I understand the value this project has with regards to heritage mapping and preserving local placenames, but what is the ultimate tangible end-goal, if any?
The Wiki page linked above says: “the project aims to tackle social issues: rural depopulation, mental health, ‘brain-drain’ and heritage loss.”
It’s true that these are significant threats to the Welsh language, but ultimately these socio-economic issues have been around for decades, if not longer. Recognising these push factors and what the communities need is one thing, but actually “tackling” these issues and creating pull factors in these places is easier said than done. For example, there are rural schools closing (and some in danger of closing) because there’s not enough pupils, very few teachers, and maintenance is too expensive.
Personally, I’m confused by the HOT tasks as well. Given that there’s a focus on mapping locally, there are quite a few changesets made by some non-local HOT mappers that contain low quality data. These HOT tasking manager pages are also hidden from public view.
I understand you want the building outlines in place in order to make surveying easier, and that’s fair - but why is HOT needed for this?