COMMERCIAL property agents in Peterborough could be at an especially high risk of flouting new guidelines on planning applications, according to Ordnance Survey.
The national mapping agency has launched a campaign to raise awareness that the land plans which accompany all applications must now feature mapping at defined scales from a reliable source.
If they do not, local authorities may reject them.
I
n Peterborough, the issue of reliable, up-to-date maps is a particular concern because of the amount of new building on previously developed land.
Ordnance Survey's head of commercial markets, Neil Taylor, said: "About 88 per cent of new buildings in Peterborough are on previously developed land, up from 35 per cent four years ago. This is high com- pared with somewhere such as Kettering where the current figure is only 55 per cent.
"Knowing the detailed history of a site is very important for a developer to ensure they are not hit by clean-up costs from past usage."
Ordnance Survey's "best practice" campaign has been backed by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
The central message is that just as property professionals should ensure their software licences are valid and their construction tools are correctly calibrated, they should also make certain their map data is properly licensed. If they do, they will know their data is accurate and up-to-date.
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Ordnance Survey online.The full article contains 238 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
