B-7 – Area 7 - Assessment of Environmental Effects 21 Road. It is also an alternative to the Baxter Road access when the Ohinemuri River floods, preventing access via Baxter Road. Clarke Street is used infrequently for over-weight or over-dimension vehicles. It is also used by members of the Black Hill Motocross Club (discussed later). Two access gates off Golden Valley Road east of Moore Street are used infrequently for monitoring or exploratory work, or for over-dimension loads. An unformed ‘paper’ road extends into Area 7 from 131 Trig Road North. OGNZL is in discussions with HDC around the prospect of stopping this road. 2.9 NOISE The noise environment is described in Marshall Day (2022), a copy of which is provided in Part H of these application documents. Daytime noise in Waihi is typical of a small town. Ambient noise levels are from 43dB to 50dB LAeq, varying with proximity to the town centre and to local roads. Background noise levels reduce markedly at night, by 5 to 15 decibels. The largest contributor to noise in Waihi is local traffic on State Highway 25 (“SH25”). Background noise in the rural area around Waihi is generally lower than in town during the day, but is slightly higher than in town during the night. This is attributed to night-time traffic on SH2 and SH25 raising background noise levels in the rural hinterland. 2.10 HISTORIC HERITAGE The historic heritage values of the area are described in Clough (2022), a copy of which is provided in Part H of these application documents. A survey of the TSF3 site in June 2020 did not identify any archaeological or other historic heritage sites. Clough (2022) concludes that “…it is highly unlikely that old underground workings exist in this area, or any other features associated with historical mining activity”. 2.11 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY The terrestrial ecology values attributed to Area 7 are described in Bioresearches (2022), a copy of which is provided in Part H of these application documents. TSF3 encroaches into the southern unit of SNA166, which is a 57-hectare vegetated ridge (see Figure 12). The encroachment will displace some 4.5 ha of rewarewa scrub and six hectares of tree fern scrub within SNA166. The TSF3 footprint outside SNA166 will encroach over 1.2 ha of scrub and pōhutukawa, 0.4 ha of tree fern scrub and 0.3 ha of planted vegetation.
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