Hon Maurice Williamson
Minister for Land Information
24 November 2010 Media Statement
Government approves $850k to re-survey Canterbury land

Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson has announced an $850,000 Government approved fund for Land Information New Zealand’s re-establishment of critical surveying information in Canterbury following the 4 September earthquake.

Mr Williamson says Canterbury’s landscape has changed significantly since the earthquake.

“Re-establishing control of the geodetic network is vital to ensuring that councils and infrastructure providers have accurate information about the land and can get on with rebuilding and re-instating services like roads, water, waste-water and sewerage systems quickly,” Mr Williamson says.

Work is expected to be completed by the end of February.

The funding will also support the restoration of coordinate markers vital to hazard monitoring, mapping property boundaries, and re-building infrastructure like telecommunications cables and water reticulation systems.

The remaining work will cover most of the Canterbury Plains – from Rangiora to Ashburton, and as far west as Sheffield. This work is expected to be completed by June 2011.

New Zealand’s survey control system is made up of physical markers and their location enables the coordinates of other points to be determined. The sum of these markers is known as a geodetic network that provides surveyors with accurate information about the area’s topography.

Land Information New Zealand has already re-prioritised $250,000 of its funding to the network re-establishment, and now that the Government has funded the remainder, a tender process for a survey provider will begin immediately.

ENDS

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