For Immediate Release: 17 October 2016

New Find Questions Validity of Fletcher’s Report on Ihumātao

A new archaeological discovery on controversial land at Ihumātao, designated as Special Housing Area 62, calls into question the adequacy and conclusions of a Fletcher’s report presented to Council consent hearings in February 2016.

Fletchers commissioned an archaeological survey on the block for their consent application. The 165 page report concluded that the only feature of archaeological interest worth protecting was the concrete farm house built in 1906.

But newly discovered shell midden and fire remains found just last week, tell a different story. Archaeologist Dave Veart identified the midden as culturally significant.

Midden is a word archaeologists use to describe old rubbish. They can tell us about diet, environment and dates.

"They are time capsules that give us important glimpses of the past, so they are very important rubbish!” exclaims Veart.

Waimarie McFarland of Ihumatao, and SOUL, reinforced the importance of the find. “This is a sign from our tupuna that we must carry on fighting to protect Ihumatao from development. It confirms what I’ve always known and believed; that the wahi tapu aspect of the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve extends into the land now known as SHA 62. The Environment Court was provided evidence of this notion years ago, when the current owners sought to have the land rezoned for future urban development.”

The midden discovery highlights other concerns. “Fletchers have employed a number of expert archaeologists but none of them identified this midden site on the side of the road. How could they miss something like this?”

The archaeological report commissioned by Fletchers concluded that bulldozing by the developer would discover and disturb very little of archaeological value on the SHA62 site. "Only one midden was found and that had been spread by repeated ploughing. It is expected not a great number of sites will be discovered during the earthworks phase,” the report stated.

However, the midden discovered last week is different from the one named in the commissioned report and is located in the middle of the SHA area. What other archaeological finds may there be and, is bulldozing the best way to unearth them?

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Background information
• Ihumātao is near Auckland International Airport, the gateway to New Zealand and is one of the places where the first Polynesians settled in New Zealand over 800 years ago.
• Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL; www.soulstopsha.org) are contesting the establishment of a low density, high-priced housing estate by Fletcher Building under the Special Housing Area legislation.
• The struggle for this land began when George Grey issued a proclamation on 9 July 1863. The proclamation demanded that manawhenua swear allegiance to Queen Victoria or withdraw into the Waikato beyond the Mangatawhiri Stream on pain of forced eviction. When the land was emptied it was handed to the "Waste Lands Office" for survey and sale. The two blocks now designated as Special Housing Area 62 (which Fletchers has provisionally purchased) were transferred to Gavin Struthers Wallace by Crown Grant on 28th December 1867. His descendants, the current “owners”, have pursued the SHA zoning with Fletcher’s support.
• At issue is the continuity between the Ihumātao papakainga surrounding Makarau Marae and Otuataua Stonefields Reserve. The housing development will destroy the link between the papakainga and the sacred mountain Te Puketaapapatanga a Hape, by building 480 unaffordable houses on the 32 hectares of land.
• Other special archaeological, geological and historical features will be lost if this development goes ahead, along with precious green space.

3-4 February 2016 – A Council Hearing held in Manukau is conducted by an Independent Panel of Commissioners to hear Fletcher’s application to re-zone land at Ihumātao for the development of SHA 62. Adjacent landowners and their expert advisors make oral submissions in opposition to the rezoning of the Ihumātao.

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