I love working on a great range of technically interesting projects, including renewable energy, waste management and water treatment works. It’s always fascinating to learn how these industrial processes work and how they best fit on particular sites, while we simultaneously meet the challenge of minimising any environmental impacts they may present.

Emma Robinson

Technical Director

BA(Hons) MSc AIEMA MIEnvSc

Emma joined the practice in 1996 and has gained considerable experience at both strategic and technical levels. Her specialisms include managing environmental impact assessments, preparing screening and scoping request reports and assessing environmental effects.

Emma has worked on housing, urban regeneration, waste management, airport and leisure developments, with extensive hands-on experience in proposing mitigation measures, recommending design changes, writing environmental statements and management plans.

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Emma's Projects

Lakeside EfW and HTI Facilities

A new site for the existing Lakeside energy from waste facility and adjacent high temperature incinerator was required to facilitate the previously proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport. In addition to undertaking the planning work to help secure permission for replacement facilities on a nearby former landfill site, located in green belt and strategic gap, we also prepared and co-ordinated the EIA. A key consideration was cumulative impact assessment given the site’s location in relation to nearby nationally significant infrastructure projects. We participated in pre-application discussions with the council and public exhibitions with the local community.

It is always a great pleasure to work with Viridor and Grundon, who are always highly professional, knowledgeable and are totally committed to the sustainable management of waste through the development of extremely high quality, safe and environmentally sound facilities.

Knapp Mill Water Treatment Works

The Knapp Mill Water Treatment Works was constructed in 1895 and has been expanded over time to meet the drinking water demand arising from new development and population growth. The existing process technology is now considered to be outdated by the Drinking Water Inspectorate and in need of replacement. In response South West Water (SWW) proposed a major process upgrade to the existing works, which is located in a highly sensitive location. Alongside the planning work, we acted as the lead EIA coordinator, managing a large technical team. We prepared the environmental statement and also carried out the assessments of cultural heritage and landscape and visual effects.

Assisting SWW with this important infrastructure project was extremely satisfying. The SWW team is committed to delivering state of the art technology, while respecting the highly sensitive local environment and the amenity of local residents.

Wandon End Solar Farm

This renewable energy project includes development of a solar farm with battery energy storage on land north east of Wandon End, North Hertfordshire. The grid connection formed an integral part of the application. The proposal will generate up to 49.9MW, of this up to 35MW can be supplied to the National Grid, with the remainder available to export to large local demand users. We undertook the planning and EIA work for the project and prepared a focused ES covering cultural heritage, landscape and visual effects, and natural heritage. Minimising the potential impacts on the landscape and visual resources and maximising the ecological benefits of the proposals were significant considerations from the outset and directly informed the site layout, which evolved substantially as the EIA progressed.

It was an absolute pleasure working with the EPL team, who have a very positive approach to resolving environmental issues and seeking ways in which to deliver the optimum environmental design.