Public Rights of Way Information / GIS Data

The request was successful.

Robert Whittaker

Dear Warwickshire County Council,

I am interested in obtaining information about the Public Rights of Way recorded in your Definitive Map and Statement. Do you currently have a copies/versions of these documents in electronic form? If so, I'd be grateful if you could send me a copy of these files. (I don't mind if the electronic versions aren't official/authoritative, as long as they're good-faith working versions. If there are multiple electronic versions, I would prefer something as up to date as possible, but in a re-usable and ideally open format. For the Definitive Map data, I'd be looking for something like KML, MapInfo or ShapeFile files containing the GIS data, rather than rendered map images.)

Secondly, if you are able to provide any copies, I would like to ask for permission to re-use the information contained in them in order to help with the inclusion and accurate classification of public rights of way in a map that I'm helping to compile. Specifically, could I ask for permission for us to re-use the information under the terms of the Open Government License v3 [1]?

I understand that the re-use question may require some internal consideration, so please don't let this delay the first part of my request -- I'd like to have a copy of the documents even if you're not able to grant permission to re-use them at the moment. In case it is a worry for you, I understand that Ordnance Survey does not claim any IP rights in Definitive Statements [2], and that you are able to release Definitive Map GIS data derived from OS base maps using the PSMA derived data exemption process [3,4]. You will see from the website RowMaps [5], that the majority of Highway Authorities have already released their Rights of Way GIS data and licensed them for re-use. However, it seems that Warwickshire is one of the few counties not listed there.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Whittaker

PS: Other authorities have previously claimed that because these documents are available for inspection they are already "reasonably accessible" under FOI rules. However, as I live quite a way from Warwickshire and work full-time, I don't feel it would be reasonable for me to travel to your offices to inspect the documents there.

[1] http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o...
[2] http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/201...
[3] http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business...
[4] https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/psma-fo...
[5] http://www.rowmaps.com/

Dot Beezley,

 
Information request
Our reference: 515228

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Dear Mr Whittaker
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000
 
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 1 April
2015.
 
We are dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act
2000and we aim to send a response by 1 May 2015.
 
In some case, a fee may be payable. If we decide a fee is payable, we will
send you a fee notice and we will require you to pay the fee before
proceeding with your request.
 
The Freedom of Information Act 2000may restrict the release of some or all
of the information you have requested. We will carry out an assessment and
if any exemptionsapply to some or all of the information then we might not
provide that information to you. We will inform you if this is the case
and advise you of your rights to request an internal review and to
complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
 
We will also advise you if we cannot provide you with the information
requested for any other reason together with the reason(s) why and details
of how you may appeal (if appropriate).
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Dot Beezley
Freedom of Information Officer
Warwickshire County Council
Communities Group, Customers & Information Services
Tel: 01926 412549
Email: [email address]

 
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

Dot Beezley,

1 Attachment

 
Information request
Our reference: 515228

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear ‎Mr Whittaker‏
 
Freedom of Information Act 2000

Your request for information has now been considered.  The information you
have requested is enclosed.

“I am interested in obtaining information about the Public Rights of Way
recorded in your Definitive Map and Statement”

The Warwickshire Definitive Map and Statement is a paper document and is
on public deposit at Leamington Spa Library.

We do not have an electronic version of the Definitive Map and Statement.

You have the right to request that the County Council carry out an
internal review if you are not satisfied with the way your request was
dealt with or wish to appeal the decision.  A request for an internal
review should be made in writing and addressed to me at the address
above.  All requests for an internal review will be dealt with under the
County Council’s internal review procedure.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review you may
appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, at the following address:

FOI Compliance Team (complaints)
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

 
Tel: 0303 123 1113

I will now close your request as of this date.
Yours sincerely
 
‎Dot Beezley‏
‎Freedom of Information Officer‏
 

Robert Whittaker

Dear Dot Beezley,

Many thanks for your reply. I fear I was not clear enough with my request, so I think I should clarify.

When I referred to "versions" of the "Definitive Map", I was intending this to be interpreted broadly, to include any digitised / GIS data you may have describing your Public Rights of Way network. I had hoped that my explanation in parentheses would make this clear.

