Nga Ture O Niu Tireni: I Pahitia I Roto I Te Tau Wha Te Kau Ma Rima O Te Kuinitanga O Kuini Wikitoria, Me Te Nohoanga Tuatorutanga O Te Paremete Tuawhitu O Niu Tireni, I noho ki Poneke i timate i te rua te kau ma waru o nga ra o Mei, 1881.

Construction And Maintenance Of Fences

Construction And Maintenance Of Fences.

7.	A fence of any of the kinds mentioned and described in What deemed a sufficient fence. Schedule A to this Act shall be a sufficient fence within the meaning of this Act.
8.	Where a sufficient fence has already been erected under Exiting fences preserved. the provisions of any enactment hereby repealed, it shall not be necessary that any such fence should, until its re-erection, be made a sufficient fence within the meaning of this Act.
9.	The occupiers of adjoining lands not divided by a sufficient Adjoining occupiera to share cost of fencing. fence shall be liable to join in or contribute to the construction of a dividing fence between such lands in equal proportions, and notwith-standing that such dividing fence shall not extend along the whole boundary line. But no occupier shall be liable to contribute to any fence which is not, as far as practicable, continuous throughout its length.
10.	Any person desiring to compel any other person to contribute Notice to fence to be given. to the construction of a dividing fence under the provisions of this Act may serve on such person a notice to fence, which shall be in the form in the Schedule B hereto, and shall specify the boundary to be fenced, and contain a proposal for fencing the same, and shall specify the kind of fenee proposed to be constructed, page 4 If any person shall erect any fence without giving notice as aforesaid, the occupier or owner, as the case may be, of such adjoining land shall not be liable to pay any portion of the value of such fence.
11.	Objections to proposed fence. If any person upon whom a notice to fence is served shall object to the kind of fence specified in such notice, and shall desire to erect a sufficient fence of a different kind, he may, within twenty-eight days of receiving such notice, signify such objection and desire in writing to the giver thereof; and thereupon (unless the parties can agree upon the kind of fence to be erected) the question of the description of fence which shall be erected, and the cost thereof, shall be determined by a Resident Magistrate in the manner provided by section thirty-two of this Act.
12.	Provision in cases where fencing notices vary. If the occupiers of adjoining lands shall have served each other with notices to fence, and in such notices the descriptions of the kind of fence which the respeetive givers thereof desire to be erected shall vary, then (unless the parties can agree upon the kind of fenee to be erected) the question of the kind of fence which shall be erected, and the cost thereof, shall be determined by a Resident Magistrate in the manner provided by section thirty-two of this Act.
13.	If parties cannot agree, fence may be made. If, within two months when the land to be fenced is open land, and within six months when the land is covered with standing bush, after the service of a notice to fence, the giver and receiver thereof do not enter into an agreement as to the nature of the fence to be made and the cost thereof and the mode and time of making the same, and if the receiver thereof shall not serve on the giver thereof an objection to the kind of fence specified in manner provided by section eleven of this Act, then the person giving the notice to fence may proceed to erect a fence sufficient within the meaning of this Act.
14.	If default made by one party, other may fence and recover. If either party shall neglect or fail for the space of two months to perform his part of any such agreement which may be so made, the other party may thereupon, or at any time within six months thereafter, make a fence of the kind or description so agreed upon, and may immediately thereupon or at any time thereafter recover from the defaulting party one-half of the actual cost of making such fence.
15.	Contribution thereto to be made. The occupier of the adjoining land to whom a notice to fence shall have been given, or, when such half cost has not been previously paid, any person who, during the continuance of a dividing fence, shall go into occupation of such adjoining land, shall be liable for and shall pay to the person who constructed the fence, or his assigns, one-half of the original value of such dividing fence, within one month after a demand made upon him for the purpose by due notice.
16.	Where adjoining lands are Crown lands or Native lands. When a fence is erected on any land, and the lands adjoining thereto are at the time of the erection of such fence excepted from the application of this Act, then the occupier thereafter of such adjoining lands shall, not later than one calendar month after the time of his becoming the occupier, after a demand made upon him by notice given, pay to the person who has erected the fence, one-half of the then value of such fence: Provided that the sum so to be paid shall not exceed the maximum price to be paid by any person in respect of an efficient fence.page 5
17.	If any person shall desire to put up a dividing fence of a As to erection of fences not in Schedule A. description different from any fence mentioned in Schedule A, he shall give the required notice, as hereinbefore provided, to the parties whom he wishes to join in the making of such fence; and if the said parties shall not, within two months of the delivery of the aforesaid notice, object in writing to the erection of such fence, then such person first mentioned may proceed to erect such fence accordingly, and such fence shall he deemed to he a sufficient fence under this Act. Such persons shall be entitled to recover from the occupiers of the adjoining lands a contribution towards the cost of erecting such fence, not exceeding in amount the maximum price allowed by this Act as the half cost of erecting a sufficient fence hereunder.
