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Public Works Act 1981

Artificial lakes and secondary use of public works land - Secondary use

191: Secondary use of land held for public work

You could also call this:

“Land used for public work can sometimes be used for other things too”

If you have land that is used for a public work, the Minister in charge of that work can decide if the land can be used for other things too. This is called secondary use. The Minister can allow this if it won’t get in the way of the main public work.

When the Minister allows secondary use, they will write a notice in the Gazette (which is like a government newspaper). This notice will say which land can be used and what it can be used for.

The Minister can describe the land in different ways, like using survey data or by describing what it looks like. They can also be specific about what the land can be used for, or they can give a general idea with some exceptions.

Once the notice is signed, the Minister or the local authority can use the land for the new purposes. They can also give other people permission to use the land, like giving them a licence. These permissions can be for any length of time and can be renewed.

If someone doesn’t follow the rules of their permission, or if the land is needed for public use, the permission can be taken away immediately.

If the secondary use is like a reserve or a national park, the Minister can decide which rules from the Reserves Act 1977 or the National Parks Act 1980 should apply. They can also put someone in charge of the land, like a local authority or a group of trustees.

The Minister can change or cancel the notice about secondary use at any time by writing a new notice.

These rules don’t change anything in the Resource Management Act 1991.

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Part 17 Artificial lakes and secondary use of public works land
Secondary use

191Secondary use of land held for public work

  1. If the Minister having control of any public work is of the opinion that it is practicable for any land at any time held for that work under this or any other Act to be applied also to any secondary use or uses, either public or private, without interfering with the public work for which the land is held, the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, authorise the application of that land to that use or those uses.

  2. Every notice under this section shall specify the land affected by it and the secondary use or uses authorised by it.

  3. For the purposes of any such notice the land may be defined by survey data, or by physical features, or by such other means as seem to the Minister to be best suited to the circumstances.

  4. For the purpose of any such notice, any definition of secondary use may specify particular uses which alone are permitted, or may be in general terms with or without specified exceptions.

  5. At any time after any such notice has been signed, the Minister or the local authority, as the case may be, may apply the land to any authorised secondary use or may grant licences, permits, and privileges in respect of any authorised secondary use of the land to any persons upon or subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister or the local authority or any public body in which powers under this section may be vested thinks fit, for any period, with or without a right of renewal.

  6. Any such licence, permit, or privilege may be immediately revoked upon the breach of any of the terms or conditions upon or subject to which it is granted, or if in the opinion of the Minister or local authority concerned the service of the public so requires.

  7. If the secondary use authorised by any such notice includes the general characteristics of a reserve within the meaning of the Reserves Act 1977 or of a national park within the meaning of the National Parks Act 1980, the Minister, by the same or another notice, may specify which (if any) of the provisions of either of those Acts shall apply to the land, and may vest the control of it in—

  8. any local authority;
    1. the Minister of Internal Affairs;
      1. the Director-General of Conservation:
        1. any trustees empowered by or under any Act or any other lawful authority; or
          1. any persons acting as trustees for the inhabitants of the locality—
              1. on such conditions as may be prescribed in the notice, and may make such other provisions in respect of such control as he thinks fit, having regard to the continued and future use of the land for the public work for which it was acquired.

            1. Any notice under this section may from time to time be amended or revoked by a subsequent notice.

            2. Nothing in this section shall derogate from the provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991.

            Notes
            • Section 191(1): amended, on , by section 51(a) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
            • Section 191(1): amended, on , by section 51(b) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
            • Section 191(7)(b): amended, on , by section 65(1) of the Conservation Act 1987 (1987 No 65).
            • Section 191(7)(c): substituted, on , by section 65(1) of the Conservation Act 1987 (1987 No 65).
            • Section 191(9): substituted, on , by section 362 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (1991 No 69).
            • Section 191(9): amended, on , by section 6 of the Resource Management (Natural and Built Environment and Spatial Planning Repeal and Interim Fast-track Consenting) Act 2023 (2023 No 68).