IDENTIFICATION
- RURAL
LAND
CAPABILITY
An
understanding of the farm system is most important for the rural
valuer being the subject of the valuation. The "valuation
system" is the method of determining the market value of the
rural property. The valuation system is covered generally, in order
of the components for carrying out of the valuation so that this part
will cover property identification and capability assessment.
In
recent years there has been a growing awareness and concern within
the community for rural land uses to be more accountable and
environmentally responsible. This has led to government regulation
and control for example in NSW, the use of Crown lands are controlled
under Part 3 of the Crown Lands Act, 1989. Under the provisions of
the Act, it is a requirement that a land assessment be conducted for
all Crown lands that are subject to sale, lease, reservation or
dedication.
The
same process is suitable for the rural valuer to assess the land
capability of all rural lands.
METHODOLOGY
The
main steps involved in the land assessment process are:
- LEGAL DESCRIPTION
Establish
the legal boundaries of the subject propertyon a cadastral map using
the legal description.
- PREPARATION OF THE TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Identify
farm system components of value on the legal outline using air photos,
photomaps and full colour topographical maps.
- LAND CAPABILITY MAPPING
Determine
the land capability of the subject property. This is a measure of the
ability of the property to accept a land use without adversely
affecting its long-term viability. It is based on the natural resource
attributes of the land and the functions of the land use, and provides
an index of sustainability for each use evaluated.
LEGAL
DESCRIPTION
Legal
description consists of determining the legal identifiers of the
property. These are usually crown identifiers such as Parish Portion
in County name (NSW, Victoria, Queensland) or Lot Number in Hundred
name, County name (SA). NSW has given unique lot identifiers to the
old parish portions and a deposited plan numbers to parish maps. This
means that parish portions are now identified in the same manner as
for private lands (ie Lot number and Deposited Plan number).
If
the subject property has been recently subdivided or resurveyed they
will be identified by way of Land Title Office identifiers which are
usually a Lot number in Deposited Plan number. Once the legal
identifiers are known they are plotted on a cadastral map such
as a Parish map in most states or the One Hundred map in South
Australia.
The
legal description of the property is found by searching the local
council's, Land Title Office, the Department of Land's records, or
looking at the valuation notice issued by the Valuer General. For
example:
Lots
198, 119, Deposited Plan 754873
A
copy of the Parish or Hundred map can be obtained from the Department
of Lands, Central Mapping Authority (NSW) or Mapland (South
Australia).
EXTRACT
FROM A PARISH MAP (NSW)
The
subject lots 119 and 198 are enlarged to a more useful size for
valuation purposes. The resulting odd scale can be determined by
reference to a known distance on the map or a measured distance in
the field. Note that it contains basic topographic data identified on
the original Crown survey
THE
COUNTY MAP - NEW SOUTH WALES
The
parish map is an integral part of a comprehensive land recording
system. New South Wales is divided into 141 counties, the boundaries
of which have a degree of stability not enjoyed by the more familiar
subdivision
boundaries of local government, electorate and regional areas. Each
county is divided into a number of smaller areas called parishes. The
diagram above shows an extract from the County of King. In heavier
print and marked by line and dot boundaries are some of the parishes
in that county.
An
extract from the South Australian County map of Chandos is shown
below:
Parish
maps have not been compiled for land in the Western Division that is,
over that area roughly west of a line from Mungindi to Balranald, or
for land within the Australian Agricultural Company's 646 640 acre
grant in the County of Gloucester.
THE
PARISH MAP - NEW SOUTH WALES
There
are over 7 000 parish map sheets, and inevitably, there have been
name duplications, therefore, it is essential always to identify a
parish by both its and the county's names. The parish is divided into
lots (old
portions),
the numbers of which are shown on the map face There are more lots in
a closely settled area than in some of the more sparsely occupied
parts of the State.
OTHER
PARISH MAP SYSTEMS
The
South Australian system is lot number in a Hundred. The diagram below
shows an extract from the Hundred map of Kondoparinga. The Queensland
system is also Parish and County as shown in for the Parish of
Auburn.
When
a town lies within a parish, its location is indicated but relevant
information is shown on a more detailed scale in a town or village
map. The breakdown is usually into sections and allotments rather
than portions.
Maps
are not produced for "private" towns which have been
subdivided out of privately owned land. In recent years portions,
allotments and sections have given way to the better known real
property system terms; lots within deposited plans.
The
NSW Parish map extract above displays the breakdown
into
lots, areas of each lot, plan of survey catalogue numbers (eg W3738
for Lot 186) and grantees names (eg Bank of NSW for Lot 186). The
majority of parish maps are still in imperial measurements so
confusion with metric must be avoided. Areas are normally expressed
in acres, roods and perches (eg 100 acres 2 roods for Lot 186).
