Public Rights of Way Data

The request was successful.

Dear Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council,

Under the Environmental Information Regulations, I would like to request a copy of:

1/ Your Definitive Map of Public Rights of Way GIS data. My preferred format for this GIS data would be one of KML, GeoJSON, MapInfo or Shapefile.

2/ Your Definitive Statements of Public Rights of Way if a copy of these are held in electronic form. By electronic form I mean either as scans of the paper originals or native digital versions (if you hold both, please supply both).

Also, under the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, I would like to request permission to re-use both of the above sets of data under the Open Government Licence v3. The purposes for which the information is to be re-used are:
(a) to help improve the mapping of rights of way in OpenStreetMap
(b) to convert the datasets to a more convenient format, and then make them available for others to re-use under an open licence
(c) to facilitate collaborative research into unrecorded or underecorded rights of way.

Yours faithfully,

Adam Snape

Accesstoinformation, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

Dear Adam,

Thank you for your request for information regarding Public Rights of Way(reference number 03200). Your request was received on the 27/04/2018 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and/or Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this request, please contact Information Governance on 01254 585852. Alternatively, our email address is [Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council request email]

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Kind Regards,

Heather Wolstenholme
Information Governance Officer
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01254 585651

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Accesstoinformation, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Adam,

Thank you for your request for information regarding Public Rights of Way (reference number 03200); please see our response below and attached. If you have any queries regarding your request for information then please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Please find attached a representation of the PROW definitive network. Please use blackburn as the key for the zip. If you experience any difficulties in opening the zip file, do not hesitate to contact us. The attached is a working representation of the definitive map and is supplied on the understanding that errors and omissions are excepted. It is currently unknown when a complete PROW definitive map will be available electronically as there is no funding for this function.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to: Information Governance Manager, Information Governance, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, G Floor, Town Hall, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 7DY or email [Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council request email]

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Please find attached our 'have your say' feedback policy.

Kind Regards,

Heather Wolstenholme
Information Governance Officer
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01254 585651

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Dear Heather,

Many thanks for your response containing the GIS files I requested. However, you have not responded to the other two parts of my request. I'd be grateful if you could please do so, if possible within the original 20 working day period from the date of my request.

Firstly, could you please confirm whether or not you hold electronic copies of your Definitive Statement (either as scans or a native digital version) and, if so, could you please supply copies?

Secondly could you please consider my RoPSIR request to re-use the GIS dataset (and the Definitive Statements if held) under the current Open Government Licence (version 3)? I fully understand that councils' GIS datasets are under constant review and do not replace the hard copy definitive map. Nevertheless, they are very useful. The vast majority of councils ( http://www.rowmaps.com/datasets/ ) have now released their GIS data under open licences in response to requests such as these. For example, here is the Information Commisioner's decision notice requiring Cambridgeshire County Council to permit reuse of their data under the same licence and for one of the same reasons (Openstreetmap) that I am requesting yours: https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...

One of the other councils which has released data is Lancashire County Council who first released their data for the Lancashire area including Blackburn with Darwen in response to a FOI request in March 2014 ( http://www.rowmaps.com/datasets/BB/ ). Given that that was over four years ago and LCC hadn't been responsible for your BwD for many years before that I can only guess how outdated that information now is. All open licences do include a “no warranty” clause explaining that the information is provided 'as is' without warranty or liability, and old data is better than nothing. However, I'm sure you would agree that it is very much in the public interest that the data available for people to use is more up to date.

Kind regards,

Adam Snape

Accesstoinformation, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

Dear Adam,

Thank you for your email. I have contacted the department responsible for providing the data and their response is as follows:

In most cases the definitive statements is logged in the attribute field "POSITION".

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council are happy for you to re-use the data in the capacity you requested.

Kind regards,

Heather Wolstenholme
Information Governance Officer
Email: [email address]
Tel: 01254 585651

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Dear Heather,

Thank you very much for your swift and helpful response.

Kind regards,

Adam Snape