While it is possible that you indeed do not hold electronic GIS data about your Public Rights of Way network, I would be quite surprised if this is the case -- not least because I understand that it is a requirement for you to include such data as part of your Local/National Street Gazetteer submissions.
So please could you clarify whether or not you do hold any electronic mapping / GIS data at all about your Public Rights of Way network. If you do, then please re-evaluate my original request to include such data.

The same applies to the "Definitive Statements", though I accept that it is far less likely that there will be also an unofficial electronic version / database of these. But for completeness, could you please confirm whether or not this is the case.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

PS: I'm not specifically asking for an internal review at this stage, but I'd be curious to know why it took you so long to tell me that you don't hold electronic copies of the information. FOI and EIR regulations require you to respond promptly, and not just within the 20 working days deadline. I hope that you will be able to respond more quickly to my clarification, given the time that's elapsed so far.

Dot Beezley,

Dear Mr Whittaker.

Thank you for your email clarifying your request.  I have passed this to
the appropriate officer for attention and we will get back to you shortly.

Sincerely

Dot Beezley
Freedom of Information Officer

Dot Beezley,

Dear Mr Whittaker

In further answer to your request Re Definitive maps 

I can now confirm that the National Street Gazeteer (NSG) is available for
the public to view via the WCC website, so the Rights of Way data is
integrated into the NSG.
 
The NSG is available via the
webpage [1]https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/gis by selecting 'Interactive
Viewer - Compass', then 'View Warwickshire INSPIRE maps'. 
 
This launches a mapping system and the NSG is under:
'Warwickshire County Council',

'Administrative and Government Services',

'Road Network'.

Yours Sincerely

Dot Beezley
Freedom of Information Officer

References

Visible links
1. https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/gis

Robert Whittaker

Dear Dot Beezley,

Many thanks for your message. The site you linked to certainly looks useful, but I'm not sure it actually contains the information I was after.

Starting from https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/gis and going to the INSPIRE map as instructed, under "Road Network" I can see the following entries: "Street Lights", "Bridges", "Roads by Class", "National Street Gazateer (NSG)", "Gritting Routes", "Current Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO)". These all show what you might expect on the map. However, it would appear that Public Rights of Way are not included in either the "Roads by Class" or the "National Street Gazateer (NSG)" groups. Even if they were, I was after the underlying GIS dataset, rather than a view of the data on a map.

However, at https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/gis I also noticed the "KML File" entry. I had a look at that too. This includes a reference to a WMS server at http://maps.warwickshire.gov.uk/gs/wms/k... which appears to serve raster images of what I presume is your Definitive Map. If that's the case, then it would appear that your original response was inaccurate, since these raster images would constitute an electronic version of your Definitive Map. However, as above, I'm most interested in a digitized version where the Rights of Way are stored as vector GIS data.

So I think my previous questions of 30th April still stand: Do you hold any electronic mapping / GIS data at all about your Public Rights of Way network? If you do, then please re-evaluate my original request to include such data. Similarly, do you hold any electronic versions of the Definitive Statements?

Additionally, to help avoid any mis-understandings, could you also provide me with a copy of your most recent "LSG Submission Metadata Statement", i.e. a completed version of the template document http://www.iahub.net/docs/1239272618028.... available from http://www.thensg.org.uk/iansg/document.... ?

Many thanks,

Robert Whittaker

Dot Beezley,

Dear Mr Whittaker

In response to your  further questions, please see below.

Warwickshire County Council are in the process of creating a set of
digitised GIS data for the Public Rights of Way network to be included in
the National Street Gazeteer (NSG). Once this work is complete and the
data is ready for release it will be available to view as part of the NSG
data available via the Compass Interactive Viewer on the WCC website.

I can also confirm that the 1998 Definitive Statement is currently a paper
document only.

The 'LSG' the 'Local Street Gazetter' is dealt with by the local District
and Borough Councils.  I enclose contact details for your convenience.

Rugby Borough Council - [1][email address]

Stratford on Avon District Council - [2][email address]

Warwick District Council - [3][email address]

North Warwickshire Borough Council - [4][email address]

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council
[5][email address]

 

Sincerely

Dot Beezley
Freedom of Information Officer

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[email address]

Robert Whittaker

Dear Dot Beezley,

Many thanks for your reply. The "set of digitised GIS data for the Public Rights of Way network " sounds like exactly what I am after. I would be grateful if you could provide me with a copy of this dataset, per my request of 30 April. I believe that under the Environmental Information Regulations you need to either supply the information or issue a refusal notice within 20 working days of that request. Even if the digitisation is not yet fully complete, I would still like a copy of what is available so far.

