The Vermin Districts Amendment Act 1900 (SA)

ANNO SEXAGESIMO TERTIO ET SEXAGESIMO

QUARTO

A.D. 1900.

No. 746.

An Act to amend the Law relating to Vermin Districts.

[Assented f o, December gth, 1900.1

E it Enacted by the Governor, with the advice and consent of

B the Parliament of South Australia, as follows:

Act, 1900," and shall be incorporated with " The Vermin Districts incorporation. 1. This Act may be cited as '' The Vermin Districts Amendrncnt short title and

Act, 1894," hereinafter called the principal Act.

2. Section 4 of the principal Act defining " vermin-proof fence " Repeal.

is hereby repealed, but this repeal shall not affect any fence erected or made vermin-proof by any Board before the coming into opera- tion of this Act.

3, " Vermin-proof fence " shall mean- vermin-proof fence.

(a) A substantial fence such as is shown and described in

Schedule A hereto; or

( b ) Any other substantial vermin-proof fence approved of by

the Commissioner in writing.

4. (a) Evcry vermin-proof fence erected by a Board shall be F'z;d"pb

erected to the satisfaction of the Commissioner.	~ommiesioner.
(6) Any person authorised in writing by the Commissioner may at any time inspect any vermin-proof fence erected by any Board or in course of erection.

74 6 ( C ) The

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The V m i n Districts Amendment Act.-1900.

(c) The Commissioner may, by writing under his hand, require any Board to alter or repair any vermin-proof fence which has not been constructed in accordance with the requirements of this Act, and such Board shall alter or repair such fence accordingly.

Gate8 at junction

6. Any fence which joins, abuts on, or is connected with a vermin-proof fence erected by the Board shall bc provided by the owner thereof at or about the point at which such fence joins, abuts on, or is connected with the vermin-proof fence with a suitable gate at least twelve feet wide, so as to allow free passage for the purpose of inspection and repair under section 4 of this Act. On default by the owner the Board may provide such gate and recover the cost from the owner. For the purpoges of this ~ection "owner" includes the occupier of the land on which the fence is erected.

with another fence.

Repeal. 6. The provisions of The Wild Dog and Fox Destruction Act,

1889," are hereby repealed so far as relates to any lease situate to

the north and west of the River Blurray.

Exemption of fenced lands from Wild Dog 7. On the lessee of any land encloeing his land or any portion and pox Destruction thereof with a vermin-proof fence to the satisfaction of the Com-

~ c t.	missioner, The Wild Dog and Fox Destruction Act, 1889," shall not apply to the area so enclosed: Provided, however, that this section shall not affect any right accrucd or any liability incurred under the said Act prior to such area being fenced with a vermin- proof fence.
Exemption not to

apply in certain cneee. principal Act shall not apply to any land hereafter enclosed with a 8, The exemption from rates in the proviso to section 63 of the

vermin-proof fence if such ience shall have been erected after the

proclamation of the vermin district in which such land is situated.

Contributione bp

instalments.

Q, (I) Any Vermin Board liable under section 19 of the principal

Act to pay any portion of the value of a vermin-proof fence to any

other Board may pay such amount, with interest thereon, at the rate of Four Pounds per centum per annuln, in twenty equal yearly

instalments, calculated at the rate of Seven Pounds Scven Shillings and Two Pence for each One Hucdred Pounds such first-mentioned Board is liable to pay.

(2) The first of such instalments shall become due and payable on the date when the liability of the first-mentioned Board is established, and one of such instalments shall become due in each year thereafter until the whole amount is paid.

Liability of adjoining 10. ( l ) Where the land of any occupier is not within a Vermin

occupiers.	District, but abuts on a Vermin District, and such land is enclosed with a vermin-proof fence, or is portion of an area enclosed within a vermin-proof fence, such occupier shall, three months after demand.
upon him, be liable to pay to the Board owning the fence dividing the land of the occupier from the Vermin District one-half of the value of such fence at the time of such demand. (2) Such

63O & 64O VICTORIE, No. 746.

-. The Vermin Districts Amendment Act.-1 900.

