Land and property professionals urged to make sure they always rely on licensed mapping data

Ordnance Survey – Great Britain’s national mapping agency – has launched a data integrity campaign aiming at educating data users about the value of having up-to-date and fully licensed mapping information. Promap stands fully behind the campaign and works together with the Ordnance Survey to always provide mapping that is copyright protected.

With the importance of property data significantly growing for making sound business decisions, land and property professionals are being urged to ensure they are only using correctly licensed and latest location data.

A research by the Ordnance Survey found that three thirds of the interviewed senior decision makers from the land and property industry believe that using location data delivers tangible cost efficiencies to their business, which makes the quality of the information even more important. Strikingly however, 34% of these companies don’t hold an Ordnance Survey license.
 
When it comes to digital location-based information, organisations need to make sure that not only is the data up-to-date, but that they have the rights to use it. Unlicensed information can risk the reputation of land and property businesses, which is something they shouldn’t forget as it has both legal and cost implications.

Unlicensed data is often unreliable, old and inaccurate, which can damage a property project and potentially prolong its duration, as well as putting the company-client relationship at risk.
What’s more, relying entirely on accurate, up-to-date and consistent data is a vital prerequisite for a positive organisational reputation, because companies can otherwise face law implications that can badly harm their image. With the face of Britain changing up to 10,000 times a day (ref: Ordnance Survey video), businesses don’t have a choice but to ensure their license is kept up to speed as it’s their defence to an allegation of copyright infringement.

The campaign is backed by the key industry bodies: RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects).

To complement the campaign the Ordnance Survey have also developed a ‘Land and property unlicensed data and mapping information toolkit’ which can be found here.
For more information, have a look at the three official campaign videos:

Why businesses should be licensed

Why surveyors should be using licensed data

 

Why conveyancers should use licensed data



 

 

As a provider of mapping data to individuals and organisations that require instant access to Ordnance Survey information, Promap makes sure it keeps company data and software up-to-date allowing clients to prepare an accurate location plan, develop a clearer picture of an area, create more efficiencies and protect against legal action.

 

To ensure you have the necessary licenses, take a look at our website, where you will find detailed information about paper map copying, licence management, OS license changes and more. For further licensing options you can also call us on 0844 844 9960 and email customerservice@promap.co.uk

What's the future of British cities and do you want to shape it?

Perhaps as little as ten years ago, cities were seen as vital contributors to the global economy. That's no longer true. Today, cities are the global economy. More than 50% of the world's population live in cities and the 40 largest cities, or mega-regions, account for two thirds of the world's output.

In the UK, one of the most rapid areas of growth has been the knowledge economy, and this expansion has played out in our cities. With every new job in other industries being matched by 12 new jobs in knowledge-intensive industries between 1995 and 2005 (and perhaps at a similar rate since then in spite of the economic slump), the cities attracting these industries are the ones that have boomed. The expansion in British cities of knowledge-intensive industries, from financial services to hi-tech manufacturing, has reshaped the UK economy. Successful cities have attracted skilled workers, affluent consumers and thriving cultural centres but there is a growing disparity between "resurgent" cities and those that appear to be "stuck".

What is needed is a vision. A plan and the tools to implement that plan. What people consider as an urban environment, whether in theory or practice, is being redefined and is a turning point. Cities across the world, not just in the UK, are facing complex and rapidly evolving challenges. To create the vision we need to cope with these challenges requires ingenuity and versatility in policymaking, investment and people’s everyday lives. Programmes and initiatives like The Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities are seeking to re-think the city, in theory and practice, as a flexible and evolving space that better responds to contemporary urban challenges.

Right now politicians and commentators are tinkering around the edges. ‘Streamlining’ planning legislation, standardising school design and championing the refurbishment of homes is all well meaning – but lacks cohesion. The UK built environment, especially its cities, needs a strategic vision.

To find out more go to http://www.futureofcities.ox.ac.uk/home; why not sign up for the http://www.ubmfuturecities.com/ join the debate and consider how our cities need to evolve in the future.

