554
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 15

5. Every applicant for surveyed land shall pay an amount equal to a half-year’s rent within thirty days of his application being granted. He shall also pay for the lease a fee of £1 1s. for the preparation and registration thereof, otherwise the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn and void.

6. 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.

7. If there is no valid objection, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands or District Land Officer is 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 deem expedient, and such lease shall be in the form of the Second Schedule to these regulations, or to the like effect.

8. In granting any such lease, the Commissioner of Crown Lands may impose such special conditions as he deems advisable.

9. 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 days at least before the expiration of the notice; and the person objecting may, at a meeting of the Land Board, urge the objection personally or by agent. The Land Board may refuse any application if the whole or part of the land is auriferous, or for any other reason in its discretion, whether objections are lodged or not.

10. The lessee shall pay to the Receiver of Land Revenue during the currency of the lease the half-yearly rental in advance, on the 1st days of January and July in each year. The rent shall be fixed by the Board, and shall not be less than at the rate of 6d. for every acre or portion of an acre per annum, with a minimum annual rental of £1.

11. Occupation leases will be granted for the term of twenty-one years; but at the expiration of the term the lease may be renewed, subject, however, in each case to the provisions of sections 277 and 278 of the said Act.

12. Free access shall be given to and over the land occupied under any such lease to holders of miners’ rights for the purpose of enabling them to cut and remove timber (except kauri or reserved trees) for fencing and for their own domestic use, or for props, caps, laths, sluice-boxes, or paving-blocks for sluice-boxes, to be used in connection with claims held by them personally or conjointly with others, or in which they are working as wages-men; also to prospect for gold, and to mark out and take up claims, and to take levels for and mark out the proposed course and position of races, dams, tunnels, and tramways for mining purposes; and the Warden may on application grant any such claim, race, or other mining privilege without any compensation to the lessee, subject, however, that, if the land or 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 is in crop he shall be allowed a reasonable time to save and remove the crop.

13. 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 reduction 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.

14. The lessee shall reside upon and occupy the whole of the land held under his lease, subject, however, to the provisions of sections 159 to 161 of the said Act.

15. The lessee shall put on the land comprised in his lease substantial improvements as follows:—

(a.) Within one year from the date of his lease, to an amount equal to 10 per centum of the value of the land.

(b.) Within two years from the date of his lease, to an amount equal to another 10 per centum of the value of the land.

(c.) And thereafter, but within six years from the date of his lease, to an amount equal to another 10 per centum of the value of the land.

And in addition thereto, within six years from the date of his lease, he shall put on the land substantial improvements of a permanent character to the value of £1 for every acre of first-class land and 10s. for every acre of second-class land comprised in the lease.

16. Improvements may consist of reclamation from swamps, clearing of bush, planting with trees or hedges, cultivation of gardens, fencing, draining, making roads, wells, water-tanks, water-races, sheep-dips, embankments, or protective works, or in any way improving the character or fertility of the soil, or the erection of any building, &c.; and cultivation includes the clearing of land for cropping, or clearing and ploughing for laying down with artificial grasses, &c.

17. If it is 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 lessee with a true copy of 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.

18. 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 repay the lessee the compensation provided for in section 276 of the said Act for the loss of or damage that may be done to the dwellinghouse, buildings, orchard, or garden, or other improvements made under the lease, as the result of such grant.

19. The provisions of sections 82 to 94, inclusive, of the said Act shall apply to all leases granted under these regulations.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

FORM OF APPLICATION AND DECLARATION.

[Lands Form No.

New Zealand.

Application for an Occupation Lease under Part VIII of “The Land Act, 1908.”

To the Commissioner of Crown Lands,

I HEREBY apply for an occupation lease of acres roods perches of land, particulars of which are hereunder given.

Signature in full :

Residence :

Occupation :

Date :

Survey District:

Block.

Section.

Area.

Rent per Acre.

Capital Value per Acre.

Amount deposited (Half-year’s Rent and 21s.).

Remarks.

(If the land is unsurveyed, insert brief description instead of Section No., &c., and draw a sketch on the back or attach a tracing.)

A.

R.

P.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Declaration on applying for an Occupation Lease under Part VIII of “The Land Act, 1908.”

I, , of , do solemnly and sincerely declare—

1. That I am of the age of seventeen years and upwards.

2. That I am, subject to the provisions of Part VIII of “The Land Act, 1908,” desirous of acquiring a lease of the land described in the foregoing application.

3. That I am acquiring such lease solely for my own use and benefit, and not directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever.

4. That, including the lands now applied for, I am not the owner, tenant, or occupier, directly or indirectly, either by myself or jointly with any other person or persons, of any lands anywhere in New Zealand exceeding in the whole 100 acres.

And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908.”

Signature :

Declared at , this day of , 19 ,

before me—

A Justice of the Peace for New Zealand.

Received on , 19 , at , Commissioner of Crown Lands [or District Land Officer].