sufficient evidence that the person claiming to select land is a member thereof.

19. Each settler shall, within two years from the date of his selection, bring into cultivation not less than one-tenth of the land selected by him.

Each settler shall, within four years from the date of his selection, bring into cultivation not less than one-fifth of the land selected by him.

Each settler shall, within six years from the date of his selection, in addition to the cultivation of one-fifth of the land, have put substantial improvements of a permanent character on the land to the value of £1 for every acre of such land.

20. The expression “substantial improvements of a permanent character” shall, for all purposes of these regulations, mean and include reclamation from swamps, clearing