(2) Such occupier may pay the amount he is liable to pav to the

Board, with interest thereon, at the rate of Four Pounds permcenturn

per annum, in twenty equal yearly instalments, at the rate of Seven

Pounds Seven Shillings and Two Pence for each One Hundred

Pounds of the amount such occl~pier is liable to pay to the Board.

(3) The first of such instalments shall become due three months after the service of the demand upon the occupier, and one of such instalments stidl become due un the same date in each year there- after, until the whole amount has been paid.

(4) I n this section the word occupier " has the same meaning as

in '' The Fences Act, 1892."

11. When a vermin-proof fence erected by any Board shall form -Wining l e ~ e e using fence to pay

the boundary of the land of any occupier whose laild but for such interest.

vermin-poof fence would he without a boundary fence, the occupier

of the land abutting on such vermin-proof fence, whether such land

he inside or oritsidt: of it I T e m i n District, shall pixy to the Board owning

such vermin-proof fencc Five Pounds per centum per annum on half

the cost thereof to the extent to which his land shall abut thercon,

on such ocr:nl)it.r niakitlg use of or availing himself of the fence in

terms of " The Fences Act, 1892," by keeping or depasturing sheep

or cattle on the l a d abutting thcrcon; but -the amount on which

such percentage is to be paid ;hall not exceed the amount to which

such lessee or occupicr would, under " The Fences Act, 1892," have

been liable to pay or contribute had such fencc bccn crcctcd and

made use of as aforesaid in accordance with such Act.

1892," no occupier shall be compellable to pay to any adjoining 12. Notwithstanding anything contained in " The Fences Act, ~~~~~n~~'~''-~aJ'

occupier half the cost of erecting any vermin-proof fence or of vermin-proofing a n y fence between their respective boundaries unless the boundaries of the adjoining land occupied by him shall be fenced with a vermin-proof fence.

13. The Governor may, by Proclamation in the Government 9J;;tion of boun-

Gazette-

( a ) I n case the Board has erected a vermin-proof fencing outside

the boundaries of the district, or

(6) I n case it is impracticable or wouldbe verr difficult to erect a

vermin-proof fence on the boundaries of the district-

extend the boundaries of the district so as to include the fence already erected, or to include the land on which it is proposed that

the fence should be erected, and

(c) I n case any portion of the district is situate outside of the

vermin-proof fence erected by the Board,

sever such portion situate outside of such fence from such district.

Government repre-

14. The Governor may appoint a member on any Board. The sentatbe on Basrds.

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The Vermin Districts Amendment Act. - 190 0,

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p-

The officer so appointed shall not be subject to retirement by efauxion of time, but shall hold office during the Governor's pleasure.

In the case of Boards already constituted such officer shall be an additional member of the Board.

Where the Governor appoints any Government officer as a mem-

ber of a Board thc appointment shall specify that such member is

not subject to retirement by effluxion of time.

Members of Board. 15, The Board of every Vermin Uistrict hereafter declared shall

consist of not less than four members. Three of such members shall be owners of ratable property within the district, and one of such members may be a Government officer appointed as hereinbefore provided.

Amendment of

seotion 44 of Act 697, 16, Section 44 of the principal Act is hereby amended by

1894. adding the following proviso : - G < Provided tha,t when such districts are included within the limits of a District Council, such Gazette

place for

elections.

notice shall appoint a time and place where writ ten nominations

shall be received."

Amendment of

section 45 of Act 597,

17. Section 45 of the principal 4ct is hereby amended by adding the following proviso:-" Provided that in the case of elections for Boards of Vermiil Districts within the limits of 1)istrict

1894.

Election&

Councils if no more persons are nominated a s members of the Board or auditors, as the case may be, than are required to be elected, the chairman shall forthwith declare such persons duly elected. If a greater number are nominated than are required, the proceedings shall be adjourned for not less than fourteen days or more than twenty-eight days, when the votes of the ratepayers shall be taken by ballot; all proxy votes to be sent through the post to the Returning Officer in the form of the Schedule hereto."

