5. Preliminary steps before rural fire district constituted or
 boundaries changed---(1) For the purposes of this section and section 6
 of this Act, the term ``Fire Authority'' includes the New Zealand Fire
 Service Commission.

   (2) Every proposal for an Order in Council under section 4 of this Act
 shall be made to the Minister [of Forestry] and shall, except where a
 rural fire district is to be abolished, be accompanied by a plan and
 land description together sufficiently describing the proposed rural
 fire district or the proposed changes in the boundaries of a rural fire
 district, and the proposer shall send a copy of the proposal to every
 Fire Authority, Catchment Board, Catchment Commission and local
 authority affected by the proposal, and shall deposit a further copy in
 some convenient place for public inspection.

   (3) The proposer shall cause a notice to be advertised at least twice
 (at intervals of not less than one week and not more than 2 weeks) in a
 newspaper circulating in the locality, giving the substance of the
 proposal, stating where and at what times a copy of the proposal is open
 for public inspection, and calling upon any persons affected to state in
 writing any well-grounded representations objecting to or supporting the
 proposal and to send it to the Minister [of Forestry] within a time
 limit not earlier than one month after the date of the first publication
 of the notice.

   (4) A copy of the notice shall be forwarded to the Minister [of
 Forestry] and to every body to which a copy of the proposal was sent
 pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, and every such body may make
 representations to the Minister [of Forestry] in respect of the proposal
 within the time limit set by the notice.

   (5) The Minister [of Forestry] may appoint a time and place at which
 the makers of representations under subsection (3) or subsection (4) of
 this section may appear before the Minister [of Forestry]  or a Fire
 Authority nominated by him or a Rural Fire Mediator and support their
 representations by such evidence as they think fit.

   (6) The Minister [of Forestry] shall give due consideration to the
 representations made and any supporting evidence produced before he
 makes any recommendation to the Governor-General for the making of an
 Order in Council in respect of the proposal.
     Cf. 1955, No. 44, s. 6

       In subss. (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) the words ``of Forestry''
     were inserted by s. 2 (1) (a) of the Forest and Rural Fires
     Amendment Act 1987.