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Public Works Act 1981

General provisions

229: Improvement of farm land

You could also call this:

“Government can help make farms better if owners pay for it”

You need to know about how the government can help improve farm land. The Minister of Agriculture can do work to make farm land better. This can be for any farm, even if it’s privately owned. The owner or the person using the farm has to pay for this work.

If the owner or user doesn’t pay all the money for the work before it starts, they will owe money to the government. The government can put a notice on the land to show that money is owed. This is called a charge.

When there’s a charge on the land, the owner usually can’t do anything with the land, like sell it, without permission from the government. The person in charge of giving this permission is called the chief executive of the new Ministry.

The chief executive can also sign papers to put the charge on the land or to remove it when the money is paid. They use a special law called the Statutory Land Charges Registration Act 1928 to do this.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM48350.

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Part 21 General provisions

229Improvement of farm land

  1. The Minister of Agriculture may, by arrangement with, and at the expense of, the owner or the occupier of any farm land, whether privately owned or not, carry out such work as he thinks fit for the purpose of improving that land.

  2. Where the full amount of the estimated cost of such work has not been paid to the Minister of Agriculture before the commencement of the work, the amount not paid shall constitute a debt due to the Crown and shall be a charge against the land, and notice of the charge may be registered against the land under the provisions of the Statutory Land Charges Registration Act 1928.

  3. Except with the consent of the chief executive of the new Ministry, a dealing in connection with any such land (other than a dealing which is not required to be executed by the registered owner) shall not be registered while a charge under subsection (2) is registered against the land.

  4. For the purposes of the Statutory Land Charges Registration Act 1928, notice of any charge under subsection (2) and any certificate releasing any such charge, and any consent under subsection (3), may be signed by the chief executive of the new Ministry.

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Notes
  • Section 229(1): amended, on , by section 73(1) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
  • Section 229(2): amended, on , by section 73(2) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
  • Section 229(3): amended, on , by section 250 of the Land Transfer Act 2017 (2017 No 30).
  • Section 229(3): amended, on , by section 5(1)(c) of the Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry (Restructuring) Act 1997 (1997 No 100).
  • Section 229(3): amended, on , by section 73(3) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).
  • Section 229(4): amended, on , by section 5(1)(c) of the Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry (Restructuring) Act 1997 (1997 No 100).
  • Section 229(4): amended, on , by section 73(4) of the Public Works Amendment Act 1988 (1988 No 43).