C—lA.

6

New Names. — The following names were recommended for adoption, viz. : " Punganui " for the name of a railway-station near Helensville ; " Akatea Street " for a proposed new street oil Adelaide Road, City of Wellington ; " Gowanbridge " for a new railway-station on the Kawatiri-Gowan line, Nelson District. Triplication of Name. —Mount Cerberus : The Board considered the reports obtained from the Chief Surveyors of Otago, Southland, and Wellington with reference to the name of " Mount Cerberus " being given to a peak in their respective districts, and resolved that they saw no reason to recommend any alteration to the name of Mount Cerberus in the localities mentioned. Further particulars and fuller reports will appear in the Records of the Survey of New Zealand. Pboposed Operations fob 1928-29. Geodetic Triangulation. —It is proposed to extend the triangulation to the shores of Cook Strait, and to select suitable stations on the South island for a connection therewith. A datum or initial station for the Dominion will be chosen and the necessary astronomical observations undertaken for its precise location. Minor Triangulalion. —No new work is contemplated, but it may possibly be necessary to undertake small areas to control settlement surveys being done during the year. Topographical Surveys. —The contoured plane-table surveys are to be continued in the Rotorua and Taranaki Districts, while the small survey at Ngaruawahia will be completed shortly. Exploratory and Geographical Surveys. —lt is expected that a further exploratory survey in the Fiords District will be undertaken during next summer, continuing the work done by Mr. T, W. Preston in the 1927-28 season. Standard Surveys. —The survey of the suburban boroughs around the City of Auckland will be continued during the year. New Plymouth, Timaru, and Invercargill are expected to be completed. Rural standards in Taranaki, Marlborough, and Canterbury will be gone on with. Negotiations with several local bodies are in progress, and it is expected that work in connection with these will be commenced early. A start with a small survey of part of Port Chalmers Borough is being made shortly, and it is expected to complete it during the year. Town-section Surveys. —The subdivision of the Orakei Garden Suburb and of the Lower ilutt Valley Settlement arc being continued, and further areas in each will be available for disposal during the year. Small areas in various districts are also to be cut up into town lots. Rural Settlement. —In this class there are about 82,000 acres of Crown lands available for survey during the year, and it may be expected that the greater part of this will be surveyed ready for disposal within the year. Native Land Court Surveys. —Authorities for the survey of nearly 60,000 acres are already issued, chiefly to private surveyors. Miscellaneous. —In addition to the above-mentioned works there are the customary examination and recording of plans, field inspections, compilation of maps for publication, and computations in connection with tidal, magnetic, and geodetic surveys. General. Map-publication. —The total publications under this heading were 95, and the cost of printing £1,780. Cash sales of litho maps from all districts were well maintained, and amounted to £1,375, a fnlling-ofr' of £75 on the previous year, but well above the average. Government Departments were supplied with maps to the value of £1,370, of which about 30 per cent, is due to the alteration of electoral boundaries as fixed by the last sitting of the Representation Commission. Fuller particulars of the items under this heading are contained in the report by the Chief Draughtsman appended hereto. With the present staff, and owing to the ever-increasing volume of work' to bo dealt with in the Land Transfer Branch, slow progress is being made in bringing the county and district maps up to date. There are about 500 maps which require to be revised and redrawn, and it is proposed to concentrate on this work as far as possible. Town Subdivisional Schemes. —The town schemes approved during the year numbered 298, a fallingoff from last year's figures of eighteen. The North Auckland District contributes 54 per cent. ; Canterbury, 20 per cent. ; Wellington, 9 per cent. ; and Auckland, 5 per cent. The town schemes included a total area of 2,541 acres ; and of this area new streets account for 209 acres ; road and access reserves, 23 acres ; reserve for public purposes, 1 18 acres ; and lots available for sale, 2,191 acres. Proclamation of Roads, &c. —During the past year a number of applications for the proclamation of road-lines laid out by the Native Land Court under sections 48, 49, 50, and 52 of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1913, were considered and dealt with. The statutory notices under section 15 of the Native Land Amendment Act, 1914, were forwarded to the local authorities of the districts concerned, and in the majority of cases no objections were raised to the proclamation of the road-lines as public highways. Under the Land for Settlements Act, 1925 (section 106), two warrants were issued closing unformed and unused roads intersecting or adjoining land acquired under the Act, in order that the areas comprised therein could be incorporated in the allotments available for disposal.