Development
Application Services
We often
see development projects held up at the
Development Application (DA) stage due to
environmental conditions. Councils have
a list of typical commercial / industrial
land uses which may have resulted in land
contamination. If your property, or adjacent
properties, is or has historically been
one of those land uses then Council will
request an Environmental Investigation Report
be submitted to Council with the DA.
If
you are required to undertake an environmental
investigation choose your consultant wisely.
In an article we wrote for the Service Station
Association we provide some suggestions
to identify experienced consultants (SSA
Magazine June 2007). The impact of inexperience
can be substantial. In one example a proponent’s
consultant recommended to Council in their
environmental report that an Accredited
Auditor be engaged to review the report.
One surface sample out of 15 was slightly
elevated in metals and the consultant concluded
the site was contaminated. Council read
the report and requested the reports be
approved by an Accredited Auditor. Approximately
$45,000 in Auditor fees and 6 months later
the DA was approved.
In most
circumstances Councils will not have the
expertise to interpret environmental reports
therefore will often transfer their risk
onto the Accredited Auditor. However under
most planning guidelines there is an option
for other experienced consultants to undertake
a third party review. You may be asking
what the difference in fees are between
an independent expert and an Auditor. In
our experience at least 40 – 60%,
and sometimes as much as 90%. Reason being
is an audit must be completed in a systematic
fashion in accordance with auditing guidelines.
Unfortunately, a lot of the systematic checks
and procedures are often irrelevant, time
consuming and overconservative.
Geo-Logix
has been very successful getting clients
through the DA process without the involvement
of an Accredited Auditor. Most councils
will waive the Audit requirement if they
feel comfortable with the technical ability
of the Consultant. In our experience Councils
are under pressure to process DA’s
and will work with you once they have an
understanding of the issues, delays and
costs associated with Auditing.
We
come across this condition so often and
are continually amazed to hear the fees
being charged to conduct Audits. Please
feel free to contact Geo-Logix if you want
to run a successful DA campaign. Geo-Logix
offers the following DA services:
• Environmental Investigation
• Council Negotiation
• Third Party Report Review
• DA advice
.
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