Show the site and the relationship under discussion
Consider a slide with a coloured site polygon, a substation symbol and a connecting line. The title says “Grid-connected location”. If that line represents only an option for study, the graphic says more than the team knows.
Use a headline that matches the material: “Proposed site with a route option for study”. Keep the road as context, label the substation as existing, and distinguish the proposed site boundary from the unagreed route. The reader can now separate location from the connection question.
The example below uses invented geometry to demonstrate the edit. It is not a map of a real site, a surveyed boundary or a proposed engineering route.
Proposed site with a route option for study
site boundaryExisting
substationRoute option
for studyExisting road
- Proposed site boundary
- Route option · not agreed
- Existing substation
- Existing road
↳ The route is a question to investigate, not evidence that a connection has been secured.
Make the symbols carry the right meaning
Label the important features directly. A line could be a road, cable, boundary or route option; its meaning should not depend on narration. Here, the closed outline marks the proposed site, while the open line marks the unagreed route.
Ordnance Survey recommends matching key symbols to the map. Check pattern, thickness and colour, with the meaning beside the symbol. A key copied from an earlier version may describe the wrong line.
GOV.UK’s map guidance recommends a clear hierarchy. Keep context that helps answer the location question and reduce distracting detail. A material constraint still belongs in the explanation, even when it makes the site harder to sell.
Keep scale and source information honest
On a real map, name the basemap provider and the sources and revision dates for project overlays. The basemap date does not date your proposed boundary. Keep required attribution and check permission to reproduce the material.
If distance matters, use a geographically accurate map and appropriate scale. This invented schematic makes no distance claim. A scale bar would give it false precision.
A location slide does not establish land rights, route approval or grid capacity. Support those claims with checked project evidence, rather than relying on a nearby symbol.
Check the exported slide without the narration
Read the title, labels and key as if the presenter were absent. Can you tell what exists, what is proposed and what remains to be studied? Compare that reading with the actual source material and have the project’s technical owner check the status labels.
Check the file at its intended reading size. If labels disappear into the basemap, use a tighter area or separate overview and detail views. Include a short text explanation of the important relationship for readers who cannot interpret the graphic.
Send me your site slide and the location question it needs to answer.