Mandatory archaeological investigations are likely to increase the cost of all Dunedin City Council projects, a Dunedin City Council manager says.
The planned Mediterranean garden at the Botanic Garden has received an archaeological authority from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, after the project was held up recently when an archaeological investigation was required on the basis there may once have been a house on the site.
Developers of the garden criticised the trust over the matter, claiming it was holding up the project.
The trust said it had a statutory responsibility to administer the archaeological authority process.
Council community and recreation services manager Mick Reece said an archaeological authority for the garden had been received, but the council was getting legal advice on its implications.
The authority had conditions including that an archaeologist had to monitor the work, and that contractors would need training.
The council needed to know whether an archaeologist had to be on the site all the time, and the cost implications for future projects.
Mr Reece said the trust was telling the council it had to uphold legislation, and the council had to consider what that meant for all projects it undertook, including work in the town belt and other areas.
"We need to make sure we're complying with the rules, and we better get those rules straight," he said.
The relationship between the trust and the council has been strained recently, with the council also critical of the trust's proposal to register Carisbrook and the Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute building in the Octagon, as category one historic places.
