Stone artefacts were discovered at the southern end of the Dunsborough oval in May, which forced a stragetic section of the development to be closed down under the Aboriginal Heritage Act.

The closed section contains the important infrastructure of the site, which includes the underground power, water supply and the reticulation pump house and pipelines, which are crucial to laying the turf on the new oval.

Work cannot resume on the closed section until all conditions of Section 18 of the Act are fulfilled.

They include:

• Full salvage of the site by archaeological excavation.

• Site analysis and sequencing.

• A full report to the Department of Indigenous Affairs.

The original planned completion date for the project was Februrary, however Shire of Busselton infrastructure services manager Jason Vaughan told the Mail that the shire could not predict when work would finish.

Local Aboriginal families have nominated an archaeologist to conduct a full excavation at the site.

Though the dig is expected to start this month and take two weeks, if Aboriginal remains are found it could delay the redevelopment.

Mr Vaughan said: “In simple terms no turf can be laid on the oval until the reticulation system and the pump house have been finished.

“Many changes have been made to the construction program to continue working in areas unaffected by the discovery of the artefacts.

“Shire work crews are currently busy establishing the internal road network, storm water drainage system, netball courts, site power upgrades and lighting towers (on the old oval).

“By making these changes the shire has been able to offset some of the time delays, however it is unlikely the oval will be ready for use by the planned date.

“An accurate completion date will not be known until after the required archaeological excavation takes place.”