504Declarations in relation to drainage areas

1. A council may, for the purpose of land drainage work, declare—

2. all of its district to be a drainage area:
3. part of its district to be a drainage area:
4. 2 or more contiguous drainage areas to be a drainage area:
5. the boundaries of a drainage area to be altered.

6. A declaration must—

7. define the relevant area; and
8. assign a name to the drainage area; and
9. fix the day on which the declaration takes effect.

10. A council may make a declaration only if—

11. a demand for a poll of electors is taken in accordance with sections 505 and 505A and results in a majority of votes in favour of the declaration; or
12. a petition complying with section 505B is presented to the council.

13. Before making a declaration, a council must—

14. prepare a statement of proposal in relation to the declaration that includes—
    1. a draft of the declaration; and
    2. a statement of the reasons for proposing to make the declaration; and
    3. an explanation of the procedure—
       1. to demand a poll under section 505; and
       2. to petition the council under section 505B; and
    4. when and where the council will vote on a motion to make the declaration; and
    5. any other information that the council identifies as relevant; and
15. make the statement of proposal available in a way appropriate to the subject matter of the proposal; and
16. produce a summary of proposal that—
    1. is a fair representation of the major matters in the statement of proposal; and
    2. explains how the statement of proposal is available; and
17. publicise the summary of proposal in a way appropriate to the subject matter of the proposal.

18. The council must not vote on a motion to make the declaration until at least 20 working days after the summary of proposal is first publicised under subsection (4)(d).