110Removal and disposal of vehicles and boats

1. Any ranger, any person employed by the administering body of any reserve, or, in the case of a reserve that is not under the management and control of an administering body, any officer of the Department who has reason to believe that any vehicle or boat has been abandoned in a reserve may remove it or cause it to be removed to any place authorised for that purpose by the administering body or, as the case may be, by the Commissioner.

2. Where the administering body or, in the case of a reserve that is not under the management and control of an administering body, the Commissioner has appropriated any part of a reserve for the parking of vehicles or the mooring of boats, any ranger, any person employed by the administering body, or, as the case may be, any officer of the Department may remove to any place so appropriated any vehicle that is parked or any boat that is moored on any part of the reserve where the parking of vehicles or the mooring of boats is prohibited. In any such case, the owner or other person in charge of the vehicle or boat shall be liable to the administering body or to the Commissioner, as the case may be, for the cost of removing the vehicle or boat and also for the charges that pursuant to bylaws made in respect of that reserve would be payable for the use of that parking or mooring space if the vehicle or boat had been parked or moored there by the owner or other person in charge.

3. Unless within 2 months after the date on which a vehicle or boat is removed pursuant to subsection (1) or subsection (2) the owner or some other person having an interest therein removes the vehicle or boat from the reserve or other place where it is stored and pays to the administering body or to the Commissioner, as the case may be, the cost of removing and storing it pursuant to subsection (1) or, as the case may be, the cost of removing it pursuant to subsection (2) and the parking or mooring charges payable under that subsection, then,—

4. in the case of any boat, and in the case of any vehicle if it—the administering body or the Commissioner, as the case may be, may give not less than 14 days' notice, by advertisement in 2 issues of a daily newspaper circulating in the district in which the reserve is situated, of its or his or her intention to sell or destroy the vehicle or boat, as the case may be:
   1. is not a motor vehicle; or
   2. is a motor vehicle and has no registration plate affixed thereto or is unregistered; or
   3. is a motor vehicle and no licence to use the vehicle issued for the current licensing year is affixed to it,—
5. if in the case of any vehicle—the administering body or the Commissioner, as the case may be, may give not less than 14 days' written notice to the person last registered under Part 17 of the Land Transport Act 1998 in respect of the vehicle of its or his or her intention to sell or destroy the vehicle, by delivering the notice to him or her personally or by posting it to him or her by registered letter addressed to him or her at his or her last-known place of abode or business in New Zealand.
   1. the vehicle is a motor vehicle; and
   2. a licence to use the vehicle issued for the current licensing year is attached to it,—

6. Unless before the expiry of the notice given under subsection (3) the owner of the vehicle or boat—

7. pays to the administering body or to the Commissioner, as the case may be, the cost of removing and storing the vehicle or boat pursuant to subsection (1), or, as the case may be, the cost of removing it pursuant to subsection (2) and the parking or mooring charges payable under that subsection, and, in either case, the cost of the aforesaid advertisements; and
8. removes the vehicle or boat from the reserve or other place to which it was removed,—
the administering body or the Commissioner, as the case may be, may, at any time after the expiry of the notice, sell the vehicle or boat to any person, who shall thereupon become the lawful owner of the vehicle or boat, or the administering body or the Commissioner, as the case may be, may cause the vehicle or boat to be destroyed, and in neither case shall any liability attach to the administering body or to the Crown or to the Commissioner or to any other person for any loss or damage occasioned thereby.

9. The proceeds of the sale of any vehicle or boat sold in accordance with the provisions of this section shall form part of the funds of the administering body in any case where the vehicle or boat has been sold by that body, and in any other case shall be paid into the Public Account to the credit of the Trust Account and may be applied, as directed by the Minister, in purchasing, taking on lease, managing, administering, maintaining, protecting, improving, and developing reserves or as consideration for conservation covenants.

10. For the purposes of this section, and without limiting the meaning of the term abandoned, a vehicle or boat shall be deemed to have been abandoned if it is left unused for a period of more than 1 month without the approval of the administering body or the Commissioner, as the case may be.

11. In this section—

    expressions defined in the Land Transport Act 1998 have, in relation to any motor vehicle, the meanings so defined

    moored, in relation to any boat, includes being left aground or on land.