HeritageRisk.co.uk… a better way to assess heritage

MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) and FIND are delighted to announce the launch of a new online heritage assessment service for Great Britain, available at HeritageRisk.co.uk.

The online and tablet friendly service, offers planners, developers and surveyors the opportunity to order bespoke heritage and archaeology risk assessment reports, simply by selecting the area of a site on an online map.

Bespoke site assessment reports outline the potential impact of proposed developments on historic buildings, archaeological remains and conservation areas. The service is designed for anyone wanting to know what heritage issues there may be on a specific site. In particular, the service offers vital early-stage insight into risks that may impact on the success of a development.

HeritageRisk front page

By using HeritageRisk, users remove the time consuming process of communicating complex site boundaries and details over the phone or by email. The ease of usability makes this the only heritage assessment service of its kind.

HeritageRisk reports are available in two formats:

• A ‘rapid’, high-level site assessment that identifies significant archaeological and built heritage risks at the pre-planning stage of development;
• A ‘detailed’ report that provides more extensive information to help to identify key archaeological and built heritage risks or opportunities for a site and to outline the work likely to be required as part of a planning consent. 

Chris Thomas, MOLA Senior Consultant, said: “All HeritageRisk reports are produced by our expert heritage consultants who have advised on more than 5,000 development projects throughout the UK. HeritageRisk reports are hugely beneficial to developers and enable them, early in the development cycle, to assess the archaeological and built heritage risks to their site. This crucial information outlines the work likely to be required as part of a planning application and following planning consent.”

Simon Lewis, FIND’s Managing Director, said: “FIND has worked closely with MOLA to create an online site identification service that combines mark-up tools within a simple step-by-step report ordering process. It allows the experts to concentrate on writing the reports, rather than asking the client routine questions and pinpointing the site.”

HeritageRisk reports start from £320, and include the full range of historical maps from Ordnance Survey going back to 1890. For more information, please visit HeritageRisk.co.uk

Delivering map data over the internet: A bit about ‘data as a service’

Any decision is only as good as the data it’s based upon. However, keeping databases current can be time-consuming and laborious. Ideally data would be instantly accessible and maintained by experts available over the web.

Well, that solution is here.

FIND Maps, an online mapping specialist, has just released a range of unique data feeds for desktop mapping software. Rather than having data gathering dust on DVDs or languishing somewhere on a network file system, this new service exploits the true potential of ‘data as a service’.

FIND’s approach allows users to access maps and data on demand over the internet from cloud servers. This means that they no longer need to hold a full copy of the data they want to access, or to go through the process of ordering DVDs, awaiting delivery, downloading files and maintaining them in-house. With many years experience of providing data over the internet, FIND Maps has harnessed the benefits of recent technical advances to deliver this new data service. The result is instant access to professionally maintained remote data from a user’s desktop mapping application or GIS.

FIND Maps specialises in the provision of geo-data for professionals. Until recently this was only available to purchase and download. Now, as a result of consultation with clients and collaboration with data partners, FIND has launched a range of online data services. Focussing initially on the marine engineering sector, FIND currently offers charts, vector themes, depth data and map tile sets. Other datasets from the FIND Maps archive will be available soon. These will include bedrock and flood risk, as well as core map sets from Ordnance Survey.

Most GIS software can now access data over the internet - usually via WMS or WFS feeds. Importantly, this data can also be used directly within online mapping applications built on web mapping services such as Google Map. This opens up a radically different way to use and share ‘data as a service’ without the need for expensive CAD and GIS systems. At sketchmap.co.uk, FIND’s public mapping portal, users can add layers to basemaps, draw, annotate and then share links to maps they’ve created. This free site gives just a glimpse of what can be achieved using online data.

Sketchmap.co.uk  with BGS Superficial Geology and Local Authority boundary layers added

In our fast changing technological world software companies release new apps, versions and upgrades every week. More and more of these are being delivered via the cloud. Microsoft, the biggest of them all, recently introduced a cloud based version of its popular Office suite. Buying, or renting, applications in this way offers substantial costs savings as there’s no need for users to purchase, administer, maintain and host data themselves. It’s therefore easy to see why more and more users are demanding cloud based services.

FIND offers free monthly seminars in central London for those who’d like to explore the possibilities offered by ‘data as a service’.

Find out more about marine data feeds

The Internet data deluge

A fantastic new infographic from Visual News shows just how much information and data the Internet generates every minute.