Going for gold at Architect of the Year Awards 2012!

Promap customers have recently excelled in the 2012 Architect of the Year Awards with two thirds of the announced finalists having purchased Promap products and services over the past year to assist with some of their projects.
 
The Architect of the Year Awards celebrate excellence in British architecture practices across 13 different sectors including Environment, Housing, Sport and Entertainment, Interior amongst others. Besides these categories they also recognise achievements such as the specialist Autodesk Young Architect of the Year Award, Schueco Gold Award and the IE School of Architecture & Design ‘Class Of’ Scholarship.

The finalists in each category will now be judged by a panel of industry experts, who will be looking for “the practice that has done the most to shift expectations in its particular field, whether it is a small office or a team of hundreds.” The winners will be announced at the Architect of the Year Awards Ceremony on 4th December at The Brewery in London – an event which has become one of the largest gatherings of UK architects.

The Awards organisers Building Design admitted this year has been unique because they received the highest number of entries to date since they started hosting the awards for the first time in 2004.
The Promap team wishes all finalists the very best of luck and is looking forward to the announcement of the winners, especially for the Sports and Entertainment Architect Award, since the company is the sponsor of that category.

Relaxed rules on planning applications & the implications...

The Government has just announced relaxed rules on planning applications, which means people will now be allowed to extend their homes without having to go through long and extensive planning bureaucracy. Furthermore, businesses will also have the opportunity to extend their properties.

For a limited period of time homeowners won’t need planning permission to build house extensions for up to eight metres for detached homes and six metres for others. Until now, people were required to have full planning permission if they wanted to expand their homes with more than three or four metres from the rear house wall.

Shops and offices on the other hand, will be able to expand their premises by 100 square metres and their industrial units by 200 square metres.

According to the Prime Minister David Cameron, these new Permitted Development Rights will help revive the economy and in turn help end the recession. He furthermore said: "This government means business in delivering plans to help people build new homes and kick-start the economy. We're determined to cut through the bureaucracy that holds us back. That starts with getting the planners off our backs, getting behind the businesses that have the ambition to expand and meeting the aspirations of families that want to buy or improve a home."

The new Housing Minister Mark Prisk has thereby a challenging agenda in front of him to boost house-building in the following weeks.

These are exciting times not only for homeowners and businesses, but also for the construction industry in general as relaxing the planning extension rules will bring more contracts for architects, surveyors, developers and engineers who will be the experts building the home and office extensions that people and businesses will be looking for.

Landmark Information Group announced as National Business Awards finalist alongside Marks and Spencer, and Arla Foods UK for The ICAEW Sustainability Award

Landmark Information Group has been shortlisted for The ICAEW Sustainability Award at this year’s National Business Awards in partnership with Orange.

Alongside other finalists including Marks and Spencer and Arla Foods UK, Landmark – the leading provider of property related geo-spatial and environmental information – will battle it out for the prestigious award, with the winner being revealed at the National Business Awards gala dinner held on 13th November in London. 

The news will be of particular interest to Landmark's clients within the construction industry, who use the Promap service to access Ordnance Survey mapping data in connection with their projects.

Richard Spencer Head of Sustainability, ICAEW, judge for the category said: “Landmark Information Group has fully committed to integrating sustainability into its business.”

Stephen Stout, chief executive of Landmark Information Group, said: “We’re delighted to be shortlisted for such a prestigious business award, particularly for sustainability. It’s important for businesses like ours to place corporate and social responsibility high on our agenda, as we can use our strengths to work alongside other organisations to help to improve the lives for people around the world or make environmental changes within our organisation.

“We have focused particular attention towards our CSR credentials during the past few years to become as sustainable as possible and are delighted with the results. Landmark is ISO14001 compliant and our staff have worked hard to continually improve our carbon footprint for all our UK offices. This has led to Landmark recently receiving accreditation from the Carbon Trust. For the last 17 years we’ve helped people identify land and property risks via our environmental reports to ensure they are aware of any potential risks, in addition to being an active member of the Know Your Flood Risk campaign to promote flooding risks across the UK. We also participate in a number of carbon offsetting initiatives with the Carbon Neutral Company, Woodland Trust and Parcel Force.

