I, Jonathon Maynard BSc FRICS, am a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in private practice as a Chartered Land Surveyor specializing in boundary demarcation and disputes, and in rights of way disputes.
From 2000 to 2004 I served on the Boundaries and Party Walls Working Group of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, becoming its Chairman in 2003. This body's role is to assist in the assembling and dissemination (by published articles and/or lectures) to other surveyors of the latest information concerning the practice of boundary and rights of way disputes and of all issues relating to party walls. I re-joined the Working Group in October 2015.
In 1997/98 I served as President of the Land and Hydrographic Surveys Division (whose name was changed during my own tenure to the Geomatics Division) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
EDUCATION
- I have a Bachelors degree in Geography, obtained from the University of Reading in 1970.
- I have a postgraduate certificate (MSc equivalent) in Land Surveying, gained at the (now, Royal) School of Military Survey, Hermitage, Newbury, Berks in 1971. The syllabus for this course included land surveying, geodetic surveying, photogrammetry (including air photo interpretation), land law, cadastral surveying, cartography and printing.
- I was elected a professional associate (ARICS) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (a process then involving examination by thesis) in 1975.
- I passed the (BSc equivalent) British Computer Society Examination in 1993.
- I transferred to the fellowship of the RICS in 1995.
EXPERIENCE
I have a long and varied experience in the mapping industry, working mostly for British government departments between 1971 and the setting up my own practice in 2000.
Between 1971 and 1981 I worked for the Directorate of Overseas Surveys (which merged with Ordnance Survey in 1984) and served in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Yemen, as well as on secondment to the government of Vanuatu (South Pacific). These postings gave me experience in:
- high-precision surveying of geodetic frameworks;
- Survey and revision of mapping at various scales from 1:2500 to 1:50,000;
- intensive use of aerial photographs in desk-based planning and reconnaissance, navigation, and in the precise identification on aerial photography of survey control points for mapping purposes;
- (in Kenya and in Vanuatu) cadastral mapping.
Between 1981 and 1999 I worked for Ordnance Survey at their headquarters in Southampton. My duties included:
- research and development of digital cartography;
- quality control of large scales (ie. 1:1250 and 1:2500 scale) mapping;
- production of the base mapping used by HM Land Registry for its index map and for its title plans;
- marketing of large scales mapping for incorporation into third party mapping products.
In February 2000 I set up in practice, as a sole principal, to offer expert witness services in relation to boundary demarcation and disputes and to right of way disputes. In January 2004 my practice became a limited company trading under the name of Jon Maynard Boundaries Ltd.
- All of my expert witness experience has occurred since the implementation of the Woolf reforms and my practice respects the precept that my duty of impartiality to the court overrides my duty to my client;
- My long experience of mapping (particularly of Ordnance Survey mapping), of land registration, of precise survey techniques, and of the use of aerial photography, together with my knowledge of GIS, makes me particularly well placed to analyse both documentary evidence and extant physical evidence relating to the position of a property boundary or to the route of a right of way.
- I have a reputation for writing clear, well-reasoned reports that are compliant with Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
- I am the author of an online textbook on the subject of boundary disputes in England & Wales, found at www.boundary-problems.co.uk, and recognized as the most informative source of information on the subject. Some of my published articles appear there.
By the end of December 2023, I had
- received instructions on 638 boundary and private right of way disputes,
- written 107 Expert Reports and 20 Single Joint Expert Reports (within the meaning of the Civil Procedure Rules Part 35),
- attended Court on 35 occasions, and
- performed 4 Expert Determinations.
Geomatics is a blanket term to cover both land surveying and the more recent discipline of geographic information systems (GIS). Geomatics is often defined as "the collection, management, manipulation and presentation of spatially related data". RETURN
Geodetic surveying's aim is to determine the precise shape of the earth and this has resulted in the building of the many trigonometrical pillars that are to be found on mountain and hilltops throughout the world. These trigonometrical pillars are then used by other surveyors as control for their own surveys made in connection with mapping, civil engineering projects and land registration. RETURN
Photogrammetry is the use of photographic records for the precise measurement of distances, as in aerial photography used for the surveying of maps. RETURN
A cadastre is an official public register of the ownership, boundaries and value of landed property of a country for taxation purposes. RETURN
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