C.—lA

The following summarizes briefly the various activities carried out by the Department during the past year:— Boutine Activities Land Surveys The following table summarizes the various classes of survey work carried out by staff and contract surveyors for the year ended 31st March, 1945. This does not include the cost of topographical mapping carried out by the Department for the Army Department, which is dealt with under a special heading

Summary of Field-work

It will be noted that the expenditure under this heading is more than double the relative expenditure for the previous year—namely, £12,667 —due to the almost complete transfer of field staff from military mapping to land-settlement surveys. These latter surveys include preliminary topographical surveys for the scheming of subdivisions and the classification of the land, as well as the final land survey for title purposes. Preliminary surveys for settlement embrace an area of 71,515 acres, as against 5,646 acres for the previous year, while rural and settlement title surveys have increased from 27,459 acres to 45,495 acres. So far these surveys have been kept up to date, the preliminary survey work being in advance and in many cases awaiting final action in respect to purchase. Any acceleration in purchases for settlement will tax the capacity of the field staff to the utmost and have a detrimental effect on the accumulated arrears of other classes of survey work. So far it has not been necessary to employ private surveyors under contract on this class of work to any great extent. Surveyors in private practice are fully engaged on land-transfer surveys and will probably be unable to render much assistance. There has been over 100 per cent, increase in the number of town sections surveyed for housing purposes. Most of this work has been carried out under contract by private surveyors. A large increase in this type of work can be anticipated with the acceleration of the housing programme.

The total expenditure and the field staff engaged on survey work is distributed among the various districts as follows—

2

Class of Survey. Area, Mileage, &c. Average Cost. Total Cost. £ s. d. Minor triangulation .. .. .. .. 36 square miles l-4d. per acre .. 137 0 0 Topographical survey for settlement .. .. 71,515 acres .. 4-91d. per acre.. 1,462 0 3 Topographical survey for housing .. .. 130 acres .. 13-2s. per acre .. 85 14 6 Rural and settlement surveys. . .. .. 45,495 acres .. 2-49s. per acre .. 5,671 9 8 Village and suburban surveys (2 acres to 10 acres) 284 acres .. 49-07s. per acre 696 16 1 Town sections (including housing) .. .. 2,177 sections £3-2 per section 6,968 3 5 Standard traverse surveys .. .. .. 8 miles .. £40 per mile .. 320 0 6 Maori land surveys .. . . . . .. 412 acres .. 10-34s. per acre 212 17 10 Road and railway surveys .. .. 42 miles .. £55-29 per mile.. 2,322 2 5 Maintenance of survey marks.. .. .. .. .. 167 6 0 Inspection and investigation surveys .. .. .. .. 1,084 17 3 Location of boundaries and compass surveys .. .. .. 1,948 0 10 Precise levelling .. .. .. .. 35-15 miles .. £53-3 per mile .. 1,875 2 9 Topographical mapping (ground control) .. .. .. 1,928 1 6 Specialized surveys (radio location, defence posts, .. .. 733 6 7 chain testing, &c.) Police Department (accident sites, &c.) .. .. .. 148 7 7 Miscellaneous (reports, &c.) .. .. .. .. .. 506 9 2 Total cost .. .. .. .. .. .. 26,267 16 4

•vr -l r Number of District. Totals. Percentage. at J^ e ° . Contract J Surveyors. I £ s. d. Auckland and North Auckland .. 10,355 18 11 39-4 8 28 Gisborne .. .. .. .. 406 16 2 1-6 2 2 Hawke's Bay .. .. .. 1,660 15 6 6-3 2 4 Taranaki .. .. .. .. 1,106 7 3 4-2 1 2 Wellington .. .. .. .. 2,232 13 0 8-5 4 Marlborough .. .. .. 1,860 6 2 7-1 1 1 Nelson .. .. .. .. 768 15 4 2'9 2 1 Westland .. .. .. .. 350 15 1 1-3 .. 2 Canterbury.. .. .. .. 4,275 10 9 16-3 3 8 Otago .. .. .. 1,920 4 10 7-3 1 fi Southland .. .. .. .. 1,329 13 4 5-1 3 1 Totals .. .. .. 26,267 16 4 100 27 55