Also, could you provide a bit of information about the progress with the digitisation project: When did it start, how much has been done so far, and what is the projected completion date? In terms of how much has been done, if the digitisation is being done on a parish by parish basis, then what is the approximate proportion of parishes that have been completed to date?

Many thanks,

Robert Whittaker

Dot Beezley,

Dear Mr Whittaker

In answer to your latest email.

We hope to complete and publish the set of digitised GIS data for the
Public Rights of Way Network by April 2016.  However,  this is dependent
on the time and resources available.  We do not expect to have the work
complete before this date and if resources are not available due to other
priorities then this date is likely to slip.
 
I am sorry we are unable to release any of the data until the process is
complete and has been fully checked.
 
Sincerely 
Dot Beezley - Freedom of Information
On Behalf of 
Keith Davenport
Traffic Manager
Transport Planning 

Robert Whittaker

Dear Dot Beezley,

Many thanks for your message. I'm sorry to have to keep coming back, but can you please answer my other questions about the current status of the project: "When did it start, how much has been done so far ... if the digitisation is being done on a parish by parish basis, then what is the approximate proportion of parishes that have been completed to date?"

Also, if you are refusing to release what has been completed to date, then you need to issue a formal refusal notice under EIR s14, including details of the exceptions on which you are relying and the matters you considered when reaching your decision. For further information, please see the ICO's guidance at https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

Dot Beezley,

 Dear Mr Whittaker

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your latest email, which I will deal with under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 as your request refers to datasets.

“I was after the underlying GIS dataset, rather than a view of the data on
a map.”

The dataset provisions relate to the FOIA, not to the EIR, although we of
course would consider Regulation 6 “a reasonable form or format or
re-usable form.” (EIR).

As was explained in the last response, The County Council hope to complete
and publish the set of digitised GIS data for the Public Rights of Way
Network by April 2016. 

In accordance with section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
please treat this letter as a Public Interest Refusal Notice.

The exemption applied is Information which is intended for future
publication, Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000].

This exemption applies because the County Council has a duty to supply
accurate information, and to disclose a work in progress, before
completion and verification would not comply with that duty.

However, the County Council does recognise that there are arguments in
favour of disclosure which are as follows, transparency and accountability
and duty to deliver public services.  Nevertheless, the County Council
considers that information should not be disclosed until it is complete
and correct in all circumstances, on balance the public interest favours
withholding the information at this time.

You have the right to request that the County Council carry out an
internal review if you are not satisfied with the way your request was
dealt with or wish to appeal the decision.  A request for an internal
review should be made in writing and addressed to me at the address
above.  All requests for an internal review will be dealt with under the
County Council’s internal review procedure.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review you may
appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office, at the following address:

FOI Compliance Team (complaints)
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Yours sincerely

Dot Beezley 
Freedom of Information Officer

Robert Whittaker

Dear Dot Beezley,

Many thanks for your reply. Please don't forget that my other questions about the digitisation project still remain unanswered: "When did it start, how much has been done so far ... if the digitisation is being done on a parish by parish basis, then what is the approximate proportion of parishes that have been completed to date?" I trust you will be responding to these in due course.

Regarding your refusal notice, I believe that you should technically be considering my request under the Environmental Information Regulations, rather than FOIA, since PRoW data is seen as Environmental Information under the legislation. But it probably makes little difference at the moment. In any case, I would like to request a review of your decision to refuse my request. In particular I do not believe that the public interest favours withholding the information.

In your reply, I do not actually see any public interest arguments in favour of withholding the information. You mention a duty to provide accurate information, but any concerns about misleading the public would be mitigated by a suitable disclaimer and explanation of what the data represents and what its status is. In any case, it could be argued that the information would be accurate, in that it would accurately represent the current state of the records that you hold. (I am specifically asking for those records, rather than a 100% accurate representation of the Rights of Way network.)

