What we do
Land Insights provides planning and environmental approvals services for renewable energy projects in Western Australia, including solar farms, battery energy storage systems, wind energy, transmission infrastructure and hybrid projects.
Complex WA renewable energy projects need an approvals strategy before they need an application.
Western Australia has a large and growing pipeline of renewable energy projects. Most significant projects require concurrent approvals from multiple agencies before construction can begin. This may include planning approval through the WAPC, RDAP or SDAU, environmental assessment through the EPA, native vegetation clearing permits through DWER, and referral responses from DBCA, DFES, Main Roads WA, local government and other agencies.
The assessment framework for renewable energy projects in WA is also changing. The draft WA Renewable Energy Planning Code and associated regulatory reforms are intended to provide a more consistent planning pathway for renewable energy infrastructure, with the SDAU expected to play a central role in the assessment of major projects. Proponents with projects at feasibility or pre-application stage should understand the Code’s likely implications before key site, design and engagement decisions are locked in.
What is less well understood is where approvals risk is actually created. By the time an application is lodged, the decisions that will determine the project’s pathway have usually already been made, or have not been made early enough. Site selection may have missed a fatal constraint. Environmental studies may have been commissioned too late. Community engagement may have started after objections were filed. Grid connection, heritage, clearing or agency issues may not have been properly sequenced.
The projects that progress most efficiently usually share one characteristic: the proponent understood the approvals pathway, identified the constraints, and sequenced the work before the statutory clock started.
How we help
Land Insights provides approvals strategy and management for WA renewable energy projects, including:
- Approvals pathway mapping and strategy
- Fatal flaw and constraint assessment
- EPA referral risk analysis
- Advice on the draft WA Renewable Energy Planning Code
- Pre-application agency engagement with SDAU, WAPC, EPA, DWER, DBCA, DFES and local government
- Study scoping and sequencing
- Coordination of Aboriginal heritage advice and specialist inputs where required
- Stakeholder engagement strategy and approvals communication support
- Development application preparation
- Environmental management frameworks
- Planning and environmental approvals management
- GIS constraint mapping, viewshed analysis and vegetation mapping
We work with solar farm developers, BESS project teams, wind energy proponents, project managers, landowners and infrastructure investors. We are most useful when a project has a site and a concept but has not yet lodged. That is when the right advice has the most leverage.
Before the application
Most renewable energy approval delays trace back to decisions made before the application was lodged. Studies commissioned after lodgement. No agency pre-consultation. EPA referral risk not assessed. Heritage surveys incomplete. Community concerns that were not identified until they became objections.
Land Insights gets involved at the front end of the approvals process, before the application is written, when the options are still open and the cost of changing direction is lower.
We help project teams understand the pathway, identify the main risks, scope the right studies, engage the right agencies and prepare applications that are assessment-ready.
Approvals strategy
We help project teams understand the approval pathway before an application is lodged. This includes pathway mapping, fatal flaw assessment, EPA referral risk analysis, study scoping and approvals sequencing.
Our focus is on identifying what could delay or derail a project early, while site, design and engagement decisions can still be adjusted.
Solar, BESS and wind approvals
Land Insights provides planning and environmental approvals support for solar farms, battery energy storage systems, wind energy projects, transmission infrastructure and hybrid projects.
Each project type has distinct approval risks, including vegetation clearing, fire safety, noise, visual impact, land use compatibility, bushfire, access and agency referral requirements. We help proponents understand and manage these issues in the WA context.
Agency and stakeholder engagement
Early engagement with decision-makers and referral agencies can reduce uncertainty and avoid late redesign.
Land Insights prepares for and attends pre-application meetings with SDAU, WAPC, local government, EPA, DWER, DBCA, DFES, Main Roads WA and other relevant agencies. We also coordinate specialist inputs, including Aboriginal heritage advice where required.
WA renewable energy experience
Land Insights has worked in the WA planning and environmental approvals system for more than two decades, with experience across renewable energy, battery storage, infrastructure, environmental approvals and regional planning projects.
Our renewable energy experience includes planning and environmental approvals for solar farm and battery energy storage projects in regional Western Australia, including Narrogin Solar Farm and Merredin BESS.
We bring together planning, environmental, GIS and approvals management capability, with a practical understanding of how WA agencies assess complex projects. Our role is to help proponents understand the pathway, identify risks early and prepare projects for assessment.
Further project examples are available on our Success Stories page or on request.