40perches
= 1 rood; 4 roods = 1 acre
To
convert hectares to acres multiply by 2.4711. In recent parish maps
the face is left relatively clean with the data included in the
tabulated
statement which is common to all parish sheets. Examples of each are
shown below:
SURVEY
PLANS
A
plan of survey has been compiled for each portion and for each
town/village
section. As well as showing distances bearings and other survey data
these usually contain a condensed history of the particular parcel of
land albeit in a somewhat cryptic format. All plans are now on micro
film and are accessible at the Land Titles Office.
The
plan number is noted on the portion for example, Plan Number W3738
for Lot 186 in the NSW Parish example (W stands for the County name;
Wellington).
GRANTS
AND LANDHOLDERS
The
term ''grantee' is used to include the beneficiaries of free grants,
grants upon purchase, grants upon completion of conditions (for
example, Conditional Purchase), and leasehold grants. The term "first
holder" denotes the person by whom a lease, or land still in the
course of purchase was taken up.
The
parish map shows for granted land; the name of the grantee and for
leaseholds or current purchases; the name of the first holder. The
map does not go beyond issue of the Crown grant. Subdivisions
occurring after grant are recorded on deposited plans at the Land
Titles Office.
The
parish map is not updated in response to any such event. That is,
once
"alienated" the Department of Lands loses jurisdiction over
the land.
TITLE
REFERENCES
In
most cases, the tabulated statement on the parish map gives a
volume
and folio title reference which is sufficient to enable
access to be gained to the Crown grant held by the Land Titles
Office. Should this information not be shown, the name of the grantee
and date of grant will be sufficient. Sometimes, it will be necessary
to get these particulars from the survey plan.
A
COMPUTER FOLIO SEARCH can readily show the important cadastral data
over parish portions. An example of such a search is shown below:
Current
tenures (leases and incomplete purchases) can be readily identified
from the parish map. and then searched at the Land Titles Office. To
search behind a grant, prior title identification may be gained
either from the original grant or from the survey plan. There has
been a multiplicity of Crown tenures over the last century as is
shown later.
Once
identified, prior titles may be searched from old land registers
LANDHOLDERS
INDEX
At
the Land Titles Office (NSW), a Purchasers and Vendors Index lists
all land dealings prior to 1863. After 1863, all dealings were
recorded in a
Purchasers
Index only. Both Indexes are accessed on a name and year of purchase
basis.
PLACE
NAMES
The
searcher trying to identify a particular landholding or seeking
maps
of a particular locality should be careful never to discard any
fragment of geographical information, however insignificant it might
appear. The Lands Map Sales and information Centre possesses a place
names list which is, in its own right an historic document. It lists
alphabetically all place names that appear on Eastern and Central
Division
parish maps. There are an estimated 22 500 entries in this list. It
does not include the County of Cumberland.
OTHER
FEATURES OF THE SYSTEM
- The mortgagee will appear as grantee if there was a
mortgage existing at the time of issue of the grant (this was the
system before Torrens Title). This accounts for the high incidence of
Banks' names on every map.
- The grantee may not have been the original selector. The
land could have changed hands many times between selection and grant.
- Original selection may have been under lease many years
ago. Conversion in recent years to a purchase could result in the first
holder's name being deleted and replaced by the first holder of the new
purchase tenure.
- Any reference to grants or first holders is removed if
land is resumed or otherwise returned to the Crown. Examples would be
resumption for National Park, dams or State Forests. In the 1940-1950's
extensive acquisitions took place for War Service Land Settlement:
first holders' under War Service Land Settlement schemes would replace
the grantees of earlier years on the map face. If necessary, earlier
editions of parish maps may be examined at the State Archives Authority
EXTRACT
FROM A SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CROWN
CADASTRAL
MAP HUNDRED OF KONDOPARINGA, COUNTY
OF
HINDMARSH. OLD IMPERIAL SCALE OF 1 inch = 40 chains
EXTRACT
FROM A QUEENSLAND CROWN CADASTRAL MAP
PORTIONS
42 AND 43, PARISH OF AUBURN, COUNTY OF
WICKLOW
SCALE 1:25 000
EXTRACT
FROM COUNTY OF CHANDOS MAP - SOUTH
AUSTRALIA
SHOWS PART OF THE HUNDRED OF ALLENBY
OLD
IMPERIAL SCALE: 1 inch = 2 miles
See
topographical
sketch
air
photos
air
photo interpretation
crown
tenures
land
capability
14
