Currently the NRA are creating guidelines to facilitate further integration of various environmental issues and national road scheme planning. The NRA suggest on their website that the development of these guidelines requires professional consultation to ensure that all guidelines are met and implemented accordingly.
How can we help?
McCarthy Keville O’ Sullivan can form important members of larger project teams involved in the planning, design and construction of roads projects, to provide specialist input on the ecological impacts of road scheme projects. McCarthy Keville O’Sullivan has gained valuable experience in such projects in recent years, having completed ecological work on the new N6, N6 Galway City Outer Bypass and N17 road scheme projects.
With a large team of ecologists available in-house, the company is ideally suited to larger projects such as road schemes, requiring a number of individuals to conduct surveys over large routes. Whether the work required is a specialist year-long bird survey, wildlife mitigation, or a full ecological section of an EIS, McCarthy Keville O’Sullivan can produce work of the highest standard necessary to proceed through planning appeals and oral hearings if necessary.
Projects that we have been involved in previously include route selection option assessments, road re-alignment projects, junction upgrades, new road projects, site clearance &work supervision, wildlife mitigation and enabling works contract supervision.
Services that we provide in this area include:
- Ecological Surveys : Survey road scheme route selection options to assess ecological value of various route options.
- Ecological Impact Assessment : Assess the impact of the road scheme project on the ecology of the route with a report that can be submitted with a planning application.
- Ecology EIS Section : Assess the ecological impact of the road scheme project in a format that can be incorporated into the Ecology section of an EIS.
- Preliminary Ecological Assessments : Assess the ecological value of a proposed road scheme route to determine how much further surveying may be required.
- Habitat Mapping : Map habitats along the route of a proposed road scheme to establish baseline data and assist in assessing routing options.
- Bird Surveying : Survey road scheme routes for bird species that may be impacted by proposed works.
- Bat Surveying : Survey buildings due to be demolished, trees or hedgerows due to be felled to find bat roosts, and remove protected species to safety under licence.
- Crayfish Surveying & Relocations : Capture, identify and relocate this protected species under licence, where road scheme works are planned within or adjacent to suitable watercourses.
- Electro fishing : Capture, identify and relocate fish under licence, where road scheme works are planned within or adjacent to suitable watercourses.
- Site & Construction Supervision : Assess the potential environmental impacts of a road scheme project and plan for the mitigation of identified impacts.
- Environmental Impact Assessments : Assess the potential environmental impacts of a road scheme project and plan for the mitigation of identified impacts.
- EIA Screening : Determine if a road scheme project requires an Environmental Impact Assessment.
- Socio-Economic Impact Assessments : Assess the socio-economic impacts of a road scheme project in a format that can be incorporated into an EIS document.
- Environmental Monitoring : Monitor environmental factors such as water, noise and dust, to comply with planning requirements or EIS mitigation measure limits, or to ensure mitigation measures are operating as planned.
- Water Quality Monitoring : Sample and analyse water samples to establish baseline prior to construction operations commencing, and to allow comparison analysis with samples taken during construction to determine if construction operations are affecting water quality.
- Environmental Auditing : Assess compliance with planning or environmental conditions by means of regular site visits, and compliance reporting.
- Risk Management Planning : Assess potential environmental risks associated with construction projects prior to commencement on a site-specific basis, to ensure effective mitigation.
- Site Supervision & Construction Site Setup : Plan and supervise construction site setup and the installation of mitigation measures for road scheme projects, including settlement ponds, silt fences, silt curtains, tree fences etc.
- Construction Waste Management Plans : Plan for the management of waste that will arise during the construction phase of a road scheme project, an increasingly common planning requirement.
- General Consultancy Services in relation to Planning Practice and Procedures
- Planning Applications
- Planning Appeals to An Bord Pleanála and Oral Hearings
- Planning Advice/Law
- Planning Submissions
- Planning Project Management
- Strategic/Future Planning
- Preparation of Development Plans
- Managing Environmental Impact Statements
- Population Scenarios
- Demographic Analysis