Case Study: Hampshire County Council achieves rapid planning of critical gritting routes with Ordnance Survey

Hampshire County Council - Customer Case Study

Hampshire County Council faced an acute salt shortage after prolonged snowfall in December 2009–January 2010 and needed to produce a strategic plan identifying critical gritting routes to protect essential services. The council’s Emergency Planning Unit and Highways Department used geographic data from Ordnance Survey — notably the Points of Interest (about 3.9 million features) and ADDRESS-POINT datasets — together with aerial photography and local information to locate health, power, emergency services and food distribution sites for priority salting.

Ordnance Survey’s datasets were integrated into Hampshire County Council’s GIS to create a clear map showing key infrastructure and the connecting local and trunk road network; the map was printed and exported as PDFs for easy sharing with non‑GIS users and partner responders. The solution enabled rapid, accurate identification and prioritisation of critical gritting routes during the salt shortage, improving operational responsiveness and cross‑departmental information sharing.

Hampshire County Council

Ben Heaton

Emergency Planning Officer