On the other hand, by releasing what you have at the moment, the public can start to examine and use the information, and may be able to help you by spotting any errors in advance of the formal release. Even if the information is not complete and not 100% accurate, then it can still be very useful -- for example in flagging up possible discrepancies with other data such as that contained in OpenStreetMap. With suitable disclaimers, those using your data would know not to rely completely on it, but could still make use of it to indicate things that need checking on the ground or from other sources. The public will also be able to use the data to view the progress of your digitisation project, thus promoting transparency and interest in the project.

In summary, I see no damage to the public interest in releasing the data now with a suitable disclaimer, and several possible benefits.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

Meena Lekhi,

 
Information request
Our reference: 515228

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Dear Mr Whittaker
 
Thank you for your request for a review received on 29th May 2015. I am
sorry that you are dissatisfied with our attempts to handle your request
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
 
I can confirm that we are considering your concerns and we will aim to
provide you with a response by 26th June 2015.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Louise Church
Information Governance Officer
Warwickshire County Council
Resources
Tel: 01926 412125
Email: [email address]

 
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.

Robert Whittaker

Dear Meena Lekhi,

Many thanks for your acknowledgement. I will look forward to receiving the results of your review in due course.

I also note again that you have still yet to respond to some aspects of the request for information that I made on 12th May. Specifically I asked for the following information about your Rights of Way Digitisation project: "When did it start, how much has been done so far ... if the digitisation is being done on a parish by parish basis, then what is the approximate proportion of parishes that have been completed to date?" I believe that today (10th June) is the 20th working day following this request, so I trust you will sending me your response to this request shortly.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

Robert Whittaker

Dear Warwickshire County Council,

This is just a polite reminder that I am still waiting for a reply to part of an FOI/EIR request that I originally made on 12th May, which is more than 20 working days ago. The request (and subsequent correspondence) can be found at https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...

The as-yet-unanswered part is the following, which concerns your Rights of Way Digitisation project:

"When did it start, how much has been done so far ... if the digitisation is being done on a parish by parish basis, then what is the approximate proportion of parishes that have been completed to date?"

Since the request for this information was made more than 20 working days ago, and I have reminded the Council of its omission on two occasions already, I trust that providing this information will be treated as a matter of urgency.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Whittaker

Meena Lekhi,

Dear Mr Whittaker,

The internal review into your request for information is still on-going
and has taken slightly longer than expected.

Please note that I will provide you with the outcome either on or before
Wednesday 15 July 2015. I have noted the additional questions you posed
under cover of your email on 12 May which will be picked up as part of the
review.

Kind regards,

Meena Lekhi

Meena Lekhi,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Whittaker,

Please find attached the internal review outcome.

Kind regards,

Meena Lekhi

Robert Whittaker

Dear Meena Lekhi,

Many thanks for conducting a thorough internal review, and for answering my other questions. To help me decide whether or not to appeal to the Information Commissioner, could I trouble you for answers to a couple of other questions:

1/ I would like some further information about the progress with the digitisation project and its current state. Could you tell me roughly how many Rights of Way there are in the County, and roughly what proportion have been (a) digitised and (b) verified to date? (I'm assuming there will be some sort of two-stage process involving creating a digital record of the route with a sequence of coordinates, and then a second stage of verification of that route. If the process is more complicated, please provide details and the equivalent information about the progress with each stage.) Finally, what methodology is used to determine the order in which the Rights of Way are processed in each stage?

2/ Assuming that you have some partially completed / verified GIS data about your rights of way, can you confirm whether this data is being used by the council for any purposes and whether or not it has been passed to any other groups / departments / third parties outside of the team conducting the digitisation? If so, then please provide some brief details of each case.

Finally, while I am waiting for this information, I would like to invite you to re-consider some aspects of your Internal Review. In particular, it appears that your arguments in favour of withholding the digital information largely rely on the premise that the incomplete and unverified information would be misleading to the public. I would refer you to the ICO's guidance [1], which states: "We are sceptical of arguments that information should not be disclosed because it would give a misleading or inaccurate
impression". I am sure you could attach suitable disclaimers to the data, including details of the most efficient way to report problems, and what discussions you would and would not be prepared to enter into in order to ensure that any additional public correspondence arising would be beneficial rather than a burden to you. Providing details of the verification status of each Right of Way would also help the public know which errors you would be more interested in. Finally, keeping track of errors found in unverified data would be a useful second check on your own internal verification procedures.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

[1] https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Dear Meena Lekhi,

Could I please refer you to the two numbered requests for information contained in my email of 16th July, which is available online at https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p... ? It has now been over 20 working days since you received this email, so could you please let me know when you will be in a position to respond.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

Dear Warwickshire County Council,

Could I please refer you to the two numbered requests for information contained in my email to you of 16th July, which is available online at https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p... ?

