EIS
A project team comprised of over 90 technical experts has worked on preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the GKI Revitalisation Plan, which has taken over two years to complete. This has resulted in the most rigorous environmental assessment of the Island ever undertaken. The EIS was managed by CQG Consulting based in Rockhampton and Cardno HRP based in Brisbane.
The EIS process also involved the collaboration of a range of technical experts to determine solutions for the Plan that would ensure environmental impacts could be entirely avoided, managed, mitigated or offset.
The following organisations were involved in the preparation of the EIS:
The EIS process commenced with a detailed environmental constraint mapping exercise to determine an appropriate development footprint for the GKI Revitalisation Plan. This involved a series of on-site ground truthing surveys to identify and map various environmental constraints including, but not limited to:
- Setbacks from beaches and storm surge;
- Mapping of remnant Regional Ecosystems which have a described conservation status of ‘Endangered’ or ‘of Concern’;
- Mapping of remnant Regional Ecosystems which have a biodiversity status of ‘Endangered’ or ‘of Concern’;
- Areas of ‘special’ vegetation or habitat;
- Protected marine and intertidal vegetation;
- Buffers to vegetation, watercourses and wetlands;
- Essential habitat of species scheduled under the Nature Conservation Act, 1992 and Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999;
- Fringing reefs, coral communities, wave-cut platforms, seagrass beds and intertidal wader bird habitats;
- Areas of high scenic amenity or sensitivity;
- World Heritage Values present on the Island; and
- Steep slopes.
Following the preparation of these environmental constraints, the Resort master planners (WATG) were issued with these constraints maps and instructed to amend the GKI Revitalisation Plan to avoid areas of high environmental significance.
The outcome of this extensive environmental constraints mapping exercise has been a final Resort concept and overall GKI Revitalisation Plan that avoids, minimises or mitigates any potential environmental impacts.
A copy of the full EIS is available for download:
CLICK TO VIEW
(OPENS IN A NEW WINDOW)
