Abstract

The applied geological mapping study of the Wigan Metropolitan Borough was completed in October 1995 by the British Geological Survey (BGS) in association with the planning consultants Roger Tym & Partners. The aim of the project was to provide a geoscience basis for planning and development decisions. The users of the study were seen primarily as planners and developers but also engineers, conservationists and others. The important common factor was that the users need not have geological training. The study represented the state-of-the-art in the UK in terms of the transfer of geological information to nongeologists. Geoscience data were compiled as a series of nine thematic maps and a technical report in which the geology of the area, and its modification by human activities, were described. The engineering geology map is significant in that it uses the stripe method of showing subsurface information, a method rarely used in the UK since its first use by Dearman in the North East of England. The key geological factors relevant to planning and development were identified by the project team during discussions with local planners and developers. They were summarized on a map and described in a report that indicated how and where geology might significantly affect development. The successful outcome of this study required a multidisciplinary team approach and good communication between team members.