Path illegally carved into pā site on Auckland mountain to be removed

Thursday, 8 November 2018

Mystery still surrounds the midnight path cutters who also planted feijoa trees on a pā site on a south Auckland maunga.

There are still no answers to who carved a mysterious, and illegal, 20-metre path through a pā site on a south Auckland maunga.

A walkway and planted feijoa trees were discovered at the ancient archaeological site along Ōtāhuhu/Mt Richmond on October 11.

While the feijoa trees have been removed, fixing the path damage won't be straight forward, a Tūpuna Maunga Authority representative said.

'It's not necessarily as simple as adding soil and grass-seed, and a key priority for any remediation approach is to avoid further ground disturbance,' Tūpuna Maunga Authority's Nick Turoa said.

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'Right now the area is fenced off to deter people from walking on the damaged surface and making it worse.'

The Authority was working with an archaeologist to look at options for repairing the damage.

Turoa said despite several attempts, the vandals have not been found.

'We have reported the incident to police, Heritage New Zealand and the Auckland Council compliance team,' Turoa said.

'Leaseholders, contractors, and local residents have been asked to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity on the maunga.

'Signage is on-site asking people to contact us if they have any information related to the damage.'

Turora said the path could be for a walking or mountain biking track.

The site was one of the few intact remnants from when the maunga was a pā, or fortified village. The path was carved through a previously undisturbed midden site of ancient seashell deposits.

Causing damage to the site was a prosecutable offence under the Reserves Act 1977 and the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, a Tūpuna Maunga Authority spokesman previously said.