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Iwi members fighting to reverse the Shelly Bay land sale have taken a “severe blow” after a major funder linked to the film industry withdrew $ 2 million that was financing their legal battle.
Mau Whenua, a group coming from Taranaki Whānui members who did not support the sale of the land, said in a statement Thursday that it was exploring alternative options to raise about $ 2.2 million to pursue the case, but cautioned that it may not can continue
The land was sold to Ian Cassels of The Wellington Company, who has plans for a $ 500 million development that will have 350 apartments and townhomes, and a ferry terminal at the former Air Force base on the Miramar Peninsula.
Mau Whenua member Dr. Catherine Love said that the “effects of Covid-19 on the film industry” and other difficult decisions had impacted her fans.
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Miramar resident and film director Sir Peter Jackson is a known opponent of the Shelly Bay development.
It is understood that Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh, in court documents, agreed to take over a considerable portion of the legal bills in the Mau Whenua court case.
In July 2019, the group filed documents in hopes of reversing a previous sale of the Port Nicholson Settlement Block Trust (PNBST) land in Shelly Bay in Wellington High Court. The court case was scheduled for March 2021.
The funding would cease on December 18, which was a “severe blow” to the case, the group said.
If the funds could not be raised, the case could not go to Superior Court.
FELIX DESMARAIS / Things
The controversy surrounding Shelly Bay has continued. (File photo)
The case challenged the legality of the land parcel sales made by the settlement trustees.
PNBST, which was established by iwi to receive and administer the Treaty settlement, sold three of the four parcels of land to Shelly Bay Investments, a company run by Cassels, for $ 2 million in 2017.
The latter was reportedly sold for $ 10 million.
The council originally granted unnotified resource consent for the $ 500 million development, but the uproar that followed prompted independent commissioners to reconsider.
After months of deliberation, consent was granted.
Supplied
An image posted on March 28, 2019 of the proposed development in Shelly Bay.
The latest plans show houses, all of different styles, along with a combination of green spaces and places where people can shop and eat.
The council voted in 2017 to sell and lease its land to developers and iwi. A second vote took place in November 2020 and was approved.
However, the council’s land deal meant Cassels could promise that development would start soon, though he later said Things this would not mean immediate physical jobs.
Ross Giblin / Stuff
Anaru Mepham, a member of Mau Whenua, has been in Shelly Bay since the day after the council vote. (File photo)
The day after the council vote, Anaru Mepham of Mau Whenua packed up her truck and drove to Shelly Bay, where she said she would wait until the planned Superior Court case.
Mepham said the group will continue to fight for “social and environmental injustices” and “we will continue to fight for Maori land to remain in Maori hands.”
