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CanaIly Orchards Lot 6857 DP48114 Junction Park Irrigation Dam, CanaIly Orchards Aborignal Cultural Heritage Assessment Report to Price Merrett Consulting on behalf of Canally Orchards Landskape 26 September 2019 a dIVISIOa of NIL Cupper Pty Ltd ABN 48 107 932 918 PO Box 1068 Carlton 3053 e mail: [email protected] tel: 0408 006 690 Canally Orchards Junction Park Irrigation Dam, CanaIly Orchards Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment Report to Price Merrett Consulting on behalf of CanaIly Orchards Landskape Natural and Cultural Heritage Management a division or ML. Capper Ply Ltd ABN: 48 107 932 918 Author: Dr Matt Cupper Date: 26 September 2019 PO Box 1068 Carlton 3053 e mail: [email protected] tel: 0408 006 690 CanaIly Orchards ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT Executive Summary CanaIly Orchards proposes to construct a 420 ML earthen irrigation water storage dam at their Junction Park horticultural planting at Lot 6857 DP48114 at Weimby-Kyalite Road, near Balranald, southwestern NSW. The purpose of the proposed dam is to store water to irrigate nut groves. In order to investigate the potential impact on Aboriginal cultural heritage resulting from irrigation dam construction, Landskape was engaged by Price Merrett Consulting on behalf of CanaIly Orchards to complete an Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment of the proposed work area in accordance with the Code of practice for the archaeological investigation of Aboriginal objects in NSW (DECCW 2010) and Guide to investigation, assessing and reporting on Aboriginal cultural heritage in NSW (OEH 2011). The specific objectives of the Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment were to: Locate and record any Aboriginal cultural heritage places or objects within the vicinity of the proposed irrigation dam in consultation with the local Aboriginal community; Identify the nature and extent of potential impacts of the proposed works on Aboriginal cultural heritage; and, Devise options in consultation with the local Aboriginal community to avoid or mitigate potential impacts of the proposed irrigation dam construction on Aboriginal cultural heritage places or objects. No Aboriginal cultural heritage places or objects have previously been identified in or near the proposed work area and no Aboriginal cultural heritage places or objects were identified during the current assessment. Based on the results of this Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment and consultation with the local Aboriginal community it is concluded that: The proposed irrigation dam construction be allowed to proceed because the works will not harm Aboriginal cultural heritage. If any Aboriginal object is discovered and/or harmed in, or under the land, while undertaking development activities, the proponent must: Not further harm the object Immediately cease all work at the location Secure the area to avoid further harm to the Aboriginal object Landskape Cannily Orchards ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT Notify OEH as soon as practical on 131555, providing any details of the Aboriginal object and its location Not recommence any work at the location unless authorised in writing by OEH. If skeletal remains are unexpectedly encountered during the activity, work must stop immediately, the area secured to prevent unauthorised access and contact made with NSW Police and OEH. Landskape CanaIly Orchards ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ii CONTENTS iv 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Aims of the Investigation 1 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 3 2.1 Project Objectives 3 2.2 Proposed Activities 3 2.3 Potential Disturbance 3 2.4 Flexibility of Design 3 3 LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT 4 3.1 National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 4 3.2 Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 5 3.3 Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance (Burra Charter) 5 4 ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING 7 5 CULTURAL HERITAGE CONTEXT 8 5.1 Introduction 8 5.2 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Sites 9 5.2.1 Stone Artefact Scatters 10 5.2.2 Hearths 10 5.2.3 Freshwater Shell Middens 11 5.2.4 Quarry Sites 11 5.2.5 Modified Trees 11 5.2.6 Stone Arrangements, Ceremonial Rings and Ceremony and Dreaming Sites 11 5.2.7 Burials 12 5.3 Aboriginal Cultural Heritage in the Project Area 12 6 PROJECT DESIGN AND SURVEY METHODOLOGY 13 6.1 Site Predictive Model 13 6.2 Field Methodology 14 6.2.1 Logistics 14 6.2.2 Survey Methods 14 6.3 Survey Coverage Data 15 6.3.1 Conditions of Visibility 15 6.3.2 Coverage Analysis 15 7 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 21 8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 22 9 REFERENCES 23 ATTACHMENT A 26 ATTACHMENT B 27 Landskape iv CanaIly Orchards ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT List of Figures Figure 1. Location of the proposed dam work area. 2 Figure 2. Location of the proposed dam work area in a cleared and cultivated wheat field. 