When we started to work on this late last year we set a deadline for completion which we thought would be the end of January. As we can see this is the first week of February and the maps are still not ready.

The really important thing to us is to stick to the schedule because we want all 12 volumes released to some level this year and whilst we are only a few days past deadline, we are really keen to get this volume released and move on to the next one.

Today we have been looking at maps of Napier trying to get some detail finished and added to the maps and it may well be asked why there isn’t more of Napier mapped than just the main station, given how much time has been spent on Gisborne and a few other smaller stations.

The reality is that Gisborne has a special interest for us, but we realise also there would need to be more mapping done in the future in some of these other areas.

Whilst it would be very desirable to put in more of Napier, or for that matter Hastings, and while there are a lot of NZR surveys available, we have to push on and release this volume.

We have decided as of today that the maps are just going to be finished as they are right now, without any more delays. So no further changes will be made, not even with the extra historical tiles for Dannevirke or the other stations that were completed. There is to be some tidying up in a few areas and that’s all. The rest of today will be spent on checking all of the maps that have been produced so far for any tidying up needed, and the existing maps will be refreshed if that is the case, but no new detail is going to be added from here on in, all work will be done with what we already have available in the GIS for production.