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additional work that is not warranted. It is fully anticipated that local authorities would agree to an amendment to the Act whereby the granting of such exemption is subject only to the approval of the Chief Surveyor.

Office-work (Plan Examination) The following table summarizes the number of land-survey plans approved and instruments of title prepared for the year ended 31st March, 1949:

There is a slight increase in these returns over the previous year. Arrears, have been reduced from 837 to 550, all of which are now confined to the Auckland district. It is hoped to completely eliminate all arrears this coming year when the modified form of plan examination instituted towards the end of the year will become more effective. Other Office-work Except for the most essential routine work, there has been no opportunity during the year of dealing with the huge arrears of record and cadastral map production. This work is fully ten years in arrear, many cadastral maps having to be reprinted without revision. Now that land-holding maps, illustrating rural land ownerships, have been completed in most districts, it will be possible to undertake more of this work during the ensuing year. Although it is not possible to summarize the many and various works carried out by the draughting staff, the following summary sets out some of the main classes undertaken (last year's figures in parentheses) (1) Record maps revised or redrawn . . 209 (123) (2) Cadastral maps revised or redrawn .. 55 (41) (3) Tracings supplied .. .. 7,4*46 (7,000) (4) Photostats and prints supplied . . 57,504 (54,581) A new photostat machine has been installed in the Dunedin office, which now means that the four main districts of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch,, and Dunedin are equipped with an efficient means of copying map and plan records for various departmental and public purposes. This facility should be extended to other districts in order to reduce the amount of hand copying-work.

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District. Plans Placed on Instruments of Title. Survey Plans Examined and Approved. Crown. Other Departments. Maori. Land Transfer. Totals. North Auckland and 16,229 193 208 46 1,046 1,493 South Auckland Gisborne 937 19 8 60 87 Hawkes Bay 1,883 34 24 10 187 255 Taranaki 1,212 24 46 9 130 209 Wellington 6,242 32 98 15 372 517 Marlborough 552 21 14 73 108 Nelson .. * 1,676 35 32 171 238 Westland 840 13 3 21 37 Canterbury 4,796 73 56 3 469 601 Otago 3,151 48 36 202 286 Southland 1,171 45 14 95 154 Totals 38,689 (42,686) 537 (498) 531 (526) 91 (120) 2,826 (2,724) 3,985 (3,868) (Last year's figures are shown in parentheses.)