The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has published a guide to digital mapping systems for parish and town councils.
Working with software provider Parish Online, it has produced a checklist of layers of what councils should be able to do with relevant data, helping them to identify any gaps.
This highlights layers of information that include: map data and aerial photography from Ordnance Survey; data from Natural England, English Heritage, the Environment Agency and HM Land Registry; councils’ own data, including local plans, tree preservation orders, and on bus routes, national parks and utilities; and their assets such as land, playgrounds and cemeteries that can be in asset registers and inspections.
NALC said: “Although many of these layers are in other formats, there are many benefits to using a digital mapping system. They are available in one place and more efficiently compared, easier to shar with others through a website, and are automatically backed up and readily available, even with staff and IT changes.”
The guide also includes examples of implementations.
It says that digital mapping should be part of the toolkit for every local council yet many still fail to use the resource effectivity.
