Shell midden deposits on the flat immediately behind the waterskiing Beach may relate to a village or pa site on the ridge above, although there is no definite indication of this. Further investigation is required to assess the value of this area.

Disturbed shell midden deposits where the track from Anzac Bay to the waterskiing Beach crosses the main ridge between the two beaches. A bulldozed track or firebreak down the main ridge from this point has probably destroyed much of what appears to have been an undefended village or hamlet .¹¹⁴

Despite this report little effort would seem to have been made to avoid causing further damage to these sites. As recently as October 1993 more damage had been done to Te Kura a Maia, the first pa Davidson mentions in her report. The damage to this pa happened much in the way that Davidson had envisaged 20 years earlier:

You will remember our earlier discussions about minor earthworks carried out by one of your employees last summer on Bowentown Heads to provide easier and safer lawnmower access from one terrace to another. Any earthworks on an historic site are termed a modification under the Historic Places Act and accordingly require an authority from the Historic Places Trust. In this instance, the site works were carried out without Council instruction and so no Historic Places Trust Authority was applied for or obtained. The Reserves/Manager Planner was placed in an embarrassing position when queried by two archaeologists about the unauthorised earthworks.¹¹⁵

If there are other examples of wahi tapu being damaged by the domain development work this should be included in the claimants’ evidence to the Tribunal.

Sand Removal, Erosion and Planting

Prior to the passing of the Resource Management Act 1991 little thought seems to have been given to managing the natural resources of the domain in a sustainable way. The removal of sand from the domain is an example of failing ‘to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources.’¹¹⁶ The amounts of sand removed, where it was removed from, and by whom were not always certain. In the 1990s programmes such as the Project Crimson pohutakawa planting plan, and the local Maori pingao planting and harvesting initiative have tried to protect the sand dunes from the erosion process that has been exacerbated by sand extraction.

Starting in the 1960s the Katikati Domain Board issued permits authorising the removal of sand, by commercial operators, from the sand dunes.¹¹⁷ The objective, from the board’s perspective was not protection or conservation, but rather revenue gathering. The site for sand extraction was west of the camping ground (see figure 9) and for at least a 20 year period there were four officially sanctioned operators. It would also appear that other contractors were working other parts of the domain

¹¹⁴ Commissioner of Crown Lands to Secretary Katikati Domain Board, 12 July 1972, Katikati Domain Records, (WBoPDC) [pp 27-28]

¹¹⁵ Reserves Manager/Planner to Environmental Services Group, 27 October 1993, Katikati Domain Records, WBoPDC

¹¹⁶ cited in Heather Bassett, Rachel Steel, Dr David Williams, The Maori Land Legislation Manual: Te Puka Ako Hanganga Mo Nga Ture Whenua Maori, Crown Forestry Rental Trust, Wellington, 1995 update, p 488.1

¹¹⁷ Head Office Committee, Reserves, Application to Remove Sand from Katikati Domain, 30 July 1962, LS 3/2/40