[OSM-talk] Gated Communities

[David Earl]

On 07/11/2007 17:38, Gregory wrote:
> 
> 
> On 07/11/2007, *Andy Allan* <gravitystorm at gmail.com 
> <mailto:gravitystorm at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
>     I don't bother with gated communities - if they are too aloof to let
>     me walk down their street, then I don't see what I owe them. If they
>     want to cut themselves off from the rest of the community, so be it -
>     they are free to map themselves if they want, but I'm not going out of
>     my way to help them.
> 
>     Cheers,
>     Andy
> 
> 
> I see it the other way. I feel that when I'm mapping I have some sort of 
> right/authority(not really but I could blag it) to go and map the road 
> that says private.
> I do have limits, like if there's a gate that I'd have to open or it 
> says 'private property', or it's down the side of a prison.

In the UK, "Private Road" doesn't usually mean you can't go down it - it 
usually means "unadopted", that is the local authority doesn't have 
responsibility for maintaining it. If it has a name or serves several 
houses, I generally map it, and I haven't had any problems with 
objecting residents so far - after all, for all they know, I might be 
visiting someone in one of the properties.

In any case, again UK only, the worst that can happen is that someone 
orders you off - you'd have to do some damage to be susceptible to any 
kind of legal action (assuming you're not trying to map a military base 
or somewhere that is covered by additional law, where it will always say 
so).

Even then, I did map Waterbeach barrack officer's quarters as that was 
laid out as an ordinary housing estate with amazingly no access 
security, unlike the similar ones at Bassingbourn, both in Cambridgeshire.

One I did omit was an anonymous street in the village of Babraham, which 
though looking pretty ordinary, had a secure gate and prominent keep out 
signs, which I associated with residences for the adjacent Babraham 
Institute which does animal experiments and has been the target of 
threats from animal rights terrorists.

David