Two companies have been asked to pay $15,000 after damaging archaeological artifacts during earthworks at a Tauranga site.
An Auckland-based company, Neil Construction, and Tauranga-based S&L Consultants pleaded guilty to damaging an archaeological site in Pyes Pa without an "archaeological authority".
Judge Thomas Ingram yesterday convicted and discharged the two companies when they appeared in the Tauranga District Court, on the basis that they each paid a donation of $7500 to the Historic Places Trust.
The lower northern regional archaeologist for the trust, Dr Rachel Darmody, said the damage occurred in March when the companies resumed work on the Plateau Heights subdivision development on Quail Court, Pyes Pa, without the necessary consent.
Part of the planning advice given to the developer was that it was a significant historical site and builders would need to apply for an archaeological authority before work was carried out, she said.