Spotlight on New Planning Guidance Highlights Importance of Rigorous Land Evaluation

The latest facet of the government’s focus on simplifying planning in order to stimulate the construction industry has placed a spotlight on the importance of land evaluation as part of the planning process. New Planning Guidance for contaminated land / land remediation, released by the Department for Communities and Local Government, emphasises the importance of undertaking thorough desk-based research into potential risk from contamination as part of the planning process, in order to help speed up planning approvals.

When carried out, efficient rigorous research can have a tangible impact on the speed of planning process and also accurately inform the land remediation process, ultimately helping deliver developments more quickly than if thorough due diligence isn’t undertaken during the early stages of planning.

David Mole, Business Development Director, comments: “With activity in the construction industry now at a three year high*, the government’s focus on stimulating the industry appears to be working; improving the planning process is a key factor in continuing to drive this growth. While we welcome the new guidance from the Department for Communities and Local Government, it does fall short in some areas and we therefore support the EIC contaminated land working group in their suggestions to the DCLG that certain amendments are made, including up-weighting guidance and improving terminology specific to industry professionals and including reference to relevant external guidance.

“The provision of poor quality, inaccurate reports can greatly delay the planning process and incur unnecessary costs for clients, which ultimately can have a very real impact on the wider economy, both regionally and nationally.

“It is therefore critical that consultants use a reliable system for their reporting. Our site-specific desktop search, Envirocheck, relied upon by land and property professionals, is the source of environmental information, including current and historical mapping and makes a tangible difference to our clients in terms of delivering reports of the very best quality in a timely fashion. More-over land and property professionals are now using web-technology such as Envirocheck Analysis in their workflow processes delivering improved accuracy and time saving benefits when analysing historical mapping as part of their land appraisal studies.”

The Envirocheck Report is the industry standard desk study information service, providing professionals with fast and highly accurate environmental site assessments. Envirocheck delivers site-specific information with access to comprehensive Ordnance Survey current and historical mapping. The historical maps in the Landmark database exceed 1 million map files from 1840 to present day sourced from Ordnance Survey, Trinity College (Dublin) and the Royal Geographical Society.  The collection of Ordnance Survey maps is supplemented with RAF historical aerial photos and Russian Military Cold War mapping of the UK.  The Envirocheck Report offers a flexible solution by allowing professionals to choose the detail they need depending on their project requirements.

For more information, visit www.envirocheck.co.uk. 

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* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23549550

Promap Labs: Early access to new and innovative digital mapping datasets and concepts

We are pleased to announced the launch of Promap Labs; a new online portal that gives architects, surveyors and land or property developers the ability to test brand new digital mapping product concepts before they are launched to the market.

The Promap Labs portal showcases new beta mapping datasets and applications that can be tested before they are fully launched. This enables clients to contribute valuable feedback or suggest new ideas, for future development. 

The first new application to feature on Promap Labs is ‘Promap Labs View’; this provides the ability to easily view a wide range of data in one single map interface. Examples include natural environment data such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) sites.  It is designed to provide a simple way to quickly view a location and understand what environmental factors may affect it, without needing to be a Geographical Information expert.

Visitors to Promap Labs will also have an early preview of the new multi-browser, multi-device Promap digital mapping service, which is scheduled to launch next month.

Carole Ankers, Product Development Director, Landmark Information Group said, “Promap Labs offers our clients and the wider property and land development community the opportunity to access brand new digital datasets or services, before they are fully launched. It provides early access to new and innovative ideas so they can be tested and reviewed – this includes first sight of our new multi-browser and multi-device Promap service, which is set to launch very soon.  We believe it is important to work in collaboration with the industry when developing new digital mapping tools and datasets, and the Promap Labs portal provides a fantastic platform for us to do this. ”

Dan Hughes, Sector Manager of Land and Property at Ordnance Survey: “Promap Labs is a great concept. It provides the industry with access to new digital mapping innovations and a platform from which ideas and feedback can be openly shared, paving the way for future product development. We are fully behind new innovation in our industry and so we applaud Landmark for delivering this by introducing Promap Labs.”

