Heather Brooke in today’s Guardian: ‘While maps and geographical information are vital to local authorities and their websites, the prices and licensing policies of Ordnance Survey, the government’s mapping agency, mean that some councils have decided to bypass OS and use free maps from Google to create mashups of information for their websites.’ She could also have mentioned usability, flexibility, instant availability via a one-field web form… I could go on.
Response
I am all for anything that reduces local taxation, assuming that was their intention of course.