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Public Works Act 1981

Railways

170: Alterations to roads, drains, etc

You could also call this:

“Changes to roads and drains when building railways”

If you need to build a railway, you might have to change some things like roads, drains, or pipes. When you do this, you should try to cause as little trouble as possible. You should also try to make sure that people can still use these things in the same way they did before.

Before you start making any changes, you need to make a plan. You should show this plan to the people who are in charge of the thing you want to change, or to the people who own it.

If the people in charge don’t like your plan, you need to find someone who knows a lot about this kind of work to talk to them. This person should try to agree with them on how to make the changes. If they can’t agree, a nearby court will decide what to do.

You can make changes to these things if you need to fix the railway, but you have to tell the people in charge at least 10 working days before you do it. However, if there’s an emergency or danger, you can make changes right away and tell the people in charge as soon as you can afterwards.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM47759.

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"Getting access to your land if a railway blocks or divides it"

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"Old rule about sharing railway bridges no longer applies"

Part 13 Railways

170Alterations to roads, drains, etc

  1. Where it is found necessary for the construction of a railway to alter any road, tramway, watercourse, or drain, or any other public work, or any water supply pipe or gas supply pipe, or any power supply or telecommunications link, the alterations shall be made in such manner as will—

  2. interfere as little as possible with the work altered; and
    1. so far as practicable, provide the public and every person entitled to use the work altered with the equivalent use and convenience as they had before the alteration.

      1. Before commencing any such alteration, the Minister shall cause a plan of it to be prepared and to be submitted to the local authority having the control of the work proposed to be altered, or to the owner of the water supply pipe or gas supply pipe, power supply, or link, or other work, as the case may be.

      2. If the local authority or owner objects to the proposed alteration, the Minister shall appoint a competent person to confer with the authority or owner, and to agree with it or him as to the manner in which the alteration shall be made; and if no agreement can be reached between the parties, the matter shall be referred to the District Court nearest to the work in question, and the decision of the court thereon shall be final.

      3. The Minister may at any time interfere with any such road, public work, pipe, power supply, or link so far as is necessary to effect all necessary repairs on any railway lawfully constructed thereon, but shall give to such local authority or owner not less than 10 working days' notice of his intention to do so, except in the circumstances set out in subsection (5).

      4. In any emergency or danger the Minister may carry out forthwith all such works as appear to him to be necessary, and shall as soon as possible give notice of doing so to such local authority or owner.

      Compare
      • 1928 No 21 s 225
      Notes
      • Section 170(3): amended, on , by section 76 of the Chartered Professional Engineers of New Zealand Act 2002 (2002 No 17).