Neil Turner is a professional travel writer with over 2000 articles published on a variety of topics ranging from Ordnance Survey Maps and OS Explorer Maps through to digital products such as Memory Maps.
In the past it was common for hikers to tell stories of how they stumbled across secret military bases while out walking, even though nothing was marked on their OS Map. This was due to the now defunct "Sensitive Sites Register" which listed secret sites that the government wished to protect.
This policy of protecting sensitive sites was a throw-back to the cold war when spying by the Soviet Union intensified. With the end of the cold war and the advent of online mapping sites and services like Google Earth, the Government has finally had to admit defeat and scrap the policy.
The final decision was made earlier this year by the Cabinet Office - but was never formally announced.
Darren Smith, Director at Above and Beyond, a leading Ordnance Survey Map Reseller said "The Ordnance Survey has gradually been adding this data to their most detailed maps (the explorer series) although their large scale touring maps still appear to omit a large proportion of the data. Even on the detailed maps there are still anomalies where some installations are labelled incorrectly, or not at all."
Alan Turnbull, who built his own site in 2003 called www.secret-bases.co.uk commented "I'm pleasantly surprised at the decision, especially since Lord Falconer said recently that he wanted to restrict access under the freedom of information act."
A spokeswoman from the Cabinet Office confirmed that the decision was made because of the availability of the data in the public domain.
Above and Beyond – www.aboveandbeyond.co.uk
OS Explorer Maps – www.osexplorermaps.co.uk
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