Land Matters

Interesting news from Downing Street. It has announced that it intends to make most Ordnance Survey maps free for use online from April 2010.

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web appears to have convinced Number 10 that this is the best way forward. For anyone who has read of my own problems with the OS, it will be obvious that this is a very welcome development. It remains to be seen, however, if it will actually happen or whether the OS resist the idea.

The scope of the proposal is impressive - in total over 11,000 public datasets are to be made available including, from the OS, electoral and local authority boundaries, postcode areas and mapping.

Official report here and here

Full story at the Guardian

But why no reports of this in the Scotsman or the Herald?

Fantastic news this evening as it is announced that Professor Elinor Ostrom is the joint winner of the Nobel Prize for economics. As a champion of the commons, she has contributed hugely to the idea that commons work when properly regulated. The idea of the commons as opposed to the private realm is of fundamental importance in the debate about how we manage natural resources and organise economic activity. News report from the FT here together with video interview with Martin Wolf, the FT’s Chief Economics commentator trying to make sense of what most mainstream economists have ignored for far too long. A useful background briefing from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences here.

The whoownsscotland website has been relaunched in a redesigned format making it easier to use. All maps are now complete and the map navigation function has been fully restored. Access to the property data and mapping is now available only on subscription.

Take a look around - it’s all freely available until you want to see specific property data.

An excellent series of reports on the water crisis in Kenya reminds me how valuable the BBC is as a media institution in the UK. Environmental stories, especially involving Africa, are too frequently ignored in the media but James Morgan has earned every penny of his BBC salary in bringing us an in depth report of a truly frightening situation which could, if handled badly, turn into a serious conflict. Alex Bell has just published a book on the topic which I look forward to reading.

On the day of Gordon Brown’s speech at the Labour Party Conference it is also worth noting how little attention he paid to the environment or to the poor of the world. Electoral politics in the UK is about turning inward and contemplating  really rather unimportant matters in the great scheme of things. How to govern and manage the planet in such circumstances?

Celebrations yesterday for Senscot’s 10th anniversary at the Scottish Storytelling Centre and an inspiring speech by Professor Edgar Cahn, founder of Time Banks. he used the analogy of computer operating systems to describe how we need to rebuild our society’s operating system by rediscovering community, valuing what everyone has to give and instilling a sense of reciprocity for how we deal with each other. Interview with Jon Snow gives a flavour and Guardian profile in 2007.

Donald Trump won planning permission earlier this week for developments on land adjacent to his Menie Estate. He does not own any of this land but is trying to acquire it. His plans include asking Aberdeenshire Council to use their powers of compulsory purchase to force existing families out of their homes.

An admirable campaign, Tripping Up Trump, has been launched to stop this madness. Do have a look and sign the petition urging the Council to refuse to cow tow to this bully.