It has now been significantly more than 20 working days since you received this email, and over a week since I sent a follow-up to remind you to respond. Could you please let me know why you have failed to respond so far, and provide an estimate of when you will be in a position to do so.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Whittaker

Meena Lekhi,

Dear Mr Whittaker,

I refer to your emails of 16 July, 18 August and 26 August 2015.

Unfortunately these emails came into our central case management system
but the notification preference did not re-direct these and as such they
have gone unanswered for which I apologise. 

The internal review in this matter is the last stage of the Council's
information rights process and ordinarily we would either direct you to
the ICO or treat any further request for information as a new request. 
However, given the lapse of time I am minded to deal with your email of 16
July in the context of your original request for information in this
matter.

I am currently liaising with the client department to ascertain if we can
provide you with the further information you seek and shall aim to respond
within the next 7 working days.

Kind regards, Meena

 

Meena Lekhi
Solicitor
Corporate & Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services

 

 

Meena Lekhi,

Dear Mr Whittaker,

I write further to your email of 16 July in response to the internal
review outcome and your chaser emails of 18 August and 26 August. As
mentioned in my email of 28 August, unfortunately due to system issues I
did not receive notifications of your emails until recently and hence the
delay in this response to your questions, for which I apologise.

In your email of 16 July, you asked two further questions which have been
considered in the context of your original request. Please see answers as
follows:

 1. I would like some further information about the progress with the
digitisation project and its current state. Could you tell me roughly
how many Rights of Way there are in the County, and roughly what
proportion have been (a) digitised and (b) verified to date? (I'm
assuming there will be some sort of two-stage process involving
creating a digital record of the route with a sequence of coordinates,
and then a second stage of verification of that route. If the process
is more complicated, please provide details and the equivalent
information about the progress with each stage.). Finally, what
methodology is used to determine the order in which the Rights of Way
are processed in each stage?

There are 1700 miles of public Rights of Way in the County. The project to
fully verify and integrate the digitised rights of way data into the
National Street Gazeteer (NSG) has not yet started and we have not yet
reached the stage of planning the process for achieving this. Therefore,
whilst initial digitising of Rights of Way has been completed for the
whole County, none of this data has yet been fully verified.

 1. Assuming that you have some partially completed / verified GIS data
about your rights of way, can you confirm whether this data is being
used by the council for any purposes and whether or not it has been
passed to any other groups / departments / third parties outside of
the team conducting the digitisation? If so, then please provide some
brief details of each case.

The data is not yet being used for Council purposes and is not being
shared either internally or with third parties.

Finally, you invited me to re-consider some aspects of the internal review
as set out in your email. As mentioned, the internal review stage is the
final stage of the Council’s access to information process. If you are
unsatisfied with the response then it is open to you to exercise your
right to appeal to the ICO.

This matter is now closed. If you wish to make any further requests for
information please do so via:

[1]https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/foi

Kind regards, Meena

 

Meena Lekhi
Solicitor
Corporate & Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services

References

Visible links
1. https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/foi

Robert Whittaker left an annotation ()

I've submitted a complaint to the ICO about this request as I believe that, even with some errors and omissions, the current Rights of Way information would still be very useful. The ICO has accepted the complaint for further consideration and the reference number is FER0603820.

Robert Whittaker left an annotation ()

I've now received the Decision Notice in this case. The headline paragraph: "The Commissioner's decision is that regulation 12(4)(d) does apply to the requested information but that the public interest in maintaining the exception does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure." The Commissioner has therefore ordered the Council to disclose the requested information.

The full Notice is not yet up on the ICO website, but I expect it will appear at https://search.ico.org.uk/ico/search/dec... shortly.

Robert Whittaker left an annotation ()

The full Decision Notice is now available at https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...

