Angus Proctor has over 25 years of experience as an environmental consultant working in Hong Kong, the UK, Algeria, Italy, and New Zealand. He has provided services to both private clients such as large utility companies and developers, as well as various government departments. Some of his projects include assisting with sewer rehabilitation in Hong Kong, assessing the environmental impact of new developments, and managing drainage issues. He emphasizes the importance of considering both the impacts of development on the environment and vice versa, as well as the need for inter-departmental communication and holistic approaches to issues like flooding.

1. Angus Proctor
Independent Environmental Consultant

2. Practicing
Environmental
Consultancy since  provided services to private clients such as: China Light &
Power; KCRC ; several developers from small to large; and
1995 government departments including: Territorial
1995-2003 Hong Kong Dev’ment; Planning; Water Services; Drainage Services;
Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation; Transport;
Education; Housing.
2003-’06 United Kingdom,  included two long-term secondments to private water
Algeria and Italy. companies - Wessex Water and Anglian Water. Other
projects included: a national survey of Commercial and
Industrial Waste for the Environment Agency; rapid
environmental assessment of a combined
desalination/power plant in Algeria (World Bank
project); and peer review of a regeneration project for the
Parco del Po, Italy.
2006-’10 New Zealand  as a consultant to local authorities on waste management
projects and to a private offshore Oil/Gas drilling
company before moving to the public sector to manage a
team of civil engineers for Metrowater (Auckland City
Council’s water and wastewater service) providing peer
review to the City Council, including stormwater
management.

3. Hong Kong –
changes of land use
Lessons learned –  Sewer rehabilitation HK island – expedient
Stakeholders need to assess and connections; loss of gradient resulting from
quantify both: reclamation; failure to upgrade to meet
•the impact of new development
demand
on the environment; and,  Tin Shui Wai (new town 300k people)
•the impact of the environment on development on historic tidal fishponds
the new development  Village Flood Protection Scheme – rapid ad
This requires reliable historic hoc land-use changes causing new flooding
records/data or baseline problems
monitoring  Yuen Long Bypass Floodway upper catchment
development causing flooding in YL new town
Inter-departmental required additional manmade flood channels
communication - vital but not  Drainage Master Plans (DMPs) an assessment
normal of all HK and NT catchments to model flood
risk and best mitigation
 Wetland Compensation Study all aspects of
wetlands from natural origins, varieties,
benefits, destruction, BMP mitigation

4. Tin Shui Wai – turning a problem
into an amenity
Reclamation of an extensive
area of fishponds on the edge
of HK’s only Ramsar
‘Wetland of International
Importance’ resulted in a
loss of habitat and the
encroachment of the
disturbance of a large city to
the edge of the protected
area. Additionally, upper
catchment effluent would be
incremented by city
pollutant run-off.

5. Tin Shui Wai
HK’s Millennium Project –
the Wetland Park
Enhanced remaining wetland
Tourist attraction – a reason
to visit TSW
Educational destination
Buffer between the new town
and the protected area
Treats run-off before it
enters the protected area
An amenity that senior
politicians queued up to
officially open

6. Yuen Long
Yuen Long new town
(towards the lower end of
a catchment with a steep
origin) required extensive
drainage to develop.
Aesthetics weren’t high on
the design agenda
Zero ecological or amenity
value
Reflect long-wave heat
radiation

7. Yuen Long Bypass Floodway
Increased
environmental
awareness demanded
improved drainage
solutions
Strong resistance from
regional engineers
Demonstrated that
green engineering would
work in this location
Another ‘prize-winning’
green solution

8. Drainage Master Plans
Every river and stream
catchment across the
HK-SAR risk assessed,
modelled and
environmentally scoped.

9. Wetland Compensation
Bolting the stable door,
after the horse has run?

10. NENT Landfill
Latest in lining and
effluent treatment (1990s)
Photo shows heavy
pollution about 50m
downstream of the landfill
boundary
Keep a safe political
distance from new
technology promising to
solve all problems
The onus must be on the
proponent to be
transparent and
responsive to problems

11. United Kingdom –
sea level rise
Government choosing which land
it will pay to defend and which will
be left to nature, sea level rise and
increased storminess
Shingle sea defences breached
during a storm (right)
Cost-benefit analysis (cost of
long-term maintenance and
upgrading vs economic benefit of
the defended land)
Social cost – peoples’ homes,
livelihoods, ancestry

12. Italy – Po River Delta
Flood prone area
1950s flooding caused exodus of inhabitants despite
rich alluvial soils and ancient history. Area now
impoverished
NO development allowed within river levees
New development must have sufficient freeboard
built in. Houses built on mounds 3m high.

13. New Zealand – development
charges
 Developers pay charges in advance to council based on the size of
the development:
 Water Supply and Wastewater based on the proposed use (in the
case of a commercial/industrial development) and/or
population/’fulltime earners’.
 Stormwater based on the impermeable area of the development (a
combination of roof area plus any hardstanding/concreted surfaces)
 A credit may be allowed:
 If in the case of redevelopment, existing infrastructure has been
installed.
 Where a developer designs in and implements water saving devices or
stormwater detention or re-use
 I designed and implemented a programme for retrospective cost
recovery which materialised NZ$500,000 in a year of missed revenue

14. Remarks
There is rarely a ‘single silver bullet’ to solve environmental
issues – be wary of such claims: “anything that sounds too
good to be true, usually is”!
Problems such as flooding require a holistic whole-of-
catchment approach e.g. Drainage Master Plans (HK) or
Integrated Catchment Management Plans (NZ)
Developers must contribute to the cost of the
infrastructure required to support development.
Developers should bear the cost of impact assessments,
but should be kept at arms length from the reporting.
Developers should be given credit against pre-emptive
charges when implementing energy or water saving or
stormwater detention devices

15. Services
Experience-based, independent peer review of EIAs,
with particular focus on:
EM&A – environmental monitoring and auditing
effectiveness during construction and operation
Developer charges processes and recovery
Quick turn-around independent review and advice of
HSE issues arising from developments