While looking for the exact ward boundaries recently, I was surprised to come across a useful, but unpublicised, web service from Havant Borough Council. The post which follows gives a few examples of the views which can be constructed using the HBC implementation of Astun Technology’s iShare service. Scroll on down and you’ll be taken through a few examples of the type of data maps you can construct. Towards the end of the post, you’ll find out how to access the service.
Local democratic data
You can display the exact local ward boundaries and, as the example below shows, click within a ward boundary to identify the ward councillors. Clicking on any of the green links will take you directly to the appropriate HBC website directory entry details.
Listed buildings
Showing the listed buildings – those surrounded by a red line – is straightforward. Click within the red line to see a summary of the listing.
Tree preservation order (TPO) details
We have far too few preserved trees in the borough, but there are selection criteria within the map which enable you to highlight their location. Zoom in, click on the ones of interest to find their TPO reference numbers.
HCC managed hedges and verges
Amongst other functions, you can display and zoom into the detail of those hedges and verges for which HCC has maintenance responsibility.
Conservation data
If you don’t know your Conservation Areas from your Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation and Special Areas for Conservation, this is the map for you! Click on each of the areas displayed to view the details.
Archaeology areas and Food banks
In this extension to the previous example, zoomed out to show the whole of Havant, we’ve highlighted the Meridian Centre. Homing in on the spot and clicking the map shows other Geographic Information System, GIS, data that the Council has in its database including, in this example, the local Archaeology Area and the details of a food bank (an odd combination!).
Planning application history
Now here is a genuinely useful function. For a long time, we’ve wondered why Havant Borough Council doesn’t use the ‘Map search’ function in the planning system’s iDox planning portal. Many other local authorities, including Portsmouth City Council, have implemented it.
The function within the iShare data map is in some ways even more useful. Selecting the filter option to display planning applications will place a blue dot on any site which has at least one application registered in the HBC Planning Services digital archive.
In the example shown below, we’ve selected the blue dot on top of the bus station, which brings up an information box showing the planning history for the site. Note that you can scroll through this display to view the history and select some entries.
Here’s a neat trick, cut and paste the contents of that little dialogue box into a Word (.doc or docx) document and the full planning history of the site will be yours. Take a look below and note that all of the planning application numbers provide active links to the council’s planning files. Click on the image to see an example.
Try it yourself
If you want to have a go yourself, you’ll find the link on the newly refreshed ‘HBC links’ page of the HCS website. Either take the main menu option at the top of this page, or click the image below.
The impact of devolution and local government reorganisation
Whether or not this public service survives Havant’s upcoming absorption into a Greater Portsmouth unitary authority remains to be seen. Given a few improvements to data currency and frequency of update, it has significant potential as a public portal into the local authority and the area and, as such, it is something that HCS would like to see continued.
Gosport has a similar offering but from a different GIS service provider, suggesting this is a function licenced by the borough and district councils rather than by Hampshire County. The Gosport service has clearly been influenced by that borough’s leadership in Heritage Open Day offerings, as you can see from the example below.
Fareham also has a similar offering a similar offering, but it’s not available for general public use. A quick attempt to find a similar offering for the City of Portsmouth has so far had a disappointing result!
A little MAGIC
If you’ve found the HBC Data Mapping tool interesting and you’d like to check out an altogether more mature GIS data mapping service, then you might like to take a look at Defra’s Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside – MAGIC – map. Simply click the image below to experience the full power of data mapping at a UK wide level.
Havant Civic Society 