Maori site under threat

"Irreplaceable" 700-year-old Maori ruins of national importance in South Wairarapa may be developed into a residential subdivision - upsetting archaeologists who demand the entire area be preserved.
Waiwhero, about 2km north of Ngawi, containing well-preserved examples of 14th-century Maori gardens and a battle site sacred to local iwi, is the site of a planned subdivision into four houses.
The proposal, undergoing resource consent with the South Wairarapa District Council would replace a fish-processing plant on one part of the site with four residential sections.
The council proposes strict conditions on the development, including monitoring by an archaeologist, but experts warn site-by-site protection is not enough.
Otago University archaeology professor Helen Leach, who has written extensively about the area, said the site is one of the most prominent examples of Polynesian stonewall gardening systems in New Zealand and is irreplaceable.
"It makes my blood boil, to be quite honest."
She said people had taken the sites for granted. "There are not many sites like these in New Zealand. Waiwhero is in good order and visible for people to see.
"The beauty of these things is in the extent of them. The pattern is everything. It's information about how humans behaved.
"Those things are incredibly vulnerable. And housing is so disruptive. If there's a little bit of it in someone's backyard and a little bit in someone else's there's no point."
A 2006 Department of Conservation report says Waiwhero and the surrounding area of Palliser Bay have extraordinary historical value.
"The sites are largely intact and many are well mapped. Terraces, middens and living structures exist within the gardens. These sites are, therefore, a relict archaeological landscape, primarily because they collectively capture an economy at a defined period in time.
"As such, their importance cannot be understated."
Kahungunu ki Wairarapa resource consent officer Haami Te Whaiti said Waiwhero was the site of an important battle in the iwi's history.
Waiwhero ("red water") referred to a stream immediately to the south that was stained with blood after a battle between hapu.
Carbon dating from the area indicated settlement as early as the 12th century, and stone rows from the garden settlements are visible throughout the coastal block.
The iwi was asking for a qualified archaeologist to monitor all earthworks on the site to prevent damage to artifacts both on and below the surface.
The artifacts represented the iwi's heritage and were a source of their identity, Mr Te Whaiti said.
Property Brokers rural real estate consultant John Stephen, who bought the property in 2005, said he was not made aware of the archaeological value of the land until late in the resource consent application process and said the area was already highly developed.
But he was prepared to abide by the proposed conditions on the resource consent. "For us it's important. We are willing to have conditions imposed on us to limit any further disturbance."
Applicants should be more forewarned about such issues, he said. "As you go along it seems that more and more information is required.
"When an applicant first goes to council he should be given a full brief of everything required."
South Wairarapa District Council senior planner Chris Gorman said subdivisions along coastal areas could be seen as an opportunity to improve the protection of heritage areas.
A developer could be required to build fences or carry out other measures to protect a site as a requirement for consent, he said.
"The motivation to do the work is increased because they won't get their title otherwise."
A decision to preserve all archaeological sites along the coast would be something for iwi to decide, Mr Gorman said.
The council was disallowed from giving out details of archaeological sites to the public in order to prevent people tampering with sacred sites, he said. "I guess the lesson is anyone on the coast better make sure they get a hold of a iwi representative or someone on the Maori Standing Committee before they get too far down the track."