Infographic by Visual News

"Wind rush" overwhelms Scottish planning authorities

A second Scottish local authority has called for a temporary halt on wind farm applications following an onslaught of inappropriate bids.

Causeymire Windfarm, Scotland. CC Image courtesy of Shandchem on Flickr

Fife Council claim developers are ignoring guidelines on approved sites and are swamping planners with "opportunistic" applications.

Fife Council leader Alex Rowley said: "The pressure being put on our planners is coming from the sheer number of wind turbine applications that are currently being submitted across all parts of Fife.

"We have already pinpointed areas of search across the kingdom following extensive consultations where turbines could be potentially sited. However, developers are simply ignoring these when making applications which, in turn, is making life more complex for our planning teams."

Fife's move follows Aberdeenshire Council earlier this year who asked for a six-month moratorium after becoming overwhelmed by a "wind rush" from developers. With a potential five-year gap between the initial planning application and the final decision underlies the importance of getting planning applications done well.

FIND has a number of maps, documents and spatial datasets that can be used to help wind farm site assessment, contribute to Environmental Impact Assessment and planning applications. Click on the below links to find out more:

• Detailed mapping / OS MasterMap (1:1250) – View, print and data export 
• Location maps (1:10000 – 1:250 000) – View, print and export 
• Aerial Photography – (from 8cm resolution) - View and download 
• Height information (Height contours, Digital Elevation Models, Digital Surface Models, Optimised TIN Model) 
• UK Land Registry title registers, titles plans, lease documents and SIM searches

First MarineFIND data seminar a success

The first of our monthly seminars was held last week. It clearly provided a good deal of stimulation and food for thought as the Q&A session at the end overran…always a good sign.

If you missed the first seminar we’d be happy to see you at the next one – scheduled for Thursday 21 June. The London venue is just three minutes’ walk from Waterloo on the South Bank. To book your place simply email: marinesupport@findmaps.co.uk

Please see previous blog for more details.

Monthly marine data seminars from MarineFIND

If you’d like to explore how marine data could benefit your industry, you may be interested in one of our marine data seminars.

The second of these free events is scheduled for Thursday 21 June and will be held in central London, within walking distance of Waterloo station.

Each seminar will feature a comprehensive review of the marine data currently available, what’s in the pipeline and the potential this offers.

Speakers:

• Simon Lewis and Jon Coleman, FIND Maps 
• Mike Osborne, OceanWise 
• Andy O’Keefe, Virtalis 

Outline programme: ‘New depths in Marine Data Exploitation’ 

Session 1- Core Products:

• Marine data sets 
• Environmental/geological/ecological 
• Coverage 
• Web services WMS, WFS and WCS 
• Global options 

Session 2- Integrating Marine and Land Data:

• Regulatory framework 
• Coastal Zone management tools 
• Projection and vertical issues 
• The complete picture 

Lunch

Session 3- Demonstration of web based services

• WMS data 
• Google tile set data 
• WFS services 
• WCS data 

Session 4- The 3rd and 4th Dimensions

• Why these dimensions are critical for Marine Data 
• Visualising in 3D 
• Planning in 3D 
• Designing in 3D 
• Volumetrics 
• Real time sensor integration with data 

Session 5- Questions and Feedback 

• Each seminar will end with an informal opportunity to discuss project specific issues.

For further details or to book your place for the first seminar, please contact marinesupport@findmaps.co.uk

As a bonus, attending a seminar entitles you to a 15% discount on your next marine data or software order.

Find out more about marine data and services from FIND

Try EnviroFIND free of charge

During May 2012 new users are being offered a one week free trial of our innovative EnviroFIND service.

EnviroFIND has been specifically designed for those who need to view Environment Agency and BGS/NERC data with the assurance that all licensing and royalty issues are taken care of. It’s currently the only website offering instant access to this information for commercial use at flat or reduced rates. It also offers the familiar FIND online map tools.

Jonathon Coleman, FIND’s Environmental Business Manager, said “The major advantage of EnviroFIND is that it allows users to view and query key environmental data and obtain immediate site intelligence in advance of ordering detailed and expensive reports”.

EnviroFIND is available for a small monthly subscription (starting at just £28). Subscribers are also entitled to a discount on additional BGS data sets.

If you’d like to take advantage of this one week free trial, send an email to support@findmaps.co.uk asking for a special login. If you then decide to become a subscriber there’s a 15% introductory discount.

A quick video about EnviroFIND can be found at http://www.findmaps.co.uk/enviroFind or seen below