Smith Nick: Canterbury Property Boundaries and Related Matters Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSmith Nick: Canterbury Property Boundaries and Related Matters Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 03 November 2015. Volume:709;Page:7580. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) on behalf of theMinister for Land Information: I move That the Canterbury Property Boundaries and Related Matters Bill be now read a first time. I will be nominating the Local Government and Environment Committee to consider this bill. It is part of the package of practical measures that this Parliament needs to legislate to support the recovery from the earthquakes. It provides much-needed clarity and certainty for determining where the legal property boundaries are on land that has dramatically moved as a consequence of those earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.Surveyors and others with interests in affected properties have been uncertain about the correct location of some legal property boundaries. This is because the common law in this area has been open to different interpretations under the extraordinary scale of land movements that have occurred in Canterbury. It is not directly on point with the type of land movements that were triggered by those Canterbury earthquakes. The generally accepted survey principle to date has been that legal boundaries do not move with the land. It has been difficult for surveyors to identify and interpret physical evidence of boundaries all of which have moved with the land movement in light of this principle. This uncertainty has resulted in surveys taking longer to complete with reluctance by members of the surveying profession to undertake surveys in the worst-affected areas where the movements have been greatest and more costs for property owners and delays in rebuild work.The bill addresses this problem by providing from the commencement of the new legislation that legal boundaries of land in Greater Christchurch have moved with the land movements caused by those earthquake sequences. This means that all surveyors can apply the new boundaries moved principle with greater confidence and with certainty. The bill applies only to land in the Greater Christchurch area and to the movement that was caused by those 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The bill’s approach may not be suitable for responding to future earthquakes in Canterbury or elsewhere in New Zealand or their impacts which may differ from what occurred in Greater Christchurch. It is a pragmatic and specific measure for what occurred in that city.Because of the uncertainty that has existed since the issue emerged following the Canterbury earthquakes Land Information New Zealand has approved surveys by licensed cadastral surveyors on either basis—that is on the basis that the boundaries did move or did not move—provided the surveys were otherwise compliant with the Cadastral Survey Act 2002. To avoid unfairly penalising surveyors and property owners who acted in good faith and reliance on those surveys the bill validates surveys done on either basis provided they were done by licensed cadastral surveyors acting in good faith and without negligence. The bill also confirms that licensed cadastral surveyors and the Crown will not be liable for surveys done and approved in the interim period just because they were done on the basis that the boundaries did or did not move with the land.The overall impact of these measures is that property boundaries will continue to be located where property owners generally expected them to be which will result in fewer potential conflicts and disputes than would have occurred under the status quo—that is if a person has got a building on a property and the land has moved and if we did not provide for this bill we could end up with the inadvertent situation of the person having a legal contest with the boundary owner that their building was now incurring on to their title. The approach being provided gives greater certainty and fairness for those who carried out approved and acted in reliance of interim surveys.However it will result in some boundary conflicts between interim surveys done on the basis that the boundaries did not move and the surveys done after the commencement of the new legislation on the basis that the boundaries did move. The existing provisions of the Land Transfer Act provide sufficient mechanisms to resolve any title conflicts including Crown compensation in appropriate cases and the bill confirms that registered landowners under the Act continue to enjoy its protection. Other processes and mechanisms outside of the bill such as private agreements and the Property Law Act 2007 are available to address those survey conflicts. To minimise the cost and inconvenience to affected landowners boundary corrections made under this amended legislation for alignment with the boundaries moved principle will not be a subdivision for the purposes of the Resource Management Act. That would only add additional expense and uncertainty. Without this provision landowners could be required to have to go away and get subdivision consent and that would be unreasonable.Finally the bill will amend the Cadastral Survey Act to enable the Surveyor-General to issue voluntary guidance for surveyors. The guidance material is intended to promote consistent interpretation and improved compliance in relation to the mandatory rules and standards made under that Act. It would be good to get this legislation considered and passed promptly by the House to support Canterbury property owners and the rebuild programme faced by the uncertainty of the complexity of these survey title issues. I hope that our colleagues on the Local Government and Environment Committee will be able to seek submissions consider professional advice and report this bill back to the House with some priority. I must acknowledge the work of Louise Upston the Minister who has been responsible for preparing this bill for the House. I would like to thank all the stakeholders who have contributed to the development of the bill particularly those professional surveyors who have sought a practical solution to this problem through the various consultation processes over the draft bill.I will conclude by saying it is essential that the people of Greater Christchurch whose property boundaries have been affected by the earthquake have this certainty over their property rights. It is also essential to maintain public confidence in the cadastre and to support the planning rebuild and recovery of affected communities including the repair and rebuilding of land of infrastructure and of other property in Greater Christchurch. I consider that the measures introduced in this bill will achieve these objectives in a practical way and commend the bill to the House.