The process of writing an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) usually involves many people from diverse fields of expertise. In most cases, project owners do not have the in-house capabilities to supply these experts, so sections of the ESIA are outsourced to a number of different consultants.
This fragmented approach can lead to reduced quality-control, and inconsistent language use and messages. Poor communication caused by consultants further delays the writing process. In-house staff and consultants often have access to part of the information they require which means ESIAs are often incomplete.
It’s therefore unsurprising that some ESIAs fail to gain decision-makers’ support. In an effort to clear up some of the confusion, Flinders Group has implemented two complementary functions: land access services and the ESIA process.
Flinders Group Chairman John Cotter said “Some of the confusion around ESIA seems to stem from a lack of co-ordination among the many experts required to contribute to the document, and accessing the necessary intelligence to complete the various components.
“Flinders Group has responded to this inefficiency by combining our land access services to the ESIA process. We are now able to gain early access for studies by understanding the process and the land access code, and we take responsibility for land access management, compliance, approvals and timing,” he said.
“We have also worked hard to streamline the ESIA process for our clients. One of the ways we have achieved this is by appointing professional, qualified and experienced ESIA project managers whose purpose is to ensure the process is rigorous and controlled.”
Flinders Group also has a wide range of in-house experts across a range of fields, including planning and approvals, environmental, stakeholder, cultural heritage and native title experts. Having these experts under one roof, significantly reduces the number of consultants involved in the process, while maintaining necessary access to required skills. This approach has a number of benefits for project owners:
1. Fewer people handling information means that data is less exposed and more protected, thus providing greater confidentiality.
2. With Flinders Group’s proven ESIA project management experience directing the process, it can control the quality of the writing and content, and ensure consistent language use and messages throughout the document. This increases the quality of the overall document and reduces unnecessary client reviews.
3. Regular communication during the ESIA process increases ease of process, control of data and information flow, and the ability to spot information gaps.
4. Having the expertise under one roof means Flinders Group can ensure that everyone is on the same page.
5. Staff employed by Flinders Group have practical construction experience. This means it has a solid understanding of client’s projects and can write the EIA in a way that is most useful to the constructor.
To find out more about how Flinders Group can help your EIS process, please contact EIS Manager Alexandra Hare on (07) 3221 1371 or email ahare@flindersgroup.com.au
