City regions geoscience in Wales : scoping study

Several individuals from the public and private sector in Wales contributed to the initial consultation process and their assistance is gratefully acknowledged. We would particularly like to thank Cardiff Council, Newport City Council, City and County of Swansea Council, Neath Port Talbot Council, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, Torfaen County Borough Council, Caerphilly County Borough Council, Atkins Global, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Welsh Water, Celtic Ltd, Natural Resources Wales, and Welsh Government. This report describes the results of a scoping study to identify key geoscientific knowledge gaps in City Regions in South Wales. The study involved consultation meetings with key stakeholders and reviewed planning policy documents and development plans to establish the demand for subsurface knowledge in City Regions to reduce risk, support urban redevelopment and underpin growth. The first part of the report provides a background to the study placing it in context. The report then goes on to review national and regional policy documents followed by detailed summaries of the Local Development Plans for all councils in South and Mid Wales. A review of these documents has established sustainable development as a priority for the Welsh Government. Councils have been required to produce Local Development Plans which address a number of key issues related to the sustainable development of each area. These include climate change, flooding, sustainable housing, resource efficient construction, employment, brownfield redevelopment, sustainable drainage, waste management, energy and minerals. Several of these key topics require geoscience knowledge and data to underpin planning decisions. The extent to which this is understood by local authorities varies between counties. The second part of this report provides a discussion of information gathered through stakeholder engagement and includes a number of case studies which outline how subsurface data has been shared and reused for the greater benefit to society. Talks with local councils, ground engineering consultancies and water companies have identified the types of data in demand from BGS; these include: existing ground investigation data, information on contaminated land and groundwater, the nature of artificial ground, Infiltration SuDS suitability information and land stability data.