ENVIRONMENTAL
Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd are the principal environmental consultants for the entire Inter-Port Global Project Development.
A leading Australian and distinguished environmental organisation, the company has an impeccable record for quality environment assessment at all levels of government including major infrastructure developments. The company has worked with Inter-Port Global since the projects inception.
PREPARATION OF INITIAL ADVICE STATEMENT
An Initial Advice Statement (“IAS”) is currently being prepared by Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd to provide preliminary information about the physical, ecological and socio-economic environment in relation to the proposed development of Gladstone Port and associated land-bridge infrastructure (Road and Rail Corridors).
The purpose of the IAS is to provide supporting material for an application to the Queensland Government for the project to be classified as a State Significant Infrastructure (“SSI”) Project on Schedule 3 of the State and Regional Development State Environmental Planning Policy (“SEPP”).
If approved, then an Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared and submitted for consideration to the Queensland Government and other related legislation.
PRELIMINARY REVIEW
An initial review prepared by Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd indicates that:
- No internationally important wetlands or marine parks will be impacted by the project; (Impacts to wetland habitats can be avoided and mitigated by the proposed port development sites and its design).
- The locations of watercourse crossings and proposed construction methods have been carefully selected to minimise impacts to both riparian vegetation and bank profiles; and,
- Field assessments will ground-truth areas of interest identified during desktop searches and help determine the distribution, likely impacts and potential additional avoidance options for threatened species, endangered ecological communities, significant wetlands, important habitat and connectivity.
SCOPE OF WORKS:
- Providing input into the framework for project governance and management arrangements to monitor and steer the project as a whole;
- Provide management of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and approvals for the project;
- Management and co-ordination of the specialist EIA Sub consultants, co-ordination of input and management of EIA document assembly and publication;
- Provide a technical co-ordination role on the Project Steering Group (PSG), co-ordinating input from Port and Rail PD specialists, the TSG and SEG. For example: coordinating with engineers on the coastal/estuarine processes, hydrological and hydraulic studies;
- Provision of data management services coordination of spatial data sets for the project;
- Provision of base mapping and delivery of final mapping products for the EIA; and,
- Development implementation and fulfillment of the Approvals Handling Strategy, including managing lodgement and liaison with the regulator as part of and on behalf of the PSG supported by the political connections in Australian Infrastructure Developments (AID) and the broader PSG.