7 Figure 3. Location of the proposed dam work area depicting the excellent visibility... 16 Figure 4. Location of the proposed dam work area depicting the excellent visibility... 16 Figure 5. Location of the proposed dam work area depicting the excellent visibility... 17 Figure 6. Location of the proposed dam work area depicting the excellent visibility... 17 Figure 7. Location of the proposed dam work area depicting the excellent visibility... 18 Figure 8. Location of the proposed dam work area depicting the excellent visibility... 18 Figure 9. Location of the proposed dam work area depicting the excellent visibility... 19 Figure 10. Location of the proposed dam work area depicting the excellent visibility. 19 List of Tables Table 1. Desktop predictive model of encountering Aboriginal cultural heritage sites in the proposed dam work area 14 Table 2. Visibility conditions of the proposed dam work area 15 Table 3. Effective coverage of the proposed dam work area. 20 Landskape CanaIly Orchards ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT 1 Introduction CanaIly Orchards proposes to construct a 420 ML earthen irrigation water storage dam at their Junction Park horticultural planting at Lot 6857 DP48114 at Weimby-Kyalite Road, near Balranald, southwestern NSW (Figure 1). The purpose of the proposed dam is to store water to irrigate nut groves. In order to investigate the potential impact on Aboriginal cultural heritage resulting from irrigation dam construction, Landskape was engaged by Price Merrell Consulting on behalf of CanaIly Orchards to complete an Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment of the proposed work area in accordance with the Code of practice for the archaeological investigation of Aboriginal objects in NSW (DECCW 2010) and Guide to investigation, assessing and reporting on Aboriginal cultural heritage in NSW (OEH 2011). 1.1 Aims of the Investigation The specific objectives of the Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment were to: Locate and record any Aboriginal cultural heritage places or objects within the vicinity of the proposed irrigation dam in consultation with the local Aboriginal community; Identify the nature and extent of potential impacts of the proposed works on Aboriginal cultural heritage; and, Devise options in consultation with the local Aboriginal community to avoid or mitigate potential impacts of the proposed irrigation dam construction on Aboriginal cultural heritage places or objects. Any Aboriginal cultural heritage sites or objects recorded previously within the work area were identified by searching the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS) site database maintained by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH). General predictive models examining possible cultural heritage site locations within the water use licence area were formulated from these and other relevant archaeological and environmental data. Preparation of this model also involved the use of topographic and geological maps and aerial photographs to identify landscape features likely to contain archaeological sites. Fieldwork was undertaken on 11 September 2019 by project archaeologist Dr Matt Cupper. Aboriginal community representative Traditional Owner/Elder Arthur Kirby also inspected the proposed dam work area with Price Merrett Consulting personnel Graeme Poole and Karin Heslop Heslop on 12 July 2016. Landskape 1 CanaIly Orchards ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT Figure 1. Location of the proposed darn work area Landskape 2 CanaIly Orchards ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT 2 Project Description The proposed activities associated with the construction of the irrigation dam are summarized below. 2.1 Project Objectives Canally Orchards proposes to construct a 420 ML earthen irrigation water storage dam at their Junction Park horticultural planting at Lot 6857 DP48114 at Weimby- Kyalite Road, near Balranald, southwestern NSW (Figure 1). The purpose of the proposed dam is to store water to irrigate nut groves. 2.2 Proposed Activities The proposed activities include soil stripping and stockpiling, basin excavation, earthen embankment construction, trimming and battering, and site rehabilitation. Heavy earthmoving equipment (mechanical scrapers, excavators, front-end-loaders, etc) would be used to excavate the basin. Earthmoving equipment and support vehicles would utilize existing access roads and tracks. 2.3 Potential Disturbance Activities to construct the proposed irrigation dam would occupy an area of 20 ha. The topsoil and subsoil would be removed to depths of up to 2.7 metres to form the basin. 2.4 Flexibility of Design The area for the proposed irrigation dam is a preferred location, constrained by the presence of suitable substrate for basin