Appendix V Aboriginal heritage assessment WestConnex Delivery Authority WestConnex M4 East Aboriginal Heritage Assessment September 2015 Prepared for WestConnex Delivery Authority Prepared by AECOM Australia © WestConnext Delivery Authority The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of WestConnex Delivery Authority. You must not reproduce any part of this document without the prior written approval of WestConnex Delivery Authority. Document controls Title WestConnex M4 East Aboriginal Heritage Assessment Approval and authorisation Prepared by: AECOM Australia Pty Ltd Authorised by, Jay Stricker AECOM Australia Pty Industry Director – Transport Limited: Signed: Date 3 September 2015 Location File name AECOM Project Folder M4 East_Aboriginal Heritage Report_Final_V2 Rev 3_Tracked_150903.docx Document status Date Final for Exhibition 3 September 2015 WestConnex M4 East WestConnex Delivery Authority Aboriginal Heritage Assessment Contents Glossary of terms and abbreviations ......................................................................................................iii Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. v 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview of the project ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Project location .............................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Secretary’s environmental assessment requirements .................................................. 4 1.4 Study area and investigation areas ............................................................................... 4 1.5 Purpose of this report .................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Project team .................................................................................................................. 5 2 Proposed project ........................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Project features ............................................................................................................. 6 2.2 Construction activities ................................................................................................... 7 3 Legislative considerations ........................................................................................... 11 3.1 NSW legislation ........................................................................................................... 11 3.2 Commonwealth legislation .......................................................................................... 12 4 Assessment methodology ........................................................................................... 14 4.1 Aboriginal community consultation ............................................................................. 14 4.2 Archaeological survey ................................................................................................. 14 5 Landscape context ...................................................................................................... 16 5.1 Landform and topography ........................................................................................... 16 5.2 Hydrology .................................................................................................................... 16 5.3 Geology and soils ........................................................................................................ 16 5.4 Flora and fauna ........................................................................................................... 17 5.5 Land use ..................................................................................................................... 17 5.6 Key observations ......................................................................................................... 17 6 Ethnographic and archaeological context ................................................................... 19 6.1 Regional archaeological context ................................................................................. 19 6.2 Key observations ......................................................................................................... 26 6.3 Ethnohistoric context ................................................................................................... 27 6.4 Local context ............................................................................................................... 30 6.5 Aboriginal site predictions ........................................................................................... 35 6.6 Investigation areas ...................................................................................................... 35 7 Results ........................................................................................................................ 37 8 Constraints .................................................................................................................. 42 9 Summary of findings and recommendations .............................................................. 44 9.1 Summary of findings ................................................................................................... 44 9.2 Management recommendations ................................................................................. 44 9.3 Stage 3 PACHCI assessment ..................................................................................... 44 10 References .................................................................................................................. 45 Appendix A PACHCI Process ...........................................................................................................A Appendix B Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council Heritage Report .......................................B Appendix C AHIMS Search Results ................................................................................................ C WestConnex M4 East i WestConnex Delivery Authority Aboriginal Heritage Assessment Appendix D Site Photos ................................................................................................................... D Appendix E Rating Schemes ............................................................................................................E Figures Figure 1.1 Project location .............................................................................................................. 2 Figure 1.2 WestConnex .................................................................................................................. 3 Figure 2.1 Overview of the project ................................................................................................. 8 Figure 2.2 Overview of the construction footprint ......................................................................... 10 Figure 6.1 Aboriginal language group boundaries in the Sydney area (from Kohen 1993:241, Fig. 1) .................................................................................................................................... 29 Figure 6.2 Study area and AHIMS sites ....................................................................................... 32 Figure 8.1 Constraints map .......................................................................................................... 43 Tables Table 1-1 SEARs – Aboriginal heritage ........................................................................................ 4 Table 2.1 Indicative construction program overview ..................................................................... 9 Table 5-1 Likely plant resources prior to vegetation clearance ................................................... 17 Table 6-1 McCarthy’s (1967) Eastern Regional Sequence of stone artefact assemblages ....... 20 Table 6-2 Aboriginal site distribution and occupation models for the Cumberland Plain ............ 24 Table 6-3 AHIMS search results ................................................................................................. 31 Table 6-4 Previous archaeological investigations within 5 km of the study area ........................ 33 Table 7-1 Investigation area results ............................................................................................ 38 Plates Plate 1 Channelised and concrete/brick banked section of Saleyards Creek. ........................ D Plate 2 Highly modified, channelised and concrete-lined section of Powells Creek. ............... D Plate 3 Highly modified, channelised and concrete-lined section of Powells Creek. ............... D Plate 4 Channelised section of St Lukes Park Canal which discharges to Canada Bay. ....... D Plate 5 Highly modified, channelised and concrete-lined section of Dobroyd Canal (Iron Cove Creek). D Plate 6 Highly modified, channelised and concrete-lined section of Dobroyd Canal (Iron Cove Creek). D Plate 7 Recorded site location for AHIMS #45-6-2339 within Phillips Park in Lidcombe. ....... D Plate 8 Shell material and non-artefactual quartz located at registered AHIMS site #45-6- 2339. D Plate 9 Wetland area within Mason Park, off Underwood Road, Homebush. ......................... D Plate 10 Wetland area