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1946 NEW ZEALAND

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND SURVEY SURVEYS (ANNUAL REPORT ON)

Presented to hath Houses' of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency

Wellington, 10th July, 1946. The Surveyor-General to the Hon. the Minister of Lands. Sir, —- I have the honour to present herewith my report on the survey operations of the Department for the year ended 31st March, 1946. I have, &c., R. G. Dick, Surveyor-General. The Hon. the Minister of Lands.

REPORT During the year the staff, both field and office, have been, concentrated solely on works and activities that are of first priority. In the field, land-settlement surveys have fully occupied the available field staff to the exclusion of many other survey activities, such as topographical mapping, triangulation, standard traverses, and precise levelling. Urgent attention will have to be given to the need for a large increase in field staff, which can only be accomplished by the appointment of field trainees, as qualified surveyors outside the Service are not available, Staff surveyors are being attracted to the better conditions offered by other organizations in New Zealand and overseas. The office staff has been augmented by the return of servicemen from overseas, who, as a whole, have settled down to their work with commendable zeal. However, this increase in staff has been offset by the demands made for many and various types of draughting services. The preparation of maps for the census employed the bulk of Head Office and district office staffs for some two or three months during the year, while, almost immediately following the taking of the census, the preparatory work for the Representation Com-* mission entailed the employment of the majority of the Head Office staff. Practically no work has been done to overtake the accumulated areas of