North East Link project

Challenge

The $16B North East Link Project (the project) is the biggest road transport project in Victoria’s history, built to reduce traffic congestion in the City of Melbourne and surrounding suburbs. The project has been in the feasibility and planning phases for nearly thirty years, with a proposed 26km road freeway link planned from the Metropolitan Ring Road to the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne’s north-east.

In early 2020, the major road transport project was approved following a three year Environment Effects Statement (EES), Road Engineering Design, Planning Scheme Amendment and Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Works Approval statutory environmental assessment and planning approval processes.

Solution

Our Victorian Environmental Assessment, Planning and Management team have been successfully working with the North East Link Authority’s (NELA) Land, Planning and Environment team since early 2020, providing the following environmental advisory consulting services across the projects primary package, the secondary packages, and early works package:

• Tender review and bid assessment
• Corridor wide planning and environmental advisory support for spoil disposal and statutory approvals associated with the EES
• Land use and precinct planning and sport & recreation planning
• Statutory and strategic planning
• Ministerial planning scheme amendments
• Permitting and approvals advisory support for secondary packages
• Environmental assessment and environmental management plan advisory support project wide
• Review and application of EES - environmental performance requirements
• Urban design and landscape design advisory support for primary package / corridor wide urban design
• Early Works environmental assessment and environment management plan advisory support
• Early Works environmental compliance field inspections
• Early Works - Worksite Environment Management Plans (WEMP) Review
• Early Works vegetation removal compliance

Impact

In addition to these specific services, our experts have also been providing long-term support to NELA during the EES, Environmental Performance Review, peer review, tender review and early works phases of the project in the following technical disciplines; land quality and remediation, noise and vibration, air quality, and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) spoil disposal. These services together show the depth and integration of SLR services offering to the built environment and transport infrastructure sector in Victoria.