This report is one of a series prepared by the British Geological
Survey for various administrative areas in England and Wales for
Phase One of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the
Regions Research Project Mineral Resource Information for
Development Plans.
The report and accompanying maps relate to the area of the Mineral
Planning Authorities of Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. The
report and maps delineate and describe the mineral resources of
current, or potential, economic interest in the area and relate these to
national planning designations which may represent constraints on
the extraction of minerals. Three major elements of information are
presented and described:
• the geological distribution and importance of mineral resources
• the extent of mineral planning permissions and the location of
current mineral workings
• the extent of selected planning constraints (national statutory
designations)
This wide range of information, much of which is scattered and not
always available in a consistent and convenient form, is presented
on two digitally-generated summary maps. For reasons of clarity,
sand and gravel resources are separated from all other mineral
resources. The maps are produced at 1:100 000 scale, which is
convenient for overall display and allows for a legible topographic
base on which to depict the information. In addition, as the data are
held digitally using a Geographical Information System (GIS), easy
revision, updating and customisation are possible, including
presentation of subsets of the data at larger scales.
Basic mineral resource information is essential to support mineral
exploration and development activities, for resource management
and land-use planning, and to establish baseline data for
environmental impact studies and environmental guidelines. It also
enables a more sustainable pattern and standard of development to
be achieved by valuing mineral resources as national assets.
The purpose of the work is to assist all interested parties involved in
the preparation and review of development plans, both in relation to
the extraction of minerals and the protection of mineral resources
from sterilisation, by providing a knowledge base on the nature and
extent of mineral resources and the environmental constraints which
may affect their extraction. However, it is anticipated that the maps
and report will also provide valuable data for a much wider
audience, including the minerals industry, the Planning Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, the Countryside Commission, other
agencies and government bodies, environmental interests and the
general public.
The mineral resource information has been produced by the
collation and interpretation of data principally held by the British
Geological Survey. The methodology for the collection and display
of the data is described and a range of sources of information and
further contacts is presented. The mineral resources covered are
coal, crushed-rock aggregate, comprising limestone, sandstone and
igneous rock, sand and gravel, clay and shale, fireclay,
hydrocarbons, salt, secondary aggregates and metalliferous
minerals
