VALUABLE Highlands history could end up as landfill with construction work set to continue at the Aldi supermarket site at Mittagong.
A NSW Department of Planning announcement last week that work will continue on the Aldi Foods Supermarket site at Highlands Marketplace, despite the discovery of what could be more of the Fitz Roy Iron Works, has alarmed historians Tim McCartney and Leah Day.
The pair worked with Woolworths when they first discovered the remnants of some of the iron works in 2005 and helped create the archaeological display of the iron works in the Highlands Marketplace carpark.
Mr McCarteney and Ms Day are worried that the Department’s statement that the relics found were “ancillary to the operation of the iron works and are considered to be of local heritage significance only” will mean valuable historical artefacts could end up at the dump.
Builders on the Aldi site discovered two large drainage channels, two sets of track lines and a posthole in late February.
Work stopped on the site in late February after the initial relics were found in the northwest corner of the site.
An Aldi spokeswoman said now that they had the all clear from the Department of Planning, construction would resume this month.
A Department of Planning spokesman said an application by Aldi to conduct an evaluation on the site was approved last week.
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The permit allows for the archaeological excavation, recording and removal of any relics remaining at the Aldi Site. That work will ensure that relevant information is recovered for the purpose of identification and record keeping,” the spokesman said.
Aldi said the discoveries were made during the bulk excavation works for construction, which took place under the supervision of an archaeologist.
“During this process we uncovered some footings, the discovery of which we immediately reported to the Heritage Council of NSW,” Aldi said.
“The excavation (of relics) will be overseen by an archaeologist and is expected to take four to five days and anything recovered will be catalogued for interpretation and future display.
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The excavation will take place in a small section of the site and the main building will commence as planned towards the end of April.”
The department said that because a portion of the iron works had been preserved in the Marketplace carpark, a permanent reminder of the history of the area had been maintained.
But Mr McCartney and Ms Day say it’s impossible to ascertain if the relics found hold heritage value unless a full archaeological dig is undertaken.
“Our primary source research indicates that there were at least three distinctive sites that comprised the iron works,” Ms Day said.
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The first was removed from swampy ground to higher land, the rolling mill site (now at Woolworths) and the blast furnace site (at the Iron Mines Cairn).
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The Aldi site relics may complement these two sites and prove to be of significant archaeological interest and benefit in establishing the history of the total site.
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We are hoping that a full archaeological excavation will be undertaken on the Aldi site so that a more thorough understanding of the first iron works in Australia will be revealed.”
Mr McCartney inspected the site in late February and said there was clear evidence of the footings of structures there. He said the brickworks and the original site of the iron works have never been found and could be lying under the Aldi site.
Australia’s first iron works was built in 1848 and operated until the 1890s.
The site not only has local and state heritage significance but national significance as well.
Ms Day contacted Wingecarribee council with her concerns after talking to Aldi’s heritage consultants Godden McKay Logan and the Heritage Office in the Department of Planning, but said the council appeared to know nothing about the discoveries until late last week
“We are unsatisfied with the response from the Heritage Office,” Mr McCartney said.
“This is what the Heritage Office thinks of our heritage. It’s a disgrace.”
Part of Aldi’s development application states that if relics of the iron works were found and the heritage office decides they were of significance the development must be scaled back to preserve the items.
Woolworths spent $3.5 million preserving the part of the iron works they discovered, but with a recession looming Aldi probably aren’t looking to add a few extra million dollars to their construction budget.
Mr McCartney and Ms Day have been researching Mittagong history for the last 20 years and want to know how any relics found while construction went on would be recorded and stored.
The pair is currently writing a book on the history of Mittagong and the discovery of the iron works in 2005 has become the centrepiece of their work. While they have a vested interest in uncovering the site they said they had encountered a “flippant attitude” from Aldi’s archaeologists and the NSW Heritage Office.
Ms Day said when she spoke to Aldi’s archaeologist she admitted Ms Day knew more about the site than she did.
The historians said a lot of their research used by Aldi’s heritage consultants was lifted straight from the information they gave to Woolworths to use and no additional research had been done on the area where the latest discoveries were made.
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