Mineral resource information for development plans : phase one Northumberland and Tyne & Wear : resources and constraints

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 Northumberland, Northumberland National Park, Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland. 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. 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 safeguarding 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 Agency, 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, secondary aggregates and metalliferous and associated minerals.