The definitive map data relating to rights of way in Breconshire and Radnorshire was out of date, and exeGesIS was asked to assist Powys County  Council with two project to update and correct this data for Breconshire and Radnorshire, using data from multiple sources to do so.

The data included Path Legal Order Plans, the latest Definitive Maps for Breconshire and Radnorshire, OS County Series maps and the Definitive Statements for the paths, as well as modern digital mapping such as the Ordnance Survey VectorMap Local data.

The first stage of the project was to scan and register the Definitive Map sheets and the Order Plans so that the base mapping could be compared to VectorMap Local. Direct tracing of the routes from the Definitive Map scans was not practical, as OS positional accuracy improvements have altered the spatial location of the base mapping, so the maps had to be interpreted by the digitisers to plot the routes against the VectorMap Local cartography.

Next, the changes made by the Legal Orders had to be applied to the digitised network to bring it up to date. This included large orders that came into force when major new roads were built, such as the A470 Bypass, as well as smaller scale orders. The result from this was a digitised network which accurately reflected the Definitive Maps, as amended by all the subsequent Legal Orders.

As part of the process, anomalies that could not be corrected were highlighted to the officers at Powys County Council. These included things like developments built across the Rights of Way of which the authority had not been informed.

This project gave the RoW team at Powys County Council an accurate, up to date digital mapping layer of their rights of way for Breconshire and Radnorshire. A future project is planned to integrate all of this data, together with existing Rights of Way data for Montgomeryshire, back into their CAMS system and link all of the associated Legal Orders using LibraryLink.

For further details please contact Claire Lush or Simon Allen.