“We’re all keeping our fingers crossed to clinch the award, but it’s fantastic to be shortlisted alongside some of the UK’s biggest business names and recognised for our efforts.”

The National Business Awards has today revealed over 150 of Britain’s leading businesses and business leaders as finalists in the prestigious awards programme. Organisations shortlisted include a range of private, public and third sector companies, including National Grid, Marks and Spencer, and London Early Years Foundation. 

All National Business Awards finalists represent an annual turnover in excess of £135 billion and collectively employ over 700,000. They cover activities as diverse as digital marketing, international road haulage and logistics, water engineering and life sciences: sectors that reflect key areas of UK capability with high potential for international expansion. The diverse size of the companies entering is also huge – ranging from a business with an annual turnover of less than £50k to high growth and high value companies with multi-billion pound revenues. 

Baroness Virginia Bottomley, Chair of Judges said: “This year has been a challenging environment for British businesses: these finalists demonstrate how companies are succeeding in the current climate through innovation, originality and tenacity. It’s good to see a broad range of companies both in sector and size – an impressive representation of the potential British businesses have. Congratulations to all our finalists.” 

The National Business Awards supports Help for Heroes, a charity that offers support and advice for wounded soldiers. 

Visit www.nationalbusinessawards.co.uk for a full list of all finalists and to book a table at the event. 

The Olympic legacy...

Plans for the transformation of the Olympic Park post-games have been revealed, with the first phase set to be completed exactly a year after the games begin. The London Legacy Development Corporation has unveiled a timeline for its 18 month construction of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from October 2012; the new park will combine lush parklands and waterways, new neighbourhoods and world class sports and entertainment venues. As well as iconic permanent venues such as the Olympic Stadium and Velodrome, the Park will be defined by two distinct areas: the river valley in the North, and a 50 acre urban landscape in the South. The North park will include a nature-themed community hub and playground while the community area, the South Plaza will sit between the Stadium, Aquatics Centre and the ArcelorMittal Orbit. To have a global vision of the area and a deeper understanding of how the site was created we suggest you to watch the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qiVyg1bELII

Moreover thousands of new homes have been given planning permission to be built at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park following the games this summer. The London Legacy Development Corporation has been given approval for plans which will incorporate 6,800 homes planned across five neighbourhoods, new schools, nurseries, community spaces and health centres. As the LLDC chief executive Andrew Altman, said: “We can now realise the vision of creating a new piece of the city that will transform people’s lives with new opportunities.”

House funding project

Good news has come from the British housing market, as Housing Minister Grant Shapps has funded £30 million in favour of seven sites across the country to create self-built homes.

The £30 million fund will offer short term loans to community groups, builders and other small organisations looking to start self-build projects. Moreover the government has also handed over land it owns to encourage the start of the project.

The site in consideration is at Poole in Cornwall with up to 60 homes due to be built on surplus public land there. Other possible alternatives could be sites such as Bristol, Hemel Hempstead, Bolsover, Derbyshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Milton Keynes and at Upper Tuesley Milford in Surrey.

The aim of this policy is certainly to give support to the construction and building market, as confirmed by the words of the Minister: “Anyone with a dream to build should be able to do so.”

It’s great to see this funding being made available, which will bring more contracts and employment to the housing sector (particularly when the housing market has been called ‘lacklustre’). It’s important that the architects, engineers and surveyors, employed by the community groups, use digital mapping data during the development and planning process and to obtain a clearer appreciation of the complete picture; for example, concerns about building on green land, threats to historic sites and threats of flooding can all be better understood and rules interpreted more clearly using the right digital system. This will ensure that all utilities, historical details, risks are identified in order to build a detailed digital map.

Systems like Promap can do just that, as digital mapping systems like this will be invaluable during the planning process of such a land development project, as they enable detailed analysis to be conducted into a plot before any building work begins.