Division 2Division 2 Provisions relating to works
(1) The Corporation is the owner of all works installed in or on land by the Corporation and of all works in or on land vested in or transferred to the Corporation (whether or not the land is owned by the Corporation).(1A) Without limiting subsection (1), the Corporation is the owner of all works on land that is:(a) within a special area, and(b) reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 or vested in Her Majesty or the Minister administering Part 11 of that Act.(2) The Corporation may, subject to this Act, operate, repair, replace, maintain, remove, extend, expand, connect, disconnect, improve or do any other things that are necessary or appropriate to any of its works to ensure that, in the opinion of the Corporation, the works are used in an efficient manner for the purposes for which they were installed.(3) The Corporation may sell or otherwise deal with works that it owns.(4) The provisions of this section have effect despite anything contained in section 42 of the Real Property Act 1900.
The Corporation may, by authorised persons, enter land in accordance with this Division for any one or more of the following purposes:(a) to operate, repair, replace, maintain, remove, extend, expand, connect, disconnect, improve or do any other things that the Corporation considers are necessary or appropriate to any of its works or to construct new works and, for these purposes, to carry out any work on, below or above the surface of the land,(b) to read a meter that measures water supplied by the Corporation or water discharged into the Corporation’s sewers,(c) to find the source of pollution of water supplied by the Corporation,(d) to ascertain whether a customer contract or other contract for the provision of services by the Corporation is being breached in relation to the connection to or use of works,(e) to rectify defective or improper work that has not been rectified by a customer in accordance with a notice served by the Corporation on the customer under a customer contract or other contract,(f) to ascertain the character and condition of the land or a building to enable the Corporation to operate, repair, replace, maintain, remove, extend, expand, connect, disconnect or improve the systems and services referred to in section 13 (1) or to construct new works for the purposes of that subsection or section 12 (1),(g) to ascertain the condition and location of any pipe, sewer, drain, channel or fitting or other work used in connection with the land or a building to enable the Corporation to operate, repair, replace, maintain, remove, extend, expand, connect, disconnect or improve the systems and services referred to in section 13 (1) or to construct new works for the purposes of that subsection or section 12 (1).
21 Exercise of powers of entry
(1) Before an authorised person enters any land or building under a power conferred by this Division, the Corporation or an authorised person must serve on the owner or occupier of the land or building notice in writing of the intention to enter the land or building on a day specified in the notice unless:(a) entry to any land or building is made with the consent of the owner or occupier of the land or building, or(b) entry is required urgently and the case is one in which the board of the Corporation has authorised in writing (either generally or in the particular case) entry without notice, or(c) entry is made solely for the purpose of reading a meter that measures water supplied by the Corporation or water discharged into the Corporation’s sewers if the meter is not in a dwelling-house or building, or(d) the giving of notice would defeat the purpose for which the power is to be exercised.(2) A power conferred by this Division to enter any land or building may not be exercised unless the person proposing to exercise the power:(a) is in possession of a certificate of authority issued by an officer of the Corporation who has been authorised by the board of the Corporation to issue such certificates, and(b) exercises the power at a reasonable time during daylight, unless this would defeat the purpose for which the power is to be exercised or the power is exercised in an emergency, and(c) produces the certificate of authority if required to do so by the occupier of the land, and(d) uses no more force than is reasonably necessary to effect the entry.(3) Nothing in this section authorises the use of force to enter a dwelling-house or any enclosed part of a building occupied as a dwelling or authorises the entry of such premises at night without the consent of the owner or occupier of the premises.(4) A certificate of authority must:(a) state that it is issued under the Hunter Water Board (Corporatisation) Act 1991, and(b) give the name of the person to whom it is issued, and(c) describe the nature of the powers conferred and the source of the powers, and(d) state the date (if any) on which it expires, and(e) if issued to an officer of the Corporation, describe the general area or the land to which the power extends or, if issued to an authorised person who is not an employee of the Corporation, describe the land to which the power extends, and(f) bear the signature of the person by whom it is issued and state the capacity in which the person is acting in issuing the certificate.(5) The Minister may, if the Minister thinks fit, by order published in the Gazette, attach conditions or restrictions to certificates of authority issued under this Act, either generally or in particular cases, including restrictions on the purposes for which and the circumstances in which a power of entry may be exercised.
(1) The Corporation, in exercising its functions under this Division, is to do as little damage as practicable and is, subject to this Division, to compensate all persons who suffer damage by the exercise of the functions.(2) Compensation may be made by reinstatement, repair, construction of works or payment.(3) If the Corporation installs a sewer on land in exercise of powers under this Division, the Corporation is required to pay compensation only if the sewer damages, or interferes with, a building or other structure on the land or if a manhole or main ventilator is constructed on the land.
(1) The Corporation may, for the purpose of complying with the operating licence and after giving reasonable notice to persons likely to be affected, open and break up:(a) the soil and pavement of a public road or public reserve, and(b) any sewer, drain or tunnel in or under or any ground under a public road or public reserve.(2) The person having the control and management of a public road or public reserve may, as prescribed by the regulations, require the Corporation to comply with conditions in exercising its powers under this section, including conditions for restoration of the surface and removal of rubbish.(3) If a public road or public reserve is damaged by a leakage from, or a bursting of, a main of the Corporation, the person having the control and management of the public road or public reserve may require the Corporation to make good the damage without delay.(4) If the Corporation fails to comply with a condition in force under subsection (2) or a requirement under subsection (3), the person affected by the failure may remedy it and recover the cost of doing so as a debt owed to the person by the Corporation.
