Lord of the bay: Sir Peter Jackson's Hollywood ending for acrimonious land battle

Saturday, 2 September 2023

What could have been. The proposed Shelly Bay development.

A charming corner of Wellington – and one of the city’s most valuable pieces of real estate – will be restored to its natural coastal beauty by filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson after plans to build hundreds of homes were scrapped.

For more than 20 years, a tug of war was fought over the future development of Shelly Bay. The tussle ensnared iwi, local politicians, property baron Ian Cassels, and Jackson, saw a 525-day land occupation and even altered the course of a mayoralty race.

After a quagmire of legal challenges slowed the $500m project, ground was finally broken early this year. Just over eight months later – and after a devastating arson saw parts of the Miramar peninsula closed to residents – Cassels has waved a white flag.

He and Jackson – who publicly traded blows over the development for years – had struck a deal, they announced Friday.

The Lord of the Rings director, and partner Fran Walsh – high-profile opponents of the development – bought the land for an undisclosed sum after being approached by Cassels a few weeks ago.

Pointing to economic headwinds, The Wellington Company developer said he was walking away with mixed emotions.

The movie moguls intend to “sympathetically” restore the remaining two buildings left on the site, with minimal impact on the environment. They described a “wonderful coastline that holds a great deal of cultural and historical significance”.

There are no plans to build a film museum on the site, long known to be an aspiration of Jackson’s. But they hope John and Penny Pennington, owners of the much-loved Chocolate Fish café, will return after the fire forced them out.

After shifting his stance on the development, Andy Foster announced his mayoral run at Shelly Bay. Sir Peter Jackson was there to support him.

“Our immediate goal is to start the landscaping and replanting work required to return Shelly Bay to its natural state,” Jackson and Walsh said in a statement. “Longer term, we’re keen to look at ways it could be used for both arts and recreation.”

There was a mixed reaction to the sale.

Shamia Makarini, of opposition group Mau Whenua, said she was pleased after what had been an exhausting fight. “Part of our kaupapa is to be good kaitiaki, so we are obviously supportive of all actions that help with the environment and the coastline.

“It’s still early days. So, we're just going to have those conversations [with Jackson and Walsh].”

There was jubilation in the Miramar Peninsula/Te Motu Kairangi community Facebook page, with administrators planning to organise a “thank you” card.

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau expressed surprise – and disappointment – at the sale. “I was looking forward to more affordable housing.” But a recreation area would also be positive, she added.

A suspicious fire in June proved a setback to the planned work.

National’s housing spokesperson MP Chris Bishop said the city’s housing crisis “just got worse”, in reaction to the sale.

For more than a century, the country’s defence forces had the area to themselves, as a navy and then air force base. They left in 1995 and the buildings lay empty for almost a decade.

Disposal of the land was held up because of an acrimonious wrangle between Wellington City Council and Wellington Regional Council over ownership of a strip of land lining the waterfront.

Once the dispute was settled in favour of the city council, it cleared the way for decisions. Developers were salivating over the potential for the sheltered, sun-trap nestled snugly in the forested slopes of Mt Crawford and only 8km from the city centre.

Mau Whenua leader Catherine Love at the Shelly Bay occupation, which lasted more than 500 days.

There was talk of boutique hotels, expensive housing developments, a mix of cafes and galleries, and a revival of marine industries around the bay’s historic wharves.

But the site was still subject to Treaty of Waitangi claims. The bay, like much of Wellington, had been sold to the New Zealand Company in 1839.

In 2009, it was one of several sites offered back as part of a $25 million settlement to Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika. That deal included the right to buy Shelly Bay – and it was sold to the iwi’s business arm, The Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, for around $16m.

Many buildings had fallen into decay and the wharf was rotting. Some community leaders wanted the site redeveloped – others wanted to see it turned into a park.

By 2014, Cassels had signed a lease with the trust, with ambitious plans to turn it into a South Pacific version of Sausalito – a hip enclave near San Francisco.

A Submarine and Torpedo Mining Corps annual camp in Shelly Bay, circa 1899.

Over a series of deals, most of the land was eventually sold to Cassels. The council held on to its adjoining, seaside land.

Cassels planned a rest home, boutique hotel, 280 apartments, 58 townhouses and 14 houses. There was potential for a community centre, micro-brewery, restaurant, cafe, artist's studio, gym, childcare, medical centre – and a downtown ferry link.

Lobby group Enterprise Miramar opposed the decision, citing worries about traffic congestion, kicking off a series of court battles.

Shelly Bay pictured before the fire that devastated the saw-tooth building in the foreground.

Jackson became one of the most vocal critics, also threatening legal action and predicting an “ugly” fight. “The [council] are doing anything they can to assist a private developer, which plans to dump a lot of Soviet-style apartment blocks on a beautiful part of Wellington's coastline,” he said in 2019.

A parallel fight ran with Mau Whenua, a group of Taranaki Whānui members concerned about the 2017 sale of a parcel of land to Cassels at $2m – less than the iwi had paid for it.

They later opposed selling off more land in 2019 – and went to court, ultimately losing. A year later, Mau Whenua began erecting tents in the bay, an occupation that would last almost two years, despite an eviction notice.

Because the development relied on the sale of the council’s land – itself a contentious process – local body politicians became embroiled in the controversy.

Andy Foster, who won the 2019 mayoralty by ousting one-term incumbent Justin Lester, was accused of being Jackson’s “puppet” after companies linked to the star donated $30,000 to his campaign.

Ultimately, Foster’s opposition was meaningless: in November 2020 councillors voted in favour of the sale and work started this year.

But that was stalled by the suspicious fire that destroyed the distinctive saw-tooth Shed 8 building. The council was forced to throw an exclusion zone around the area while deadly asbestos was removed – a process that was expected to be completed this month.

Cassels said the decision to sell was not an easy one. “It’s been an incredibly challenging project on multiple fronts with years of conjecture.”

He would refocus on affordable housing initiatives, “which to me is ultimately more important,” he said. “We genuinely wish Peter and Fran all the best moving forward with their plans for the bay.”