ONSHORE WIND
James has been the project director on a wide range of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) projects, throughout the UK. These have typically been major (Section 36) applications, such as the Viking Wind Farm in Shetland, and schemes in North and South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Angus, Lewis, Caithness and Sutherland. Elsewhere in the UK he has been involved in wind turbine developments in Devon, Somerset, South Wales, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Yorkshire. However he has also been involved in many smaller applications throughout the UK building up an extensive experience in this part of the wind sector, and has expert knowledge of the potential LVIA impacts which could arise during design, construction and operation.
TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE
James has been responsible for LVIAs and Environmental Management for many overhead lines and underground cables, such as the Dunvegan to Fort Augustus 132kV upgrade, working on the Options Appraisal and Alignment stages; Scottish East Coast Line 400kV upgrade and Beauly-Dounreay and Beauly-Blackhillock 275kV transmission line upgrades. He has also been involved in site selection, assessment, mitigation proposals and environmental management for a number of new sub-stations. As many of the transmission and distribution routes have passed through environmentally sensitive locations such as SAC’s, SSSI’s and NSA’s, mitigation of potential construction effects was of fundamental importance.
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
James has been project director for the landscape design and assessment elements of many highways, canals and trams projects, predominantly in Scotland. These have typically been major projects such as the Edinburgh Tram, Falkirk Wheel, Clackmannanshire Bridge approaches and M74, working for large multi-national companies and government agencies. As a consequence, James has built up considerable experience and expert knowledge of the potential LVIA effects which could arise during the design, construction and operation of such projects. Other inputs have been wide-ranging, from options appraisals, through LVIA, Public/ Parliamentary Inquiry to outline and detail planting and earthworks design, and landscape implementation, supervision and management.
COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL
James has, in conjunction with various different Architects, been responsible for the masterplanning and detailed design a number of residential and commercial developments throughout the UK, from Portsmouth to Inverness and abroad, in Malta, South Africa and Botswana. In addition he has carried out numerous landscape and visual assessments of these and other built developments, which have included a power station, schools, retail developments and supermarkets, business parks and new housing developments. He has also carried out green belt landscape planning studies on the periphery of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ardrossan and Perth. James has also represented built development clients at Public Inquiry in the capacity of expert witness.
AQUACULTURE AND PORTS
James has undertaken seascape and visual assessments for a variety of Aquaculture and Port developments ranging from reconfiguration or relocation of existing operations to the siting of completely new ones. These have included proposed fish farms and extensions/ reconfigurations in the Outer Hebrides, off Skye, Shetland, Ardnamurchan and in the Firth of Clyde and port extensions or reconfigurations at Lerwick, Aberdeen and Dunbar.
HERITAGE AND CONSERVATION
James has designed numerous country gardens for private clients; major land engineering schemes; proposals for Loch Lomond Country Park, Balloch; Health and Wellbeing Theme Area, Glasgow Garden Festival; Barony Hall Gardens and St Nicholas Garden; both near Glasgow Cathedral. The latter has won 3 B.A.L.I. Awards including the Grand Award, and also the top E.R.A. award. He has also been responsible for the preparation and/ or implementation of Landscape Management/Restoration Plans, at Stanley Park, Liverpool; Congleton Town Park, Cheshire; Formakin, Renfrewshire (Lorimer Garden); Hopetoun House, West Lothian; and Dalzell House and Crossbasket Castle, North and South Lanarkshire respectively.