An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process that must be followed for certain types of major development before they are granted development consent. The requirement for EIA comes from a European Directive (85/33/EEC as amended by 97/11/EC).

The procedure requires the production of an Environmental Statement (EIS) describing the likely significant effects on the environment and proposed mitigation measures. The EIS must be circulated to statutory consultation bodies and made available to the public for comment. Its contents, together with any comments, must be taken into account by authority determining the application before it may grant consent.

The main activities related to EIA are in the field of heavy industry, hydropower and geothermal power plants, transmission lines, quarrying and infrastructure.  The emphasis is to find solutions that reduce or compensate for the potential impacts of construction, both in construction phases and operational phases.

Glenside have carried out and co-ordinated a considerable number of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and have written and co-ordinated many Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) for a diversity of schemes. We can advise on all stages of the EIA and planning process, including screening (whether EIA is required), scoping, preparing the EIS, independent reviews of ESs, and follow-up management and monitoring.

Our profile includes contribution to developments such as;

  • Inner-city shopping developments;
  • Office apartments
  • Inner-harbour breakwater schemes;
  • Waste processing facilities
  • Auto-racing tracks
  • Transport projects
  • Land reclamation
  • Waste disposal
  • Wind Farms

The EIA is reported in an Environmental Statement (ES). Schedule 4 of the Regulations sets out the required content of an ES which must include:

A description of the development;

An outline of the main alternatives studied;

A description of the aspects of the environment likely to be significantly affected by the development;

A description of the likely significant effects of the development on the environment;

A description of the measures envisaged to offset any significant effects;

A non-technical summary of the ES;

An indication of any difficulties encountered in compiling the ES.