Peter Jackson's movie museum plans with Wellington City Council canned

Sirt Peter Jackson and Wellington City Council have "mutually agreed to part ways". Photo / Mark Mitchell

Plans have been scrapped for director Peter Jackson and Wellington City Council to work together on a movie museum and convention centre.

The council is now forging ahead with its own convention centre plans, which it wants to start by next year.

The project with Jackson seems to have fallen apart because of money, although both sides said it was a "mutually-agreed parting of the ways".

In a joint statement, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Richard Taylor, and Tania Rodger said the decision came after all involved had tried their best.

"The economics of the Cable St location proved to be a challenge for the movie museum.

"We remain committed to the creation of a Movie Museum in Wellington and will now be considering other options."

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said the decision came after a series of meetings and correspondence between the two sides, and they'd given the joint project their best shot.

He said it eventually became clear that the movie museum and convention centre would be better as two separate projects.

Lester said they hoped to break ground on the convention centre by next year.

"This will be a welcome development for Wellington's business, hospitality and accommodation sectors as it will mean the city will be equipped to host larger conferences and conventions."

The Maui-inspired convention centre and movie museum was planned for opposite Te Papa on Cable St, Wellington.

The new convention centre is expected to include a 1500m2 exhibition space, with the council currently in talks with Te Papa about a partnership for the operation of the space.

The Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda) is welcoming the news, warning that any further delay to the convention centre would have been a lost opportunity for the capital city.

CEO Lance Walker said Wellington was currently missing out on conference events because it didn't have a centre big enough for large conferences.

"If we don't press go now, the simple fact is we'll keep missing out and with it the substantial economic benefit that comes from these types of events.

"We need to remain competitive and attractive in the lucrative business events market.

"Auckland and Christchurch are both building new impressive facilities so whilst Wellington is currently second in New Zealand's business events market, with $140m of spending injected last year to the economy, that would be under threat without a purpose-built convention centre.

"But it's also an opportunity to grow our economy. We expect an estimated additional $31m of economic benefit per year to come with this new venue from the convention business alone.

"Business event visitors are also more valuable than regular tourists, spending longer in the region and spending more."

Walker said the new exhibition space would also be useful, as large-scale touring exhibitions were an increasingly popular global trend.

Wellington City Council said it would lodge the convention centre resource consent in the coming months.