Adds Carole Ankers: “The first application to be showcased on Promap Labs is Promap Labs View: we encourage as many people as possible to visit Promap Labs and test out the new concepts.  We welcome feedback, so please let us know what you like about it, would change or how you might use it. We’ve made it as easy as possible to post your comments and we look forward to receiving as much feedback as possible!”

With over 27,000 users, Landmark’s Promap service is used by surveyors, architects, property and land developers, builders, engineers and industry professionals that require instant access to Ordnance Survey maps and related digital mapping data, including 3D models, height data, aerial photography and geo-data, including environmental, planning and geological reports to identify potential site issues.

To access Promap Labs visit: http://labs.promap.co.uk.  Alternatively, for more information: visit: www.landmark.co.uk, read the Landmark blog, or follow the team on Twitter.

Nine out of ten AJ100 practices rely on Landmark for digital mapping, property and environmental risk reports

We are pleased to announce that 92% of the prestigious AJ100 – the annual league table of the largest architectural practices in the UK – have been working with Landmark during the last three years to source property due diligence reporting or digital mapping tools for use in feasibility studies, planning applications or to analyse the suitability of a site for development purposes.

The AJ100 remains the authoritative survey of the UK’s largest architecture practices – based on the number of qualified ARB-registered architects employed. Almost 26,000 people work in the organisations included in the league table, and as such, it provides a wealth of information that architectural practices of all sizes can benchmark themselves against, including the AJ100 salary guide and an average fee scale.

Carole Ankers, Product Development Director, Landmark Information Group said, “The AJ100 is considered the ‘who’s who’ in the UK’s architectural industry and is a great way for firms of all sizes to analyse trends in the sector.  When reviewing the latest league table, we are very proud to see that of the 105 listed, 102 are registered customers of Landmark, of which 97 have been working with us on a regular basis to access the wide range of digital mapping and environmental risk data for site surveys, feasibility studies and planning applications; this includes nineteen of the top twenty.”

Working closely with data providers including Ordnance Survey, the Environment Agency, the Coal Authority and the British Geological Survey enables Landmark to offer current and historical environmental risk management information and desktop mapping solutions to architects, surveyors, developers and the wider property industry.  This includes Landmark’s Promap, which delivers access to digital OS maps, 3D models, height data, aerial photography and geo-data, including environmental, planning and geological reports to identify potential site issues.

The AJ100 analysis is authored by Professor Bruce Tether, professor of innovation management and strategy at Manchester Business School.

For further information visit www.landmark.co.uk.  To find out more about the AJ100, visit http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/aj100-2013/

Landmark launches Promap Plug-In for AutoCAD 2014

Landmark Information Group has today announced a free new AutoCAD 2014 plug-in for its Promap digital mapping service, which simplifies the process of integrating digitised Ordnance Survey MasterMap data directly into the CAD application.

Within the AutoCAD 2014 environment, users can now access the ‘Promap Data Services’ plug-in to digitise their area of interest using Bing Maps, and from this, request pricing for purchasing Ordnance Survey’s MasterMap. Once the file format and gridlines have been confirmed, the required dataset is then downloaded directly into AutoCAD for immediate use.

Carole Ankers, Product Development Director, Landmark Information Group said, “For anyone looking to incorporate accurate OS mapping into their AutoCAD projects, the new Promap plug-in creates a seamless and simple way of doing this. Within a few clicks, accurate topography data can be integrated within the CAD system, saving time. We have developed this in response to our clients’ feedback and so are pleased to launch the new plug-in today.”

The ‘Promap Data Services’ plug-in is available for PC users and can be downloaded from today via http://www.promap.co.uk/autocad.php.  The plug-in is available free of charge.

With over 27,000 users, Landmark’s Promap service is used by surveyors, architects, property and land developers, builders, engineers and industry professionals that require instant access to Ordnance Survey maps and related digital mapping data.   It also provides access to 3D models, height data, aerial photography and geo-data, including environmental, planning and geological reports to identify potential site issues.