Archaeology Baseline Report and Addendum
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PROPOSED NORTHERN RUNWAY AND SOUTHERN RUNWAY OPTIONS, AUCKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, MANGERE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ASSESSMENT Report prepared for Auckland International Airport Limited By Simon Bickler (PhD) Rod Clough (PhD) March 2016 Clough & Associates Ltd. [email protected] 321 Forest Hill Rd, Waiatarua AUCKLAND 0612 Telephone: (09) 8141946 Mobile 0274 850 059 www.clough.co.nz EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Summary This report assesses the archaeological constraints on constructing a Northern Runway. A southern runway option being considered as an alternative is also assessed. Northern Runway Proposed changes to the Auckland International Airport Designated Northern Runway are likely to affect a number of archaeological sites. These are likely to be located at the eastern and western ends of the proposed northern runway area of influence. In the east, midden sites have been identified and these probably represent evidence of a similar type of archaeological settlement as that recently found at the neighbouring Timberly Road development. Also located along the creek banks, the features exposed have included pits, houses, hearths and middens. At the western end, archaeological evidence similar to that found in the sites excavated in 2008-9 for the previously planned northern runway (Designated Northern Runway) is likely to exist on the northern side of the stream located south of Ihumatao Road and inland around the paddocks. The sites previously investigated at the western end included the significant site R11/859, which contained numerous burials, archaeological features and artefacts. A recorded historic house R11/2570 is located within the project area but its date of construction is not known and the values not yet assessed. The property may contain pre-1900 remains. A scheduled natural heritage feature, the Ihumatao buried forest, lies in the tidal zone at the northwestern end of the Designated Northern Runway area. The proposed changes will trigger alterations to the existing designation from the Auckland Council and probably Authority requirements from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (HNZPT). Archaeological sites related to both Maori and early European occupation are recorded in the areas affected by the project and many of the sites are listed as Sites and Places of Value to Mana Whenua in the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP). In addition there is potential for further unidentified subsurface remains to be present in the project area. Additional systematic survey of the areas at both ends of the project will be a requirement for a more detailed archaeological AEE for the project. Southern Runway Option The alternative Southern Runway option would be constructed on reclamation of part of the Manukau Harbour and the area of influence would incorporate a small headland and Wiroa Island just south of the Existing Runway. This option would also affect a number of recorded archaeological sites, many of which are also scheduled as Sites and Places of Value to Mana Whenua on the PAUP. Archaeologically they are of limited significance and have largely been destroyed, though field survey would be required to confirm their current condition. Clough & Associates Ltd Page i Auckland International Airport Northern Runway TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 Purpose of Report................................................................................................................... 3 Project Background ................................................................................................................ 3 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 4 Environmental and Historical Context ....................................................................................... 5 Physical Environment ............................................................................................................ 5 History .................................................................................................................................... 9 Information from Plans and Aerial Photographs ................................................................. 10 Archaeological Sites ................................................................................................................ 18 Archaeological Background ................................................................................................. 18 Sites within the Northern Runway Project Area .................................................................. 19 Sites within the Southern Runway Option .......................................................................... 24 Field Visits ............................................................................................................................... 26 Field Visits: Northern and Southern Areas of Influence ...................................................... 26 Discussion and Conclusions..................................................................................................... 29 Summary of Results ............................................................................................................. 29 Archaeological Value and Significance ............................................................................... 29 Maori Cultural Values .......................................................................................................... 30 Survey Limitations ............................................................................................................... 30 Resource Management Act 1991 ......................................................................................... 31 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 ............................................................... 33 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 35 References ................................................................................................................................ 37 Clough & Associates Ltd Page 2 Auckland International Airport Northern Runway INTRODUCTION Purpose of Auckland International Airport Limited (AIAL), as a Requiring Authority is Report seeking to alter its existing, or seek a new, designation via a Notice of Requirement (NoR) served on Auckland Council for the future construction and operation of a second runway (Proposed Second Runway). As part of the process to prepare the NoR under the Resource Management Act, AIAL is required amongst other things, to: a) Assess the effects that the works will have on the environment and ways in which these adverse effects can be mitigated; b) Consider alternatives; and c) Outline why the project is reasonably necessary for achieving AIAL’s objectives. This report on the archaeological constraints has been prepared as part of an initial baseline assessment of environmental effects (including landscape, archaeological, cultural and ecological effects) and engineering/cost constraints within the ‘area of influence’ shown on the ARUP plan encompassing a broad area of influence (Figure 1). A Southern Runway option, involving construction of a runway entirely on land reclaimed from the Manukau Harbour is also being considered as part of the environmental baseline study (Figure 1). The southern area of influence incorporating access and related infrastructure also largely involves reclamation, with a small area of headland and Wiroa Island just to the south of the Existing Runway (Figure 1). The constraints identified will assist in the later assessment of environmental effects and the assessment of alternatives against the Project Objectives. Project The current proposal involves changes to earlier plans for the Designated Background Northern Runway, earthworks for part of which have already been carried out. Previous archaeological assessments for the Designated Northern Runway development (NRD) covered most of the proposed development area, and an intensive archaeological investigation was carried out by Campbell and Hudson (Campbell 2011; Hudson 2011). The excavations of archaeological site R11/859 revealed a complex Maori habitation area along with a large number of burials at the western end of the Designated Northern Runway. Earthworks for the Designated Northern Runway path were also monitored by Campbell and Hudson (ibid.) and a number of middens near site R11/859 and along a stream were recorded and excavated. The new proposal includes most of the original area of the Designated Northern Runway, but extends the area of influence to the north as well as potentially both farther east and west (Figure 1). No archaeological investigation has been carried out within the area of influence of the southern runway option (Figure 1), although a number of archaeological sites have been recorded there. Continued on next page Clough & Associates Ltd Page 3 Auckland International Airport Northern Runway INTRODUCTION, CONTINUED Project This desktop assessment reviews the previous archaeological assessments Background, undertaken in the area and identifies the likely archaeological effects and risks continued associated with the new proposal. Methodology The New Zealand Archaeological Association’s (NZAA) Site Recording Scheme (SRS) (accessed via Archsite (www.archsite.org.nz),