I haven't heard anything from the Council yet. The 35 days they have to either appeal or comply runs out on 17th November.

FOI Communities, Warwickshire County Council

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    WCC Non Definitive PROW 1.zip

    815K Download

---------- Forwarded message

Dear Ms Hardiman,

Many thanks for providing the GIS data that I requested back in April 2015. In my original request, you will recall that I also asked for permission to re-use the information under the terms of the Open Government License v3, for the purposes of helping with the inclusion and accurate classification of public rights of way in a map that I'm helping to compile. In your response, you only agreed to licence the information under the Non-Commercial Government Licence. Unfortunately, the additional "Non-Commercial" restriction that this licence imposes prevents the use I had in mind.

I must therefore ask, under Regulation 17 of the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations (2015), that you review your choice of licence. In particular, I believe that the "Non-Commercial" restriction in the licence you offered represents an unnecessary restriction on the way in which the information can be re-used, contrary to Regulation 12(2)(a) of the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations. I would also argue that your "Non-Commercial" restriction unnecessarily restricts competition with Ordnance Survey, who are able to make use of the underlying Definitive Map data for commercial purposes. This is contrary to Regulation 12(2)(b) of the same. Please either grant permission to re-use the information under the requested Open Government License v3, or explain why your restriction to non-commercial use is strictly necessary.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

FOI Communities, Warwickshire County Council

Dear Mr Whittaker,
Thank you for your email. Please be advised that it will be passed to the
County Council's Legal Services team for response.
Yours sincerely,
Amy Hardiman
Customer Liaison Manager
Communities Group
Warwickshire County Council

Dear Ms Hardiman,

I am writing to you in reference to my previous email of 22nd November 2016, which can be viewed online at https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...

In that message I asked that you reviewed the re-use licence that you had previously offered for your Public Rights of Way GIS data. Unfortunately I have yet to receive a response to this request. The Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations require you to determine complaints such as this "within a reasonable time". If I do not receive a response from the Council by the end of this week (Friday 3rd February), I am afraid that I will have to ask the ICO to intervene.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

FOI Communities, Warwickshire County Council

Dear Mr Whittaker,
Thank you for your email. I am very sorry that you have not yet received a
response to your request. Please be advised that I have contacted my
colleagues in Legal Services and asked that they respond to you as a
matter of priority.
Yours sincerely,
Amy Hardiman
Customer Liaison Manager
Communities Group
Warwickshire County Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Whittaker,

Please find attached the outcome regarding your complaint under the Re-use
of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.

Kind regards,

Meena Lekhi
Solicitor
Corporate & Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Whittaker,

Please find attached a further version of the letter issued to you on
Friday 3 February 2017.  There was a typographical error in paragraph 5 -
the last sentence relates to regulation 12(2) (not regulation 2) –
apologies for any inconvenience.

Kind regards,

 

Meena Lekhi
Solicitor
Corporate & Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services

Robert Whittaker left an annotation ()

On 15th March 2017, I submitted a complaint to the ICO under RoPSIR regarding the Council's refusal to license the data under the OGL. On 13th April, the ICO agreed to investigate the complaint, and has assigned it reference number FS50672641.

Dear Warwickshire County Council,

I'm writing in regard to a previous FOI/EIR request 515228 (see also online https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p... ). I understand that the Information Commissioner has been in touch with you about this, and as a result you have recently changed your position and now agreed to release the information under the Open Government Licence. I believe that Jan Cumming tried to send a message to this WhatDoTheyKnow email address to communicate this to me a couple of days ago, but the message bounced back because the WhatDoTheyKnow thread had been locked due to inactivity. I'm sorry about that. I've now spoken to the WhatDoTheyKnow team about this, and they have unlocked the thread, so if you could send the message again, it should get through this time.

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience, and many thanks for releasing the data under an open licence. It should be very useful in helping make sure OpenStreetMap has a more accurate representation of your Public Rights of Way.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Whittaker

Jan Cumming, Warwickshire County Council

2 Attachments

Dear Dr Whittaker,

 

I understand that you did not receive my email below.  Please see the
email below and the attached letter.

