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Public Works Act 1981

National and local works

224: Government and local authority may combine in works of both national and local importance

You could also call this:

“Government and councils can team up on important projects for the country and local areas”

This law allows the government and local councils to work together on projects that are important for both New Zealand as a whole and for specific local areas. They can make agreements about how to do these projects, which can include things like:

You can decide who will do the work and be in charge of different parts of the project.

The government or local council can buy the land needed for the project.

You can decide who will manage and control the project.

You can agree on who will pay for the project and how much each group will pay.

You can decide how to pay for the project, either all at once or in smaller amounts over time.

If a local council doesn’t pay what they agreed to, the government can take steps to get the money, including appointing someone to collect rates from people in that area.

The government can lend money to local councils to help pay for these projects.

You can transfer or lease the land used for the project to any group involved in the agreement, or sell it and share the money.

Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities and the New Zealand Transport Agency can also be part of these agreements.

This law helps the government and local councils work together on big projects that benefit both the whole country and specific local areas.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM48325.

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Part 20 National and local works

224Government and local authority may combine in works of both national and local importance

  1. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Act or rule of law, where, in the opinion of the Minister of Finance and any other Minister of the Crown, any undertaking, whether a public work within the meaning of this Act or not, is of both national and local importance, that Minister of the Crown and any local authority or local authorities may enter into and carry out such agreement for the acquisition, execution, control, and management of the undertaking as may to them seem most suited to the circumstances.

  2. Any agreement entered into under this section may provide—

  3. for a Minister or any local authority which is a party to the agreement to execute or carry out, or be responsible for the execution or carrying out of, the undertaking or any part of it, and to enter into contracts in connection with it:
    1. for the acquisition by the Minister of Lands on behalf of the Crown or by any local authority which is a party to the agreement of any land required for the undertaking:
      1. for the management and control of the undertaking or any part of it to be vested in any party to the agreement:
        1. for the maintenance of the undertaking, and for contributions by the parties to the agreement towards the costs of maintenance:
          1. for the apportionment or allocation of the cost of the undertaking between the parties to the agreement:
            1. for the payment by any party to the agreement of his or its share of the cost of the undertaking or the costs of its maintenance, either in one sum or by instalments spread over any period or by yearly or other payments as and when the costs are ascertained:
              1. for the payment by any party to the agreement in respect of money payable by that party of interest at such rate as the Minister of Finance approves:
                1. for the giving by any party to the agreement of security for the payment of any money payable by that party under the agreement:
                  1. for such other terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon and for such other matters as in the opinion of the Minister are incidental to the general agreement:
                    1. for the assignment of the rights and obligations of any party to another party:
                      1. for any party to the agreement to issue any notice under section 187.

                        1. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, any land required for any undertaking in respect of which an agreement has been made under this section may be taken or acquired as for a public work under this Act either by the Minister or by any local authority which is a party to the agreement.

                        2. In any case to which this section applies, the respondent to any claim for compensation in respect of land taken or in respect of any damage which arises out of the undertaking, shall, if the land is vested in the Crown, be the Minister, and if the land is vested in a local authority, be the local authority.

                        3. Where the money to be paid by any local authority under any agreement entered into under this section is not all to be payable within the financial year in which the agreement is entered into, that money, or so much of it as consists of principal or the capital value of any instalments, shall be paid upon and subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister of Finance thinks fit.

                        4. Repealed

                        5. The Minister of Finance may, out of money appropriated by Parliament for the purpose of the undertaking, advance to any local authority the amount of any money required to be paid or expended by the local authority under any agreement entered into under this section.

                        6. Repealed

                        7. Repealed

                        8. Repealed

                        9. Repealed

                        10. Repealed

                        11. Repealed

                        12. If default is made by a local authority for more than 14 days in payment of any amount due by it under an agreement entered into under this section, the amount in respect of which default has been made, together with interest at the rate of 8% per annum or at such other rate as may be provided by the agreement, shall be recoverable as a debt due by the local authority in default to the Crown or, as the case may be, to the other local authority to which the amount should have been paid.

                        13. A certificate under the hand of the Controller and Auditor-General shall, until the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence of the amount in respect of which default has been so made and of the date on which it was payable.

                        14. Without prejudice to the provisions of subsections (14) and (15), the Minister, for the purposes of recovering any amount due and payable by a local authority under any agreement entered into under this section, may appoint a receiver with power from time to time to make, levy, and collect a rate on all the rateable property in the whole or any specified part or parts of the district of the local authority in default, and for that purpose the receiver has all the powers of a receiver appointed under section 40B of the Receiverships Act 1993 and the provisions of sections 40B to 40D of that Act, with the necessary modifications, apply accordingly.

                        15. Agreements may be made under this section in respect of any undertaking that has been completed or partially completed as well as in respect of any undertaking not commenced.

                        16. Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities or the New Zealand Transport Agency may be a party to an agreement with any local authority under this section in relation to any undertaking which, in the opinion of the Minister of Finance and any other Minister, is of both national and local importance in the same manner and to the same effect as if Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities or the Agency were a Minister of the Crown.

                        17. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, any land taken, acquired, or used for any undertaking in respect of which an agreement has been made under this section may be transferred or leased to any party to the agreement, or sold or otherwise disposed of, and the proceeds thereof shared or distributed, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement.

                        18. For the purposes of any agreement under this section, any party to the agreement which is a requiring authority within the meaning of the Resource Management Act 1991, in their or its own name or on behalf of all parties, may make any requirement under Part 8 of the Resource Management Act 1991, and make an application under any statutory provision for consent, authorisation, permission, a licence, a permit, a right, or any other type of approval.

                        Compare
                        • 1944 No 31 s 31
                        Notes
                        • Section 224(1): substituted, on , by section 70(1) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
                        • Section 224(2)(a): amended, on , by section 70(2) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
                        • Section 224(2)(b): substituted, on , by section 70(3) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
                        • Section 224(2)(i): amended, on , by section 70(4) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
                        • Section 224(6): repealed, on , by section 16(1) of the Local Government Amendment Act (No 3) 1996 (1996 No 83).
                        • Section 224(8): repealed, on , by section 138(1) of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 (2002 No 6).
                        • Section 224(9): repealed, on , by section 138(1) of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 (2002 No 6).
                        • Section 224(10): repealed, on , by section 138(1) of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 (2002 No 6).
                        • Section 224(11): repealed, on , by section 138(1) of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 (2002 No 6).
                        • Section 224(12): repealed, on , by section 138(1) of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 (2002 No 6).
                        • Section 224(13): repealed, on , by section 138(1) of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 (2002 No 6).
                        • Section 224(16): substituted, on , by section 262 of the Local Government Act 2002 (2002 No 84).
                        • Section 224(18): substituted, on , by section 70(5) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
                        • Section 224(18): amended, on , by section 33 of the Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities Act 2019 (2019 No 50).
                        • Section 224(18): amended, on , by section 50(1) of the Land Transport Management Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 47).
                        • Section 224(20): 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).
                        • Section 224(20): amended, on , by section 362 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (1991 No 69).