As you are aware, submission of paper copies only to the department has got us to the stage we are now, that is, they have either been lost, thrown out, or no one knows where they are.
In my situation, by liaising with the department and site senior executives, "hard copy" has been accepted as being a pdf version of the data that would have been presented previously in paper form.
Including these files with the 3 dimensional captured data when presented to the department at least allows them to be easily stored and read by anyone. All information is on 1 signed CD for each submission. Some software allows for all plans to be contained in the 1 file.
I have received correspondence from the department that they can read the files submitted. You can actually see the relief on the faces of departmental staff when you go in to submit yearly plans, and they realise they don’t have to deal with a roll of paper plans, which vary in number from 12 to 80!
At the end of the day, my feeling is that it is not the letter of the law we have to follow; it is what will remain and be stored by the department, allowing others to actually find information from surrounding or abandoned mines.
If I am wrong, please correct me.