Bryce Skarratt

Who’s da Boss? Impact Assessment and Strategic Assessment

Bryce Skarratt
GHD, WA

Abstract:
The primary tool in Australia for considering project developments in an impact assessment. The impact assessment should present environmental, economic and social issues for regulator consideration. The limitations of this tool are however well known, with aspects like cumulative impacts, social issues and a big picture consideration frequently ignored or poorly addressed. Strategic assessment should address these big picture issues but are infrequently applied and can’t deal with many project specific issues. So at a practical level, how do both tools interact and what drives what? Based on a practical knowledge of impact assessment, this presentation discusses how the two might integrate and feed from each other.