Tough new environmental process delaying Australian project

The Roe Highway Extension (Roe 8) project in Western Australia (WA) will undergo a new environmental approval process. This follows a ruling by the WA Supreme Court that previous approvals for the project were invalid. Roe 8's approval was disputed in the court by the Save Beeliar Wetlands Group that argued the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) did not apply policies on land offsets when evaluating the project. The WA state government said that Roe 8 is an important part of the US$1.1 billion (A$1.6 billion) Perth Freight Link project. The project now looks likely to be delayed as the new approvals for Roe 8 could take up to one year.