Amendment of 18, Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section 78 of

seotion 78 of A C ~ 697,

1894. the principal Act, it shall not be nece~sary for more than one member of the Board, in addition to the Chairman, to sign cheques

cheques* on behalf of the Board.

of elmtionsb 19. Section 47 of the principal Act, relating to supplementary

elections, is hereby repealed, and the following section substituted in

lieu thereof: -

47. Whenever the annual or other election shall from any cause wholly or in part fail to be made as appointed in this Act, or such election being made shall afterwards become wholly or in part void, the Governor may appoint the members or member of the Board required to be elected.

~ ~ n s i o n o r a b o l i -	20. The Governor, if	it shall appear to him that any Board
tion of Boards.

refuses or neglects to perform the duties and functions imposed and conferred upon such Board by the principal Act or any Act amend-

ing the same, or refuses or neglects to declare or levy any rates which such Board should declare or levy, or makes default in the

the

-.,	63G & 64" VICTORIK, No. 746.
The Vermirc Districts Amendmmt Act.-1900.

due payment of any instalment of principal and interest due on any loan, or have rnisnppropriatcd or havc appropriated for any purpose not contemplated by the principal Act or any Act amending the same any of the moneys at the disposal of the Board, or any part of the revenue of the Board, muy, by Yrockmmtion in the Government Gazrtte, suspend the powers and functions of the Board for such time as he may think proper, or may abolish such Board.

21, When the powers and functions of a Board have been sus- Effect of abolition aud suepension.

pendcd, or the Board has been abolished, the Governur may, by Proclamation in the Government Gazutte, authorise the Commissioner to exercise all the powers, authorities, functioiis, and duties of the Board so suspended or abolished during the suspension of the Board, or until a new Board shall be appointed.

22. During the period during which the powers a11d functions of Property* &ca, to ve*t

in Commissioner.

the Board are suspended, and in case of the abolition of any Board, all property, real and personal, and all powers, authorities, immunities, rights, privileges, functions, obligations, and duties vested in or imposed on the Board by any means whatsoever, shall, by force of this Act, be transferred to and vested in the Commissioner.

Gwette, in the month of April in each year, alphabetical lists of of ratepayers. 23. The duty of preparing and publishing it1 the Government Board to pubiah list

ratepayers entitled to vote for the election of members of Boards in each district, with the number of votes to which each ratepayer is entitled set opposite his name, shall hereafter as regards any district within the limits of a district council be performed bv each Board in respect of its district instead of by the ~ommissioneE, as provided in section 43 of the principal Act.

24. Section 43 of the principal Act is hereby amended by Amendment of section 43 of Act 697,

adding the following proviso: - '- Provided that where such Vermin ,894.

District is within the limits of a District Council such lists shall be

to rate-

prepared by the Board of such Vermin District instead of by the payers.

Commissioner, and such lists shall not be published in the Govern-

ment Gazette, but a notice shall be sent by such Board to each

individual ratepayer showing the number of votes to which he is

entitled."

25. The first rate declared by a Vermin Board shall be for the Rate for portion of year.

portion of the year between the date of the publication of the Proclamation constituting the district and the thirtieth day of June next after the declaring of the rate.

the limits of a district council, have all the rights, powers, duties, rates. 26. Each Board shall in respect of its district, if situated within Board to collwt

and obligations vested in or imposed upon the Commissioner by Part X. of the principal Act, relating to the making and recovering of rates, and such part shall hereafter be read as if the word

" Board" were inserted therein in place of the word " Commis-

sioner " wherever the word Coxnmissioner " occum in such part.

27. Boards

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The Vmin Districts Amendment Act .1900.

