Green light for Shelly Bay redevelopment after council voted 9-6 in favor

Wellington city councilors have given the green light to the controversial Shelly Bay redevelopment, voting 9-6 after an eight-hour marathon session in favor of allowing the project to continue.

The decision comes as a blow to Wellington Mayor Andy Foster, who focused his election campaign last year on halting the $ 500 million development on the Miramar Peninsula, and to the movie mogul and Sir Peter Jackson, who I support it.

Foster last night called the decision “sad” and “flying against the majority of Wellingtons.” He reiterated his preference for two ongoing legal challenges to be resolved before the council calls for the sale of the land.

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It is the second time that councilors have voted to sell the land. A decision in favor of 2017 was put to another vote after Enterprise Miramar, a local business association, challenged a resource consent.

Wednesday night’s vote followed hours of heated public appearances, during which several protesters opposed to the development interrupted speakers and were expelled for repeatedly shouting from the public gallery.

The decision means that the council will sell 0.3 hectares of land and lease another 0.6 hectares for development, which is a joint venture between the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, representing local iwi Taranaki Whānui, and the developer’s The Wellington Company. Ian Cassels.

But the vote does not mean that the project is completely clear. It remains the subject of two separate legal challenges, which could affect final plans.

However, that was not enough for councilors to decide not to sell their land for the project, which would dramatically transform disused Air Force lands into a privileged oceanfront area of ​​the peninsula and create 350 new homes.

Joining Foster in opposing the sale were Deputy Mayor Sarah Free and Councilors Iona Pannett, Sean Rush, Malcolm Sparrow and Simon Woolf.

Foster told councilors shortly before the vote, and after the debate, that he was “disappointed with where some of you have landed.”

“There aren’t many things I’m going to lose sleep over, but this has definitely been one of them,” he said. “There is a lot of passion and a lot of excitement … and I suspect we will be flying against the majority of Wellingtons with the decision that I hope we are about to make.”

But Councilmember Jill Day said it was imperative that the council vote in favor of the sale to honor the commitment it made in 2017.

“Our leadership here today will demonstrate whether we are a city open to business or a city that blazes trails with traps,” he said. “How are people going to have the confidence to do business with us?”

The courts are reviewing the council’s decision in 2017 to grant resource consent for the project, while a separate legal battle is ongoing between Mau Whenua and Taranaki Whānui over the sale of the iwi land proposed for development.

Mau Whenua is a group of Taranaki Whānui members who oppose the sale of iwi land in Shelly Bay.

Jamie Tuuta, Trustee of the Port Nicholson Trust, said the development was a key part of the wider Miramar Peninsula, which also included the Watts Peninsula and Mount Crawford.

“We see an opportunity for Taranaki Whānui at Motu Kairangi [Miramar Peninsula] in terms of expanding not only our cultural footprint, but also the opportunities around tidal development, around cultural centers, around being able to tell those layers of history in that story related to Motu Kairangi, ”he said. “Second, there are potential opportunities around affordable housing.”

The councilors who voted for the sale were Day, Diane Calvert, Jenny Condie, Fleur Fitzsimons, Laurie Foon, Rebecca Matthews, Teri O’Neill, Tamatha Paul and Nicola Young.