Have you ever needed to know something about the land around you? Wondered who owns it, what it’s being used for? Are there any plans for the derelict land you walk past every day, or what about those empty homes?

We wondered too… and thought about how we could best give you information to help access and manage land for the benefit of your communities. After all, if you don’t have information, where do you start?

Land Explorer is an interactive online mapping application that now covers both rural and urban areas. We’ve been working with the Open Data Institute and government data from the Land Registry, Ordnance Survey, Department for Communities & Local Government, Local Authorities and crowd sourcing to update Land Explorer and deliver a broader range of searches.

Land Explorer was recently presented at the Local Trust | Neighbourhood Planners London event “How Digital Tools Can Transform Neighbourhood Planning” (at the Urban Innovation Centre, home of OS Geovation and Future Cities Catapult).

David King, Innovation Lead at Local Trust said, “The boom in neighbourhood planning shows people want to have a say in the built environment. Unfortunately, their efforts are being frustrated by a lack of information about spaces, people, and planning policies. Our event revealed the pioneers trying to change this, including Land Explorer, which has the potential to be a key tool for citizen planners.”

The crowd sourced ideas and feedback on Land Explorer we received at the event, were fantastic.

How could Land Explorer help you access and manage land? We love participation and ideas…

If you’d like to see something mapped, have an idea or would like to include a geographical data set, we’d be happy to hear from you.