VPRS 7039 Certified Forest Excision Plans

Full description

This series was created as a result of the requirement under section 37 of the Forests Act 1907 to produce maps of any land excisioned from state forests within one month of the excision.

"Certified " refers to the Surveyor-General signing the plans in order to certify that they are true copies of the original maps deposited with the Clerk of the Parliaments under the requirements of section 37 of the 1907 Act.

"Excisioned" refers to land cut-off from permanent forest for public use as mineral springs, for visiting water falls, caves, or places of natural beauty, for sites for townships, state schools, roads and for water supply purposes as provided by section 16 of the 1907 Act. For land to be excisioned from land dedicated as reserved forest, it was necessary to publish an order in the Government Gazette as provided by section 49 of the Forests Act 1958. The consolidation of legislation relating to forests did not affect the provisions governing the production of maps. Section 73 now controls the production of maps and has not been substantially amended since the consolidation.

The plans are drawn on paper. The excised or dedicated land is the main feature of the plan, shown by shading.

The excision plans were controlled by the "Dedication and Excision Schedule Index". This record has not been transferred to the Public Record Office Victoria as at 2004. The index alphabetically lists the parishes by name in a column down the left hand side of the page. In a column on the right of the parish name, the dedication and excision schedule numbers are listed horizontally. Dedication schedule numbers are in green print and the excision schedule numbers are in blue print. These numbers correspond with the numbers shown in the top right hand corner of the plans.

A typical entry in the index is: Ararat: 22,178 (Green - Dedication); 7, 8, 118, 123, 135, 143, 152, 176, (Blue - Excision).