Land Utilisation Survey

Abstract

THE fifth annual report of the Land Utilisation Survey of Britain has recently been published. It records the number of published sheets as thirty-two, with twenty more sheets scheduled for publication in the near future. The completed survey will comprise 235 sheets. Most of the field work has now been completed, but there are still gaps, notably in East Cornwall, Herefordshire, the West Riding and parts of Wales. It is planned to issue eventually eighty-seven county reports. These will analyse the distribution of each type of utilisation and, where information is available, compare to-day's conditions with those of the past. The utilisation of the land will be correlated with soil conditions. Each county report will be published at one shilling. It may be noted that the relevant maps have been called for by the Commissioner of the Special (Depressed) Areas in order to indicate what land is still available for settlement or development. The cost of publishing a sheet is roughly £100, and various county authorities and universities have made contributions to the sheets of their areas. In other cases the ordering of large numbers of sheets for educational purposes has enabled publication to take place. The director, Dr. Dudley Stamp, appeals for more help of this kind. The headquarters of the Survey is the London School of Economics, where offers of help should be addressed.