18.	The maximum price to be paid in respect of one-half of the Maximum price for half-cost of fencing. actual cost of erecting any sufficient fence shall not exceed twenty shillings per chain, exclusive of any extra cost for clearing bush along the line of such fence. But in the case of a fence ereeted in any borough of the description mentioned in Schedule A, numbered three, the maximum price mentioned above shall not exceed thirty-five shillings per chain in respect of one-half of the cost. Provided always that no greater sum shall be charged for the erection of any fence than the absolute half of the cost of such fence.
19.	Where any fence is required to be erected on land covered Bush may be cleared on just line of fence. with standing bush, and the required notices as hereinbefore provided have been given, the person erecting such fence shall be entitled to clear the bush for a width not exceeding six feet on each side along the entire length of such fence, and may fell any tree standing in the immediate line of any such fence; and the cost of such clearing shall be added to the cost of the erection of such fence, and be apportioned accordingly.
20.	When a river, creek, natural watercourse, or rocky or Where river, &c., natural boundary, power to agree on line of fence. impracticable land, forms the boundary of contiguous lands, the occupiers of such contiguous lands may agree upon a line of fence on either side of such river, creek, or natural watercourse, and in the event of their not making any such agreement either party may apply to the Resident Magistrate of the district, who may appoint one or more persons to inspect the proposed line of fencing and who shall determine whether any fence is necessary, and decide the line of fence to be erected, and whether any and what compensation in the shape of an annual payment shall be paid to either of the parties occupying such contiguous lands in consideration of loss of occupation of land. The occupation of lands on either side of such line of fence shall not be deemed adverse possession, and shall not affect the title to or possession of any such lands, save for the purposes of this Act.
21.	The occupier of any land may, in making a ditch and bank Half of dividing fence may be on adjoining land. fence dividing his land from the land thereto adjoining, make a ditch on such adjoining land (Crown lands inclusive), and use the soil taken therefrom towards the making of a bank, or he may make the ditch on his own land and place the bank on such adjoining land. But no ditch or bank shall be made upon any such adjoining land in any case where a hedge of live thorns, gorse, or other live hedge page 6may have been planted and kept in good thriving condition thereon so as to disturb or injure such hedge, without the consent of the occupier of such land first obtained. Posts to be on boundary line. Where a dividing fence is made of posts and rails, or wire, or palings, the posts of such fence shall, as near as may be, be placed on the boundary line.
22.	Person using fence on further side of road liable to pay interest on half cost. If the occupier of any land bounded oy a road shall have erected a fence on the common boundary of his land and such road, and any other person shall adopt any means by which such fence shall be rendered of beneficial use to himself, and shall avail himself of such fence, such person shall be liable to pay to the person who erected such fence, or to the occupier of the land whereon such fence is erected, interest on half the then value of such fence, at the rate of ten per centum per annum for so long as he shall continue to avail himself of such fence; and shall also, as long as aforesaid, be further liable for half the cost of the repairs of such fence.
23.	Gorse not to be planted without consent of neighbours. No person shall plant gorse, sweetbriar, bramble, or blackberry upon or alongside any boundary line or dividing fence without the consent of the occupiers of the adjoining lands; and no person shall piant as aforesaid upon any fenee bounding or abutting upon any public reserve, or Crown lands, without the consent first obtained of the proper authority having control over such reserve or Crown lands; and any person who shall contravene the provisions of this section shall be liable, for every such offence, to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds; and the occupier of the adjoining land as aforesaid shall be entitled to take up and destroy such gorse, sweetbriar, bramble, or blackberry fence, and to recover in any Court of Competent jurisdiction the cost of such work from the person who shall have so contravened the provisions of this section.
24.	Power to construct a fence on road to protect live fence. If the occupier of any land bounded by a road desire to plant a live fence on the common boundary of his land and such road, and for that purpose to construct a fence upon such road until such live fence shall havc grown up, he may at any time, with the consent of the Road Board or Council having control of such road and on conditions to be prescribed by it, proceed to construct a fence on such road, so that no part of such fence be more than five feet distant from the nearest point on the boundary of his land, and that the width of such road available for traffic after the constraction of such fence be in no place where the same is reduced by the construction of such fence less than thirty-three feet. And if such occupier forthwith after the construction of such fence proceed to plant a live fence on the boundary of his land and such road, constantly with all proper diligence keeping, maintaining, and protecting from injury such live fence, he may maintain on such road the fence so constructed for such time not exceeding six years, or such longer time as the Road Board or Council having the control of such road may in writing allow, until such live fence becomes a sufficient fence within the meaning of this Act.