Cadastral plans and data

The survey of the border of the Federal Capital Territory (now the ACT) is on plan FC18 (13 sheets). Copies of this survey were lodged with the NSW Land Titles Office.

OSGLI keeps the original Field Books of this survey. High-resolution scanned copies of the Field Books are available on the Resources page.

After the 2003 bushfires, the ACT Planning and Land Authority (ACTPLA) surveyed and remarked the most damaged parts of the border. The new border reached from Mt Gingera to Mt Coree along the western border, then north-easterly to One Tree Hill. This area covers approximately 67km in total.

The original survey placed a large reference mark at every mile of the border. This meant each plan of the re-survey generally covered a mile of the border. A registered surveyor signed and fully examined each plan of re-survey. They were also certified by the ACT Surveyor-General and the NSW Surveyor-General. You can use the cadastral information shown on Territory Border Plans to re-establish the ACT/NSW border. Copies of these plans were also lodged with the NSW Land Titles Office and are DPs in that state.

Example: TBP16 Mouat. This is a re-survey from the "15 Mile" mark to the "16 Mile" mark, performed by Mr Surveyor Mouat.

An X plan is the survey plan prior to it being registered as a Deposited Plan. An X plan has a unique identifier.

OSGLI will examine an X Plan once it’s lodged, and prior to becoming a DP. Once it's lodged and accepted, the digital PDF plan is allocated an X Plan number. This number aids in tracking and identification purposes. There is no connection between the X Plan number and the resulting DP number.

In the current system, registered surveyors don't sign or date the initial X Plan until the plan examination is complete. Please use extreme caution when using an unsigned X Plan.

The registered surveyor digitally signs and dates the final PDF plan after it passes the examination process. It is then digitally certified by the ACT Surveyor-General. The X Plan is now ready to become a DP. It can be utilised knowing the information is as accurate as possible.

X Plan information isn't included in the new cadastral charting layer on ACTmapi. To get the current X Plan, DP or UP number:

• click on the block to return a Feature Attributes query, or
• when in the Survey Infrastructure layer move the mouse pointer over the block for the Tool Tip to appear with a list of plans relevant to the block.

Timeframes for X Plan examinations

Changes to the X Plan should be sent to the lodging surveyor within the following timeframes:

• Greenfield plans – 10 working days
• Infill Plans – 15 working days
• Infill (Stratum) Plans – 25 working days
• Rural Plans – 30 working days

These timeframes may vary depending on:

• the type of survey,
• the number of sheets, and
• the complexity of the plan.

For more information see Guideline 6 - Deposited Plans Standards and Procedures [5.3 MB].

MS plans are survey plans that aren't lodged at the Land Titles Office (LTO), but the cadastral information shown on them is useful to re-establish land boundaries. You can refer to and use this information if a registered surveyor certifies it as correct. You can also use an MS Plan as a basis for compilation if the Surveyor-General has examined and signed it. But it's a surveyor's responsibility to make sure that the information found in an MS Plan is reliable and correct.

Example: MS1503

Government surveyors conduct surveys for the Investigation Survey Plans series from 1986-1988. They covered many suburbs in the Canberra Central District. The purposes of these surveys were:

• to connect the survey control network (CRMs and SRs) into the cadastre,
• to resolve cadastral definition issues in known problem areas, and
• to upgrade the digital cadastral database to SG/AG coordinates.

The information on the Investigation Survey Plans series helps to find cadastral reference marks. Use extreme care when using these plans to redefine the cadastre, because:

• they're based on the survey control mark network azimuth that uses SG/AG coordinates. Whereas the Canberra Central District uses radial survey coordinates based on the original radial survey. These aren't mathematically compatible and have small differences in orientation and adjustments,
• not all reference marks and cadastral monuments were found during the surveys, and
• the series Investigation Survey Plans did not undergo plan examination.

Example: INV C20900-60450

MISC plans help surveyors make survey information public before establishing an MS Plan series. Some older, cancelled DPs were changed to MISC Plans (e.g.: MISC582 was previously DP812), while other plans weren't lodged at the Land Titles Office (LTO). The information shown on MISC Plans may be useful to re-establish land boundaries. It's the surveyor's responsibility to make sure the information found in a MISC Plan is reliable and correct.

Example: MISC441

This series investigated and redefined many of the radial lines on Mr Surveyor Mouat’s original “Plan of MAIN AXIAL LINES – CANBERRA - FEDERAL CAPITAL CITY”. Mr Surveyor K. Morgan ran the initial 57 Radial Investigation Plans surveys between May 1953 to November 1956.

Example: RAD28

Unlike NSW, the ACT doesn't register road plans as DPs. Both urban and rural Road Survey Plans are ad-hoc, and identify land that is, or will be, opened as a public road. They show the extent of the road that isn't shown on a DP.

Examples: RP1001 (rural Road Survey Plan), RSP12 (urban Road Survey Plan)

Railway plans were prepared for the gazettal of the railway corridor through the ACT.

Example: Rly22b

These plans coordinate survey control marks, but some might help to redefine cadastres and radial lines.

Example: CM244

These plans coordinate survey control marks. Some show connections to cadastral reference marks and may help to redefine cadastres.

Examples: RM3601, RM3605

ACTmapi

Access to data

The Access to Data page shows the ACT Government’s commitment to open data. This page has links to:

• data terms and conditions,
• the Geospatial Data Catalogue, and
• options to access and download spatial data.

Access Imagery and elevation

The Access Imagery and elevation page includes a list of all aerial images and their extent, resolution, and licencing details. It also has information on LiDAR data.

Open Geospatial Data terms and conditions

The Open Geospatial Data terms and conditions page states the terms and conditions for all data provided through ACTmapi. This data is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution v4.0 International licence (CCBY v4.0). Terms of use conditions are also explained.

Geospatial Data Catalogue

The Geospatial Data Catalogue helps you search, visualise, enquire, and access web services and download data. APIs help you to interrogate and filter data to better fit their requirements.

Data download

The Data Download page includes a virtual directory download of current data in the following formats:

• AutoCAD
• File Geodatabase
• Shapefile and
• Tabfile.

The DP Amendments Register [64.5 KB] has a record of all changes made to deposited plans since 1980. It also includes brief details of the changes. Please note that some of the data on this register is historical and not checked, so there may be errors or omissions.

The MS Plans Register [117.8 KB] has a record of MS plan locations and other useful data to help search for plans. Please note that some of the data on this register is historical and not checked, so there may be errors or omissions. Please email actplasurvey@act.gov.au to order an MS plan.

The Search Field Books online page includes details of survey measurements that were used when drafting plans. A collection of scanned field books is also available for download. These field books date from around 1910 to the 1980s and are still relevant to surveying today.