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Limit of oBce

expensee. 27. Boards may expend in any year for salaries, fees to officers, printing, advertising, stationery, and office expenses one-fourth of the whole of the rates declared for the district for that year, instead of one-tenth, as allowed by section 79 of the principal Act.

for deatNon

tion of foxee. 28. Within the District Councils referred to in Schedule C, and

any other District Councils to be proclaimed by thc Governor as

S fox-infested, rewards shall be paid out of funds which shall bc

provided by the District count& for the destruction of foxes by such District Councils, in accordance with section 6 of the Act No. 634 of 1895 and section 2 of Act No. 706 of 1898. Thc reward shall be payable as follows :-On production to the arlthorised person to be appointed by the local authority of the skin of any fox destroyed within the boundaries of such District Council, the person destroying such fox shall be entitled to be paid the sum of Two Shillings and Six Pence for every such skin, and t'tic authorised person may require the person producing the skin to make and sign a statutory declara- tion in the form of Schedule B before a Justice of the Pcace to the effect that snch fox was destroycd by snch person within the boundaries of such District Council, and the authorised person way, on behalf of the local authority, either retain snch skin or remove the head therefrom and destroy the same.

Three persons may

iorcn a Trust. 29. The Governor may authorise and direct the expenditure of

any money under section 13 of the principal Act on the written request of not less than three persons instead of six persons as in the said section provided.

Additional members

of Trusts.	30, Any person not being a member of a Trust constituted under section 13 of the principal Act may, with the consent of the members of such Trust, join in and become a member of such Trust.
Advancrea for new
members of Truats.	31. Upon any person, not being a member of a Trust, joining a Trust, the Governor may, on the reauest of all the members of the Trust. authorise and direit' the expe&ditme of such additional sum out of money voted by Parliament for the purpose of making loans
under " The Vermin-proof Fencing Act, 18Y0," as he may think
fit, for the purpose of erecting, or contributing to the erection of,
wire netting, or other vermin-proof fencing, around the agricultural or cultivated lands of the person so joining such Trust; and all the members of such Trust shall be jointly and severally liable fur the repayment of the whole amount expended, with the interest thereon, and such amount and interest shall, until repaid, be, and continue to be, a first charge on the land for thc enclosing or fencing of which it
is supplied.

I n the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, I hereby assent to

this Bill.

TENNY SON, Governor.

No. 746.

The Vermin Districts Amendment Act.-190 J.

SCHEDULES.

SCHEDULE A.

A VERMIN-PROOF FENCE.

[Not drawn to scale.)

Strainers lot less than about six inches in thickness at small~r end, one hundred

and fifty yards apart, three feet in the ground, forty-nine inches out of ground.

Posts not less than about four inches i n thickness at smaller end, twenty-one feet

apart, twenty inches in the ground, forty-ninr inches out of ground.

A wire netting, eighteen gauge, of a minimum width of forty-two inches and maximum mesh of one and a half inches, six inches of such netting to be fixed in the ground and thirty-six inches out of the ground.

A barbed wire, with barbs not more than three inches apart, four inches above netting hung with S hooks four and one-fifth feet apart.

A second top similar barbed wire hung with S hooks six inche~ above other barbed

wire.

The wire to be fastened to the post with a wire staple put through a hole in the post and turned up on the other side.

Optional as to the use of a barbed wire in the ground.

SCHEDULE

No.

The Vermirb Districts Amendment Act.- 1900.

SCHEDULE B.

DISTBICT C ~ U N C I L OF

Particulars of foxes destroyed within the district of by

Locality Where Destroyed.	1	Sex of Animal.	I	Date Whon Killed.
j,

I of do hereby solemnly and sincerely declare that the above

particulars are true and correct, that the animals were killed by me, and to the hest

of my knowledge and belief they were all over the age of three months.

[A'@nature.]

Declared at , in the province of South Australia, this day of

19, before me.

, J.P.

SCHEDULE C.

DISTRICT COUNCILS SOUTEI AND EAST O F RIVER MURRAY.

Meningie	Mount Muirhead	Mount Gambier West
Tatiara	Kennion	Port MacDonnell
Lacepede	Ponola	Portion of Blanchetown
Naracoorte	Mayurra	Portion of Morgan
Lucindale	Tantanoola	Portion of Caurnamont
Robe	Benara	Portion of Mannum
Beachport	Mount Gambier East	Portion of Mobilong

W ' ,

Adelaide : By authority, C, E. BEISTOW, Government Printer, North Terrace.