Development of 3D cadastre in New South Wales though e-plan lodgement

Development of 3D cadastre in New South Wales though e-plan lodgement

With rapid growth of urban environments worldwide, there is an increasing need to develop more innovative and efficient land administration systems. In Australia, various jurisdictions are currently in the process of implementing 3D cadastre to support better land administration services to the wider community. The ‘Cadastre 2034 Strategy’ published by the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) for Australia in 2014 indicates that a digital cadastre will be implemented as part of that strategy. As part of development of 3D cadastre, State of New South Wales has used the ePlan model based on LandXML for digital lodgement and validation of cadastral plans. This initiative aims to replace PDF cadastral plans with the digital format of LandXML. However, with the introduction of LandXML as the chosen formats for digital cadastral plans in NSW, there has been a significantly low level of Strata Plan digital capture and submission in LandXML format by the surveying industry. The research aims to identify the main challenges and explore a suitable method to improve the adoption of the digital format for Strata Plan submission and development of 3D cadastre in NSW. In this research paper, a mixed method research approach has been used by integrating both qualitative and quantitative data. The primary data was collected using online questionnaires and surveys of different stakeholders from government and the private surveying industry. The data allowed for the assessment of the effectiveness and implications of the digital system currently maintained by the NSW LRS (Land Registry Services). A case study was used for the creation, validation and lodgement of an existing strata plan using LandXML format. This paper demonstrates that implementation of 3D digital cadastral plans needs to be more structured in order to satisfy all stakeholders involved. More investment into the representation of complex 3D geometric models and classification for validation will improve the uptake by surveyors. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the proposed strata plan implementation strategy and proposes future research within the topic of strata plan validation in NSW, Australia.