 

Regards,

 

 

Jan Cumming
Solicitor (Australian-qualified)
Corporate and Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services
Warwickshire County Council
Phone 01926 73(6304)

Email [1][email address]

Please note that Friday is my non-working day

[2]Email sig

 

 

 

From: Jan Cumming [[3]mailto:[email address]]
Sent: 13 September 2017 17:46
To: '[4][FOI #261503 email]'
Cc: '[5][email address]'
Subject: Your complaint to the Information Commissioner Ref FS50672641

 

Dear Dr Whittaker,

 

Please find attached a letter of today’s date.

 

Regards,

 

Jan Cumming
Solicitor (Australian-qualified)
Corporate and Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services
Warwickshire County Council
Phone 01926 73(6304)

Email [6][email address]

Please note that Friday is my non-working day

[7]Email sig

 

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Dear Jan Cumming,

That's great, and many thanks for releasing the information under an open licence. The letter you attached refers to a updated copy of the dataset, but I don't think that was attached to the email this time. Would you be able to send me that too please?

Secondly, as you're obviously concerned that people may make use of inaccurate or outdated copies of this data, might I suggest that you pro-actively make updated versions of the data available either on your own website or perhaps via data.gov.uk? That way users can keep their own copies up-to-date with your latest version without having to ask each time, and you would also save yourselves the effort of having to deal with repeated FOI/EIR requests for updates.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

Jan Cumming, Warwickshire County Council

Dear Dr Whittaker,

Thank you for your email.

The updated information was not attached to either of my previous emails. I
hope to provide it to you in the next week or so.

Regards,

Jan Cumming
Solicitor (Australian-qualified)
Corporate and Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services
Warwickshire County Council
Phone 01926 73(6304)
Email [email address]

Please note that Friday is my non-working day

Jan Cumming, Warwickshire County Council

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    Non Definitive PROW Sept 2017.zip

    744K Download

Dear Dr Whittaker,

Further to my letter dated 13 September 2017, please find attached the
updated data set in Shapefile format. This is the updated version of the
information made available to you on 4 November 2016, which was at that time
made available to you under the Non-Commercial Government Licence.

As set out in my letter and in previous correspondence with you, the Council
considers that it is reasonable to place conditions on re-use until the
anomalies in the data have been corrected. However, following careful
consideration of the request of the Information Commissioner's Office and
notwithstanding that the information still contains anomalies and is neither
complete nor accurate, we confirm that the attached information (and the
information provided to you on 4 November 2016) is now made available to you
under the Open Government Licence.

The Council does not give any guarantees or warranties about the accuracy or
completeness of either the information provided to you under cover of our
email dated 4 November 2016 or the attached updated data on public rights of
way which we now make available to you. The Council accepts no liability for
any loss or damage that may come from re-use of the information. We draw
your attention to the following clause of the Open Government Licence:

"No warranty
The Information is licensed 'as is' and the Information Provider and/or
Licensor excludes all representations, warranties, obligations and
liabilities in relation to the Information to the maximum extent permitted
by law.
The Information Provider and/or Licensor are not liable for any errors or
omissions in the Information and shall not be liable for any loss, injury or
damage of any kind caused by its use. The Information Provider does not
guarantee the continued supply of the Information."

To the extent that it is reasonably practicable for you to do so, we ask
that you provide the following attribution statement:

“The Warwickshire County Council has licensed public sector information
under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The Warwickshire County Council is
not liable for any loss, injury or damage of any kind caused by reliance on
this information and you should not rely on this information to determine
where paths exist. The Definitive Map and Statement provide the legal
record of public footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to
all traffic in Warwickshire: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/definitivemap”

Yours sincerely,

Jan Cumming
Solicitor (Australian-qualified)
Corporate and Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services
Warwickshire County Council
Phone 01926 73(6304)
Email [email address]

Please note that Friday is my non-working day

Dear Jan Cumming,

Many thanks for providing the updated information. I will of course make sure that I use it responsibly, taking into account the fact that it may contain errors.

I see that the format of the data in the shapefile about each Right of Way has changed significantly from the previous release. To help interpretation, would you also be able to provide:

* The meaning of each value of LegalType (looks to be either 0, 1, 7 or 11; presumably these correspond to Footpath, Bridleway, Restricted Byway and BOAT in some order).

* The meaning of each value of STATUS (seems to be either 1, 2 or 3 but I don't know what the significance of this is).

