The Recorder of Titles has been asked to investigate the irregular registration of a Gunns Ltd Forestry Right.
The problem was revealed in a land title obtained by Doctor John Powell of Golden Valley. Doctor Powell has been conducting an energetic campaign against Forestry Tasmania logging on Coupe BA388D sited on a parcel of Forestry Tasmania land next to his property (TT here). The parcel of Forestry Tasmania land in question adjoins the Liffey Forestry Reserve and parts of the property are designated High Conservation Value by Environment Tasmania.
The scan below shows part of the title to the Forestry Tasmania land, next to Dr Powell’s land, and comprised in folio of the register 135791/1, with the registered Forestry Right C446473.
The Forestry Right Diagram that resulted in the registration of the Gunns Ltd Forestry Right is extremely unusual in that it depicts a number of titles rather than just one. The “title boundary” in the Forestry Right Diagram below is the thick black line. There are five or six separate parcels of land with five or six title boundaries. While the Forestry Right Dealing number can refer to a number of “parts of a title” and a number of different Forestry Rights there is usually a separate Forestry Right Diagram for each individual title to land.
The Forestry Right Diagram, according to regulations must show the “title boundary”. The only way to find the “title boundary” is to look at the folio plan which is attached to the title.
The folio plan of 135791/1 is shown below. The relevant arrow shows Lot 1 as being the larger area at the bottom left hand side of the folio plan. The other areas depicted in the Forestry Right Diagram are shown as unidentified land.
However when we look at theLIST we see a similar picture to that on the Forestry Right with one folio number and a “scatter-plot” of separate parcels. This is something that you don’t see in Land Title Registries for the obvious reason that these are separate parcels of land. As they are all separate parcels you need to be able to find out what is happening on each individual parcel, therefore they are usually depicted as separate parcels with individual folio numbers.
Sometimes in a Land Title Registry you will see two parcels with the same folio or title number but this is because the lots were originally the same parcel but have been severed by a stream or road. For example the large parcel on the left hand side which is next door to Dr Powell’s property could conceivably comprise two divided parcels with the one folio number. If you have two separate parcels with the one title number they will be next to each other.
The LTO guidelines for the registration of Forestry Rights specify that: “the images must depict the right in relation to the title boundary”. Fulfilling this requirement is clearly impossible in the case of the scattered separate parcels comprising theLIST map of folio 135791/1 as there are at least five different title boundaries.
When contacted about the problem (the) Principal Examiner (Registration) for the Land Titles Office said the following on the 11/04/12:
“The land to which you refer, that has the forestry right (C446473) registered on it, is indeed part of folio of the register volume 135791/1.
Please note that folio of the register volume 135791 folio 1 comprises all the land within the heavy dark lines and defined by measurements, but not including the hatched areas. Therefore it comprises land both to the north and south of the Lake Highway.”
A close examination of the folio plan does show a slightly darker line all around a large part of the area north and south of the Highway which includes the “scatter-plot” titles. These “heavy dark lines” comprise the title boundary and this title boundary should appear on theLIST as a dark red line. In this case the title boundary does not appear on theLIST.
The Manager of theList system says the following:
“The title is represented correctly in LIST map.
When you select one of the parts of 135791/1 in LISTmap, you will see that all the five parcels of land are highlighted in red. The 5 parcels that are highlighted on LISTmap in red, match the 5 parcels of land within the heavy black line on the titles plan 135791/1. Note: The title 135791/1 does not include the hatched portions or roads, therefore are not shown on LISTmap linked to title 135791/1.”
In fact it would have been impossible to depict the “heavy dark lines” of the title boundary for 135791/1 on theLIST without including all the previously subdivided parcels. The LTO and theLIST are trying to effect an impossibility in registering this particular Forestry Right because there is no existing title to place it on. The only existing title on which the Gunns Ltd Forestry Right could possibly have been located is the area on the title plan with an arrow and marked “Lot 1”.
Another problem is that the small plot to the far north-west of the title is not “defined by measurements”. While this may seem trivial, this is a land registry document. Notations, or the lack of them, are never inconsequential in a land title registry.
