FINDING out who owns property in Thurrock and across Essex is now much easier thanks to new website allowing residents to search publicly owned land and buildings.
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The Essex Property Assets Map (EPAM) offers a simple way to search (by location) public sector assets, enabling people to find the information they seek very quickly.
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The map is a joint project with public sector partners across the county which has been led by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council with the early project stages funded by the East of England Local Government Association (EELGA).
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Alan Richards, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s Group Manager for Asset Management, says: “This is an excellent piece of partnership working across administrative boundaries that will improve information available to the public and help with more joined up working across the county.Â
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“This will ultimately make it easier for the public to access information but it will also enable councils and other public sector bodies to work together to identify and deliver development and co-location opportunities for example.”
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Cllr Derrick Louis, Essex County Council’s cabinet member for Transformation and Corporate and Traded Services, said: “This is a very useful site as it can often be a bit of a struggle to work out which council or other public sector body owns a particular site or building.
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“Hopefully this map will make things much easier for residents and businesses and help people if they want to contact someone or just gather some information.”
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Other benefits include:
Creation of a strong network of property professionals to deliver improved collaborative working across the public sector
Easier identification of property rationalisation/development opportunities which could include future sites for housing
Generally improving property data
It will be easier to share data with Central Government.
For more information visit the EPAM website.
http://epam.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=9fead551e1cf4248a177ac1290afa671
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