20 Boffa Miskell Ltd | Waihi North Project| Landscape and Visual Effects | pasture and/or native vegetation to become assimilated within the surrounding land cover and rural land use. Supporting facilities and buildings will be required as part of the project and these areas have been concentrated in the vicinity of the proposed portal and WRS to maintain operational efficiencies and minimise the overall footprint of disturbance within the Willows Road site. Where practicable, areas of flatter, low-lying land have been utilised to provide areas for these facilities, particularly to the east of the main access road along terracing above the Mataura Stream. An area for private carparking has also been proposed to the west of the main access road which will require some localised benching and associated bunds to accommodate this within the lower flanks of the rising topography. Outside of the more concentrated modification to the landform in the vicinity of the WRS and proximate surface infrastructure, disturbance is proposed to facilitate explosive magazines and a vent shaft in the west and north-west area of the Willows Road site respectively. This modification will result in localised effects to prepare the ground for these elements. The remaining Willows Road site will retain a mosaic of working rural areas with fencing and access tracks alongside pockets of reinforced native regeneration which assist with integrating landform disturbance within the site. 6.2.2 Vegetation Consideration has been made to retain as much existing vegetation as practicable during implementation and to restore vegetation loss during and following operation. During implementation, a small number of individual trees and tree groups will be removed to accommodate the main area of surface infrastructure, located in the low-lying areas of the Willows Road site. In addition, most of the existing riparian vegetation along the upper section of Unnamed Tributary 2 is proposed to be removed to accommodate the footprint of the WRS. This section of the water course does not currently support substantial areas of native vegetation given established grazing when compared to the lower section of this tributary which will be retained. Beyond this disturbance, several existing exotic shelterbelts, hedges and many standalone trees and tree groups within the pastural areas of Willows Road site will be retained. In the immediate vicinity of the project, native vegetation within the majority of Unnamed Tributary 1 and the lower section of Unnamed Tributary 2 described above will be retained. Such vegetation will be fenced and enhanced as part of the project through supplementary planting. Moreover, further substantial riparian planting will be provided along tributaries to the south of the main operation area, which will connect to the Mataura Stream and assist with visual screening of the surface infrastructure from neighbouring residents. The removal of riparian vegetation resulting from surface infrastructure within Willows Road is proposed to be offset by enhancing a sub-catchment to the north within the Willows Road site (Tributary 3). This will entail fencing off the tributaries to prevent stock access in addition to riparian planting of at least 10 metres in width and the establishment of wetland species in small floodplain areas within the catchment. Given the relatively limited vegetation clearance within the Willows Road site alongside the considerable amount of native restoration planting proposed, it is considered that there will only be very limited temporary adverse effects of construction activity on landcover. Such effects will ultimately become neutral and then beneficial as planting identified on the integrated mitigation plan becomes established. In addition to the above, a substantial amount of additional riparian planting is proposed along the margins of the Mataura Stream which extends into adjoining land. As the stream effectively forms part of the eastern boundary of the operation area within the site and improvements can readily be made to the quality of this riparian margin as a result of this localised change in land use, this recognises an opportunity to meaningfully enhance connectivity along the Mataura
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