24 Altering position of conduit
(1) The Corporation may serve a written notice on a person if:(a) the Corporation, in order to comply with the operating licence, needs an alteration to be made in the position of a conduit owned by the person, and(b) the alteration would not permanently damage the conduit or adversely affect its operation.(2) The notice must:(a) specify the alteration needed, and(b) require the alteration to be made within a reasonable time stated in the notice, and(c) include an undertaking by the Corporation to pay the reasonable cost of the alteration.(3) If the alteration is not made as required by the notice, the Corporation may make the alteration in a manner that does not damage the conduit permanently or adversely affect its operation on completion of the alteration.(4) In this section, conduit means anything that is in or under a public road and is used for the conveyance of a substance, energy or signals.
(1) Land in or on which a work of the Corporation is installed is taken to be the subject of an agreement in the nature of a covenant in favour of the Corporation pursuant to which the owner from time to time of land in or on which the work is installed must ensure that:(a) the work or any structure owned by, or under the control or management of, the Corporation is not wilfully or negligently destroyed, damaged or interfered with, and(b) the Corporation and authorised persons are not delayed or obstructed in and about the taking, in relation to the work, of any of the steps referred to in section 19 (2), and(c) no structure is placed in, on or near the work in a manner that interferes with the operation of the work, and(d) ground is not opened to expose any pipe or other work of the Corporation without reasonable excuse, or the consent of the Corporation, and without giving the Corporation at least 2 days’ written notice of intention to open the ground unless that requirement is waived by the Corporation.(2) A lease, including a residential tenancy agreement within the meaning of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010, is taken to include a term requiring the lessee of land referred to in subsection (1) or any part of it to comply with the same obligations, in relation to land, as are imposed by that subsection on the owner who has leased the land to the lessee.(3) An agreement to which subsection (1) relates is enforceable as if it were a covenant.(4) It is a defence to proceedings by the Corporation under this section that the owner or, in a case to which subsection (2) applies, the lessee, did not know of, or could not reasonably have prevented, action taken by any person that would, if known to or capable of prevention by the owner or lessee, have resulted in a breach of this section by the owner or lessee.(5) A person who, on land in, on or near which any work owned by the Corporation is installed, places a structure in, on or near the work in a manner that interferes with the operation of the work, must, on receiving a written notice from the Corporation requiring the removal of the structure within a period specified in the notice, remove the structure and compensate the Corporation for all loss or damage suffered by the Corporation as a result of the placement of the structure in, on or near the work.(6) If a person fails to comply with a notice under subsection (5) within the period specified in the notice or within any extension of that period allowed by the Corporation in writing, the Corporation may remove the structure and recover from the person the cost of the removal together with compensation for all loss or damage referred to in that subsection.(7) The provisions of this section have effect despite anything contained in section 42 of the Real Property Act 1900.
26 Compensation to Corporation for damage
(1) Without limiting section 25, a person who, without the consent of the Corporation, carries out any activity that causes destruction of, damage to or interference with any work owned by the Corporation in circumstances in which the person should have known that the destruction, damage or interference would result from the carrying out of the activity, is liable to compensate the Corporation for all loss or damage suffered by the Corporation as a result.(2) The Corporation is not entitled to compensation both under this section and another provision of this Act for the same destruction, damage or interference.(3) In this section, person extends to any person:(a) who caused the carrying out of the activity, or(b) by whose order or direction the activity was carried out, or(c) who aided, assisted, counselled or procured the carrying out of the activity.(4) The Corporation may proceed against a person for recovery of its loss or compensation for its damage under this section whether or not the Corporation has proceeded against the person principally responsible for the loss or damage or any other person involved in the carrying out of the activity that caused the loss or damage.
27 Interference with works by trees
(1) If the Corporation has reasonable cause to believe that a tree is destroying, damaging or interfering with a work of the Corporation, the Corporation may, by written notice, require the owner of the land on which the tree is situated within a reasonable period specified in the notice to remove the tree, including all roots of the tree that are or may be destroying, damaging or interfering with the work.(2) The Corporation must reimburse the owner for the reasonable expenses of any action taken by the owner under this section unless the Corporation establishes that:(a) after the work was first laid or installed, an owner or occupier planted the tree, or caused or permitted the tree to be planted, in, on or near the work in circumstances in which the owner or occupier should have known that destruction of, damage to or interference with the work would result, or(b) the work of the Corporation is located, within the land on which the tree has been planted, in land that is the subject of an easement in favour of the Corporation or an easement for water supply, sewerage or drainage purposes.(3) An owner given notice under this section may, with the consent of the Corporation and without destroying, damaging or interfering with the Corporation’s works, take steps, other than removal of the tree, to eliminate the cause of the destruction of, damage to or interference with the Corporation’s works and any reasonable expectation of the destruction, damage or interference occurring in the future.(4) No compensation is payable by the Corporation to a person for the expenses of taking steps under subsection (3).(5) If, in circumstances other than those referred to in subsection (3), an owner fails to comply with a notice under this section within the period specified in the notice or within any extension of that period allowed by the Corporation in writing, the Corporation may remove the tree at its own expense.(6) This section applies despite the existence of a tree preservation order or environmental planning instrument but does not apply to any tree that is the subject of or is within an area that is the subject of:(a) to which an interim heritage order or listing on the State Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 1977 applies or to which an order under section 136 of that Act applies, or(b) an interim protection order under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, or(c) a protection conferred by any similar law.(7) Nothing done by an owner of land in compliance with a notice under this section or by the Corporation under subsection (5) constitutes an offence against any law under which a tree preservation order or environmental planning instrument relating to the land is made.(8) In this section, tree includes shrub or other plant.
28 Corporation not liable to pay annual charge on pipes etc
Section 611 of the Local Government Act 1993 does not apply to the Corporation.