Since late June 2016, Niche Environment and Heritage’s Far North Queensland team has been engaged to provide cultural heritage capacity to the local Transport and Main Roads (TMR) office. This has included large and small-scale land and marine projects. Significant projects to date include Stage 2 of the Cairns Southern Access (CSA) Project and the Safer Roads Sooner suite of projects.

Skeletal remains were identified during cultural heritage monitoring of the CSA project. Niche was instrumental in managing the process on behalf of TMR which including liaising with the local Aboriginal Party, the local Police department, DATSIP and the Coroner’s Office. The remains were determined to be animal in origin.

The Safer Roads Sooner suite of projects includes a large number of small-scale projects located throughout the Tablelands region and greater Cairns area. Niche heritage consultants completed a Cultural Heritage Risk Assessment for each of these projects. A number of the Safer Roads Sooner projects were identified as having a high cultural heritage risk owing to their proximity to significant land forms or previously identified cultural heritage sites. As a result of the risk identified, further cultural heritage work will be undertaken in those locations.

The length and variety of work included in the contract has allowed Niche consultants to develop significant relationships within TMR and helped us to achieve the major goal of engaging and working within our local Cairns community.

To find out more about our archaeology and heritage management services click here or contact us.