Local Government Act 1974

Divestment of land drainage schemes and water race schemes

517D: Obligation of local authority to facilitate purposes

You could also call this:

"Councils must help people transfer control of water schemes if that's what most users want."

Illustration for Local Government Act 1974

If you are part of a local authority that controls a land drainage scheme or water race scheme, you must help the process of transferring the scheme if you think many of the people who use it want to transfer it. You need to take reasonable steps to make the transfer process work smoothly. This means you must do what is fair and sensible to help the people who use the scheme.

When taking these steps, you can give reasonable help to someone who seems to represent the people who use the scheme, so they can develop a plan to transfer it. This help is part of what you must do to facilitate the transfer process. You are helping the people who use the scheme to make the transfer happen.

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This page was last updated on 10 September 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM421541.

Topics:

Government and voting > Local councilsHousing and property > Land use

517C: Purposes of this Part, or

"Helping communities take over local water schemes"

517E: Initiation of transfer, or

"Asking to take over a land drainage or water race scheme from the local authority"

Part 29ADivestment of land drainage schemes and water race schemes

517DObligation of local authority to facilitate purposes

Where any local authority that has control of a land drainage scheme or water race scheme has reasonable grounds to believe that a significant proportion of scheme users may seek the transfer of that scheme under this Part, the local authority must, in relation to that scheme, take all reasonable steps to facilitate the operation of the provisions of this Part.
Reasonable steps under subsection (1) may include the provision of reasonable assistance to any person appearing to represent or have the confidence of the scheme users in the development of a transfer proposal.

Notes

Section 517D: inserted, on 15 October 1999, by section 11 of the Local Government Amendment Act (No 5) 1999 (1999 No 125).