* The name of the area (presumably a parish) corresponding to each ADMINAREA code.

Finally, on a matter of how best to group the Rights of Way, I see that the ROUTECODE now contains both a parish number and a letter that I believe corresponds to the pre-1974 districts. Could you let me know how the RoWs are grouped/sorted in your Definitive Statement -- is it by parish or by these pre-1974 districts? Related to this, is the addition of the parish code at the start of the RoW number just an internal convenience or should it be used when referring publicly to a RoW? (i.e. is the official number in the form "336/AE33" or just "AE33"? It's only the latter form that's displayed on the Definitive Map online.)

Many thanks,

Robert Whittaker

Jan Cumming, Warwickshire County Council

Dear Dr Whittaker,

I acknowledge receipt of your email below. I am looking into your questions
and I will respond as soon as I can.

Regards,

Jan Cumming
Solicitor (Australian-qualified)
Corporate and Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services
Warwickshire County Council
Phone 01926 73(6304)
Email [email address]

Please note that Friday is my non-working day

Jan Cumming, Warwickshire County Council

1 Attachment

Dear Dr Whittaker,

The answers to your questions below are as follows:

Legal Type - this field could be used to define different categories (such
as 'claimed', 'proposed' or 'Out of County', for example) but this data
field is not being used or updated. The codes in this field therefore have
no current significance in relation to the path line data provided and
should be ignored.

Status - this defines the type of public right of way:
1 - Footpath
2 - Bridleway
3 - Byway (Byway Open to All Traffic)
12 - Restricted Byway

The AdminArea code relates to the Parish. Please find attached a list of the
codes and the Parishes to which they relate.

The Parish/Admin Area code included in the RouteCode is simply an internal
convenience and is not part of the official number. The path number recorded
on the legal record - the Definitive Map and Statement - would be just
'AE33' and not '336/AE33', for example. The letters prefixing each path
number (i.e. 'AE') did originally relate to the pre-1974 Districts that the
path belonged to when the legal record of public rights of way was first
created. However, the current 1998 Definitive Statement is grouped by Map
Sheet.

I hope that this answers your queries.

Regards,

Jan Cumming
Solicitor (Australian-qualified)
Corporate and Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services
Warwickshire County Council
Phone 01926 73(6304)
Email [email address]

Please note that Friday is my non-working day

Dear Jan Cumming,

Many thanks for that additional information -- that was just what I was looking for. One query though, I see that there are also some routes with a STATUS value of 14, which you haven't mentioned in your reply.

It's been suggested to me that STATUS=14 might correspond to "Cycle Track and Footpath". Could you confirm if this is the case? If so, what is the precise legal designation(s) of these routes? Presumably they are Cycle Tracks with pedestrian rights under the Highways Act, and thus appear on your List of Streets. But are they (also) still "Public Footpaths" in the CRoW Act sense, and thus listed in the Definitive Map and Statement?

Many thanks,

Robert Whittaker

Jan Cumming, Warwickshire County Council

Thank you for your email. 
I am on leave returning Monday 30 October 2017.
If the matter is urgent, please contact my secretary Jill Weir on
extension 2467 (01926 412467) or at [1][email address]
Regards,
Jan Cumming

--

Jan Cumming

Solicitor (Australian-qualified)

Corporate Legal Services

Warwickshire Legal Services

Warwickshire County Council

Phone 01926 41(6304)

Email [2][email address]

Email sig

This transmission is intended for the named addressee(s) only and may
contain confidential, sensitive or personal information and should be
handled accordingly. Unless you are the named addressee (or authorised to
receive it for the addressee) you may not copy or use it, or disclose it
to anyone else. If you have received this transmission in error please
notify the sender immediately. All email traffic sent to or from us,
including without limitation all GCSX traffic, may be subject to recording
and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant legislation.

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Jan Cumming, Warwickshire County Council

Dear Robert Whittaker,

Status type 14 indicates a public footpath that may also be a cycle track
but is recorded as a public footpath only on the Definitive Map and
Statement.

Kind regards,

Jan Cumming
Solicitor (Australian-qualified)
Corporate and Commercial Team
Warwickshire Legal Services
Warwickshire County Council
Phone 01926 73(6304)
Email [email address]

Please note that Friday is my non-working day