VPRS 14963 Reserves Reports

This series brings together a number of reports and / or lists of Crown reserves. Most appear to have been prepared for reports to the Minister of Lands for a range of purposes. Those for the period c1883 - 1884 were prepared in response to the Surveyor-General being requested by the Minister of Lands for a survey of all reserves in Victoria as part of a review process. A copy of these instructions is available within this series.The types of details given in these lists and reports are the location of the reserve, its status (whether temporary or permanent), dates of proclamation and publication in the Government Gazette, the area and where appropriate, the purpose of the reserve.The first Land Act passed by the Victorian Parliament (the Sale of Crown Lands Act 1860) provided that the Governor-in-Council was able to reserve lands permanently or temporarily for a wide variety of public purposes. This meant that the land was reserved from sale, leasing or licensing and from the provisions of the Mines Act. Legislation relating to Crown reserves remained under the Land Act until the passing of the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978. Proclamation of, alterations to and any revocations of reserves were to be published in the Government Gazette. Revocation of permanent reserves was by legislation whilst revocation of temporary reserves was by Order-in-Council.For permanent reserves, grants were able to be made, in trust, for public purposes such as churches and associated schools and facilities, municipal buildings and facilities such as abattoirs and markets, for recreational uses such as cricket grounds and racecourses and for such uses as cemeteries. Examples of these and pre 1860 grants for special purposes may be found in VPRS 81 Land Grants for Special Purposes. Records may also be found in a number of series to do with grants for special purposes, most particularly VPRS 12706 Alphabetical Index to Crown Grants for Public Purposes.Files relating to specific Crown reserves where reservation has been revoked might be found in VPRS 242 Crown Reserves Correspondence.

本系列汇集了多份王室保留地（Crown reserves）的报告与清单，其中多数均为配合各类用途提交给土地部长的报告所编制。1883年至1884年左右的相关文件，则是应土地部长要求，由测量总监（Surveyor-General）牵头对维多利亚州境内所有保留地开展的普查工作（作为某项审查流程的组成部分）所编制，本系列中还留存有该指令的副本。此类清单与报告所涵盖的详情包括：保留地的位置、状态（临时或永久）、公布于政府公报（Government Gazette）的公告日期与刊发日期、占地面积，以及适用情况下的保留地用途。维多利亚州议会通过的首部《土地法》——即1860年《王室土地出售法》（Sale of Crown Lands Act 1860）——规定总督会同行政局（Governor-in-Council）可出于各类公共目的，永久或临时保留土地。这意味着该类土地不得被出售、租赁或发放许可，同时不受《矿业法》（Mines Act）条款约束。有关王室保留地的立法一直隶属于《土地法》体系，直至1978年《王室土地（保留地）法》（Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978）颁布。保留地的公告、变更及任何撤销决定均需刊发于政府公报。永久保留地的撤销需通过立法程序，而临时保留地的撤销则可通过行政局令（Order-in-Council）实施。对于永久保留地，可出于公共目的以信托方式授予使用权，例如用于教堂及配套学校与设施、市政建筑与屠宰场、集市等场所，亦可用于板球场、赛马场等休闲用途，以及墓地等其他用途。此类授予案例及1860年前的特殊用途授予案例，均可在VPRS 81《特殊用途土地授予》（Land Grants for Special Purposes）档案中查阅。另有多份与特殊用途土地授予相关的系列档案可供查阅，其中尤以VPRS 12706《公共用途王室授予土地字母索引》（Alphabetical Index to Crown Grants for Public Purposes）最为典型。与已撤销保留的特定王室保留地相关的档案，可在VPRS 242《王室保留地往来函件》（Crown Reserves Correspondence）中查找。