The area of the Gunn’s Forestry Right in Dealing C446473 is actually comprised in an unidentified parcel of land on the top far left hand side of the folio map. This area appears to be bounded by a creek. The left hand side parcel to the Forestry Tasmania parcel is owned by Parks and Wildlife Service.
So what is this unidentified parcel of land that Gunns Plantations has its forestry right over? The Westmoreland District Map, available in city libraries, indicates that there is a vaguely defined area of unidentified land near the Gunns Ltd Forestry Right which is in proximity to a Scenic Reserve gazetted in 1962.
The other parcels of land which appear in this Forestry Right Diagram are generally not identified on the folio plan to 135791/1. However there is a small parcel in the centre which has a designated Land Office number.
Why the Land Titles Office, the Crown or Forestry Tasmania could not identify these other parcels is a mystery as the Westmorland District Map available to everyone in the State Library shows clear identifiers on these parcels. The only area in doubt on the Westmoreland District Map is part of the Scenic Reserve area which (similar to Plan 135791) has a problem with an ambiguous line.
Another problem is that the other unhatched lots in Plan 135791 are not designated Lot 1 with an arrow as in the large lot on the lower left hand side. Why not? If they are all Lot 1 on Plan 135791 then identify them as such. If they have no identification at all then theLIST can show them as unidentified parcels so there is no need to include them all under the one folio. Why devalue the integrity of the whole system just for these few scraps of land?
The notation at the top right hand of the folio plan shows the words “Balance Plan” struck out. (See title plan attached below). The word “balance” refers to a complex form of subdivision where lots are removed from the title and a “balance” of land is left, waiting for new plans to be registered over it (TT here). Title 135791 was created when the land was transferred from Forestry Tasmania to the Crown in 2001. The cross hatching on the plan is where titles have been removed from the original title.
An email from the LTO confirms this:
“… they (the parcels hatched in red) are all the pieces left in that title, all the other pieces that were hatched in the title plan have been taken out of the title and had separate titles issued for them.”
A question that arises is this: Forestry Tasmania or the Crown has obviously gone to a lot of trouble to get new titles for the cross hatched areas of land already removed from the title. They must think that having new plans registered over the original title is a “good thing” and it must be part of their documented strategic planning to issue new registered plans for all the land in that original title. Therefore why would they allow a Forestry Right to be registered over land that is still waiting to have a new plan registered? It makes no sense.
TheLIST maps do not in themselves have any official role in registering legal rights as they are not part of the land registration system, however they used widely by many agencies and organisations to establish rights in land such as local councils considering development applications.
If theLIST is unable to show the identity of these parcels in a logical and effective way then perhaps authorities and organisations need to look at the actual title rather than at theLIST.
Doctor Powell’s Right to Information Application has revealed that both Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Ltd were aware of how the forestry right was registered in 2011. The allowing of multiple, unnumbered, widely spread parcels of land to be registered under the same folio number has serious implications not only for residential titling but, because of flow on effect of the legal aspects of the Land Title Registry, for the conduct of all other registries in the state including insurance, Police and Courts.
It is important to remember that all registration systems work in much the same way. Because we use them every day we know how they are supposed to work. The land registry system works the much the same as a coat or baggage check system for example. In this case we have one ticket and five different coats. While it is possible to issue one ticket for five different coats it would not be good practice as you might not get them all back. Not only that, but there would be a problem in identifying exactly what coats were involved.
What remains to be seen is whether the Recorder of Titles will strike the incorrectly registered Forestry Right from the Folio of the Register 135791/1. More correctly she should remove the entire folio from the register and create separate titles for each parcel and then cause Gunns Ltd to start the whole application process over again using the correct title boundary.
Download:
135791-1-fpx.pdf
135791-1-ftxx.pdf
135791-1-od_(1).pdf
Laurie Levy is not a lawyer or an expert on anything at all. He believes that land registration is essentially logical and that the average person can understand it. He is interested in looking at cases or problematic or anomalous land registration and he can be contacted at [email protected]
