SPECIAL CORNER OF QUEENSLAND MAY GET A NEW NAME

Queensland already has Cameron Corner, Poeppel Corner and Haddon Corner where the State’s borders meet NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Now a fourth corner on the Queensland-NSW border may get a name, Natural Resources Minister Craig Wallace said today.

The special spot may soon be known as Gregory and Greaves Corner, Mr Wallace said.

The corner is located near the township of Mungindi, where the Queensland-NSW border intersects the BarwonRiver at latitude 29 degrees south.

On a map, it is the point where the Queensland-NSW border changes from a straight line to a squiggle.

Mr Wallace said the site was the only “corner” on the state boundary yet to be named.

“The corners of our state have a special fascination,” Mr Wallace said.

“People like to say they have stood on the exact spot were two or three states and territories meet,” he said.

“My department and the NSW Department of Lands decided to propose the new name for this spot - Gregory and Greaves Corner - in honour of two surveyors from the respective states who marked parts of the border,” Mr Wallace said.

This proposed name acknowledges Sir Augustus Charles Gregory and William Albert Greaves, who surveyed and marked parts of the Queensland-New South Wales border in 1865.

“Sir Augustus Gregory was Queensland’s first surveyor-general, as well as an explorer.

“Mr Greaves was the NSW district surveyor for Armidale.

The first survey of the state border at latitude 29 degrees south was fixed in October 1865 by Sir Gregory, Mr Greaves and their teams of assistants and loads of equipment.

“Interestingly, they were conducting the survey to give landholders close to the border an indication of the extent of their leases and rent payable in each colony.”

After they measured the latitude along the border, workers marked the line with iron pins, which were 60cm long and driven up to 20cm into the ground at several points along the boundary.

Surveyors completed the initial marking work near Mungindi in less than six weeks.

Mr Wallace said although the Queensland border was completely marked out by the late 1800s, it was currently being resurveyed using modern equipment.

“Resurveying using technology such as global positioning systems is necessary because many of the original markers, such as iron pins, are disappearing due to natural causes and souvenir hunters.”

NRW employs close to 30 surveyors and they are responsible for referencing of geographic position and spatial information in the state.

They maintain computer information systems that are the basis of all surveying activities.

Mr Wallace welcomed public comment on the proposed name.

Plans detailing the proposal are on display at NRW offices in St George and Toowoomba, the Balonne Shire Council Chambers in St George, the Mungindi Post Office and the Moree Plains Shire Council Library in Mungindi.

Written submissions can be lodged before May 23, 2007, by posting them to the Regional Services Director, South West Region, Department of Natural Resources and Water, PO Box 318, Toowoomba Q 4350.

Media contact: Paul Childs, Craig Wallace's office, on 0407 131 654.

Caption for ONE TON POST jpg:

This surveying post is located close to the intersection of the Queensland/NSW border's intersection with the BarwonRiver at Mungindi. Both states have proposed to name the location Gregory and Greaves Corner after the original surveyors of the area.