An investigation into the legislative changes affecting tidal boundaries in Queensland

Madden-Holmes, Ben (2010) An investigation into the legislative changes affecting tidal boundaries in Queensland. [USQ Project]

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Abstract

[Abstract]: In 2005, a moratorium was established over the registration of certain survey plans containing tidal boundaries in Queensland. This moratorium, allowed
the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) to develop legislation in the area of ambulatory boundary determination for the State. There has been a long standing disparity between the Common Law definition of High Water Mark (HWM) and the Department’s opinion on the
position of the extents of private ownership in the tidal zone. As custodians of land in Queensland it was DERM’s responsibility to develop a codified system for the definition and determination of tidal boundaries in the State. It was necessary for this system to effectively balance the public’s right to access and use beaches and other significant tidal areas, whilst upholding the private land owner’s interest in land that was legitimately granted, paid for and recognised by the Court of Law. The legislation that was developed adopted a feature based approach to tidal boundary determination and removed reference to the term HWM when dealing with tidal boundaries.

This project investigated the effectiveness of the legislation at producing outcomes for tidal boundary positions in Queensland that balanced the interests of both the public and the private land owner. It was found that the
application of the legislation, through the use of the feature based methodology, delivered undisputable definitions of tidal tenure boundaries at law. Once a plan is registered under the new legislation, it will provide
certainty over the limits of land ownership in tidal areas for both the individual land holder and the State. Substantial impacts were found to be associated with the implementation of the legislation, these included; an increased administrative overhead when pursuing the development of a site, the potential for loss of land without compensation especially on low lying lands and the potential for adverse effects on development timelines.


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Item Type: USQ Project
Refereed: No
Item Status: Live Archive
Additional Information: Bachelor of Spatial Science (Surveying) project.
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: Historic - Faculty of Engineering and Surveying - Department of Surveying and Land Information (Up to 30 Jun 2013)
Supervisors: Campbell, Glenn
Date Deposited: 04 Mar 2011 01:44
Last Modified: 19 Jul 2018 00:26
Uncontrolled Keywords: Mean high water mark boundaries; tidal boundary; surveying; Queensland; legal interpretation; coastal ocean
Fields of Research (2008): 18 Law and Legal Studies > 1801 Law > 180124 Property Law (excl. Intellectual Property Law)
09 Engineering > 0909 Geomatic Engineering > 090906 Surveying (incl. Hydrographic Surveying)
Fields of Research (2020): 48 LAW AND LEGAL STUDIES > 4806 Private law and civil obligations > 480604 Property law (excl. intellectual property law)
40 ENGINEERING > 4013 Geomatic engineering > 401306 Surveying (incl. hydrographic surveying)
URI: https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/18550

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