Getmapping Imagery Facilitates Social Housing Management
Hartley Wintney, July 11 2011 - Getmapping high resolution aerial imagery is now in daily use by the Social Housing provider Plus Dane Group. The imagery is available to over 150 employees dealing with a wide range of projects, tasks and enquiries, from planned maintenance to solar installations.
Plus Dane Group is a Housing Association (RSL) in the traditional sense, a not-for-profit organisation that owns and manages over 16,000 properties across Merseyside and Cheshire. The Getmapping imagery, which was captured in 2010 at 12.5cm GSD (Ground Sampled Distance) is available to staff using Cadcorp‘s intranet GIS, ‘GeognoSIS’. The imagery provided the basis of a major Grounds Maintenance survey for the Runcorn and Merseyside areas in 2010 and is in daily use for handling queries, investigating ownership and decision making.
One of the more innovative uses of the imagery is in the assessment of properties within the Plus Dane estate for the ‘retrofit’ of solar thermal and photovoltaic panels, the latter to take advantage of government feed in tariffs. Plus Dane are also partners in a Liverpool City Region, Solar Power Initiative, Project Viridis. This is aimed at reducing fuel poverty for tenants and carbon emissions for landlords. The project brings together 4 Local Authorities and 12 Social Landlords to investigate the potential to retrofit up to 100,000 properties through a strategic relationship with a major utility company. Plus Dane has already issued an internal guide, which uses Getmapping imagery and GIS to identify those properties most suitable for solar installations so that investment can be targeted where the best returns will be made.
“The big advantage of the Getmapping aerial imagery is that our users know the age of the imagery they are looking at and the level of detail is suitable for multiple use,” said Alex Hill, GIS Manager for the Plus Dane Group. “As well as planned grounds maintenance, we have been able to use the imagery for commissioning tree surveys, answering day-to-day queries about anything from hedges to whether a property’s garden is suitable for dog ownership. The imagery is really clear and has been very instrumental for us in defining properties that are suitable for photovoltaic installations. You can see the types of roofs that you are dealing with and their orientation and also whether trees or other buildings might cast a shadow and compromise the efficiency of an installation. The imagery is an indispensable resource,” continued Hill.
About Getmapping Plc
Getmapping Plc is a leading provider of aerial photography, digital mapping and web based services. With offices in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire and Cape Town, South Africa, Getmapping was the first company to have up to date nationwide coverage of Britain and pioneered online delivery of aerial photography to business and the public at large. A reseller of professional mapping, oblique photography, height data, OS maps and third party aerial photography, Getmapping services a wide variety of markets including press and media, local authorities, property and construction, environmental consultants and the public. It also provides a number of value added mapping products and services tailored to specific client needs including data hosting, online data delivery and web-based GIS. A pioneer of many online products through its website, Getmapping is the only company currently re-flying the whole of the UK at enhanced 12.5cm resolution.
For further information please contact: Peter.Bonham
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About Plus Dane Group
Plus Dane Group is a Housing Association (RSL) in the traditional sense, a not-for-profit organisation and a ‘Neighbourhood Investor’ that owns and manages approximately 16,000 properties across Merseyside and Cheshire. Plus Dane is proud of the fact that it spends less on running its business and more on the homes and neighbourhoods it works in. Plus Dane employs over 400 people, has an asset value in excess of £500m, a combined development fund in excess of £210m and a turnover of over £50m.
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