[PROVINCE OF OTAGO.]

Be it enacted by the Superintendent of the Province of Otago, by and with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council thereof, as follows:—

1. The Lands reserved for public purposes, such as Fortifications, Public Buildings, sites for places of Public Worship and Instruction, Baths, Wharves, Quays, Cemeteries, Squares, a Park, and other places for health and recreation in and about the Town of Dunedin, in pursuance of the foresaid Terms of Purchase of Land within the said Settlement agreed upon between the New Zealand Company and the Otago Association, and delineated on the plans or maps prepared by the Company’s and the Government Surveyor, are and shall be, and are hereby declared to be, public property.

2. A Board of Commissioners shall be formed for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Ordinance, and acting as Conservators, Trustees, and Managers of the foresaid lands, and shall be called “The Board of Commissioners for the Management of the Public Lands in Dunedin.”

3. The said Board of Commissioners shall consist of the Members of the Provincial Council of Otago for the time being, and Six other persons, who shall be elected by, and other persons qualified and entitled to vote in any of the Electoral Districts of the Province of Otago for the election of Members of the Provincial Council, and of Members of the House of Representatives.

4. The Superintendent of the Province shall, before the 1st day of April next, assemble the said Electors at a given time and place within the Town of Dunedin, of which notice shall be given in the Provincial Government Gazette and otherwise as he shall direct, at least ten days previously, for the purpose of electing the six Commissioners aforesaid. And he shall yearly thereafter, before the 1st day of April, assemble the said electors in like manner, for the purpose of electing three Commissioners as hereby enacted; and the electors assembled at such meeting shall make said election by a majority of their number; and the Superintendent shall appoint a proper person to preside at such meetings, who shall have a casting vote in case of equality.

5. Three of said six Commissioners shall go out of office yearly by rotation, and three persons qualified as aforesaid shall be elected in their stead. Provided always, that any Commissioner going out of office and qualified as aforesaid shall be eligible for re-election. And the Superintendent of the Province shall decide which three of the first six elected Commissioners shall go out of office at the end of the first year.

6. In case of the insolvency, departure from the Province, or mental incapacity of any of the said six Commissioners, the seat of such Commissioner shall be vacant, and every such vacancy, and vacancy by death, shall be filled up within a month by the Superintendent of the Province electing another Commissioner, who shall hold office till next yearly election, but shall be eligible for re-election.

7. No meeting of the said Commissioners shall be competent for the despatch of any business unless one-third of the whole members of the Board of Commissioners be present; and all questions shall be decided by the majority of the votes of the members present other than the Chairman; but in cases wherein the votes are equal, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

8. It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners to make bye-laws for the orderly conduct of the business of the Board; which bye-laws shall be laid before the Superintendent of the Province, and being by him in Council approved, and published in the Government Gazette, shall become binding and in force.

9. It shall be lawful for the said Commissioners at any time to take, or cause to be taken, all necessary measures for preventing or abating any encroachment, nuisance, or trespass, whereby the aforesaid lands, or the rights of the public thereto, may be in any wise injured.

10. Any person who shall be guilty of any encroachment, nuisance, or trespass on the said lands may either be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be liable to suffer fine or imprisonment, or may be deemed guilty of a civil wrong, and shall be liable in damages.

11. All actions or proceedings against persons committing such offences shall be at the instance of the Solicitor of the Province for the public interest, or of such other public prosecutor as the Superintendent of the Province shall appoint; and it shall be lawful for any two Justices of the Peace to take cognizance of and decide in a summary way all such actions.

12. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners from time to time to let on lease for any period not exceeding 19 years any part of said lands for any purpose not inconsistent with the purposes for which they were destined and reserved by the aforesaid Terms of Purchase, and, on expiry of every lease, to grant a new lease for a similar period, or other period not exceeding 19 years as aforesaid: Providing always, that if the subject of any such lease shall be applied to any purpose inconsistent with the terms and conditions of lease, or the original destination of the lands of which it forms a part, such lease shall, in the option of the Commissioners, be ipso facto void and null.

13. If any grant of any part of said lands for any of the public purposes aforesaid shall be applied for, such application shall be accompanied with plans and specifications of the buildings or improvements proposed to be made thereon, and full information in writing of the objects and purposes of such application; and if, on consideration thereof, it shall appear to the Commissioners that the application should be entertained, they shall lay the whole, accompanied with any recommendation they shall think fit to make, before the Superintendent and Provincial Council.

14. In letting water frontages for wharves, it shall be one of the conditions of lease that no such wharf, nor any wall or fence enclosing the same, shall obstruct the navigation of the harbour or any waterway.