About 1.7 hectares of land at Wellington’s Shelly Bay will be returned to Taranaki Whānui as construction on a housing development there finally gets underway, the Herald can reveal. Video / NZ Herald
About 1.7ha of land at Wellington’s Shelly Bay will be returned to Taranaki Whānui as construction on a housing development there finally gets underway, the Herald can reveal.
The $500 million development, featuring 350 new homes, has divided an iwi, caught the eye of a famous film-maker, and launched amayoral campaign.
But after years of unrest, everyone in the waka is paddling in the same direction.
Shelly Bay Taikuru development manager Earl Hope-Pearson said site-wide demolition was under way and construction of houses would start in early 2023 at the northern end of the site.
It’s expected the overall build will take five to seven years to complete.
Rubble, diggers, and road cones have taken over the prime real estate, which was home to a land occupation just a few months ago.
Mau Whenua, a group within iwi, began occupying the land in November 2020. They claimed the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (PNBST) went against the will of its own people when it sold its land to the Wellington Company for development and that the deal was done in secret.
PNBST was established to receive and manage the Treaty settlement package for Taranaki Whānui.
Paora Jenkins-Mepham was a part of the occupation in its early days but after the Wellington Company came to the table with a compromise in early 2021, he is now helping to implement a new deal for Shelly Bay.
Demolition work is underway at the Shelly Bay development in Wellington. Photo / Georgina Campbell
Jenkins-Mepham told the Herald the development has become part of a bigger picture for him.
“While it wasn’t ideal by any means to sell the land, we are doing our best to mitigate the negative effects of that on our people with a view to using this as a platform for future growth.
“It’s been tough because a lot of the people in the occupation are my friends and whanau and you can’t please all the people all the time, you just can’t.”
Three pou whenua, which were put in place around the time the land was sold, remain in the middle of the northern part of the construction site. They represent a place to stand, unity, and guardianship, and Jenkins-Mepham said their mana will protect them.
Behind them, about 185 trees have been felled, turned into mulch, and taken away by the truckload.
There’s one kororā (little blue penguin) who has established itself and made a whare (home) in a cave to the north of the site. It has full access to the beach, but a small fence has been put up to make sure it doesn’t venture into the main development.
In September the development was paused after a penguin-proof fence was tampered with, allowing kororā to enter. Eventually, a new whare will be made for penguins on the northern tip of the coastline, away from the development and the road.
About 185 trees have been felled to make way for the development. Photo / Georgina Campbell
At the top of the slopes surrounding the area lies 1.7ha of escarpment land that is being returned to Taranaki Whānui ownership and will be planted in native bush.
Jenkins-Mepham said ideally they would have liked to retain all the land, but he thought the compromise deal was workable.
He acknowledged not everyone was happy and things were still raw for those hurt through the process of the occupation.
“There’s a whole variety of diverse feelings within uri, but I would say there’s a real genuine hope for peace and unity.”
Jenkins-Mepham said all of the commercial assets at Shelly Bay, like any hospitality or retail offerings, will remain in Taranaki Whānui ownership.
A blueprint is being worked out for a minimum of 15 affordable houses exclusively for uri, as well as a first right of refusal to buy into the development when people sell up.
Taranaki Whānui and the Wellington Company are also looking at an annual $100,000 seed fund as an education scholarship for uri.
Discussions were also underway about their vision for a cultural centre or wharenui at the development, which will be located right by the water, Jenkins-Mepham said.
Film-maker Sir Peter Jackson, who owns several properties on the peninsula, had helped bankroll a court case by Mau Whenua through one of his companies. That funding ceased at the end of 2020.
Construction on new houses at Shelly Bay will begin early next year. Photo / Georgina Campbell
Asked whether Jackson was in any way involved with the development, Jenkins-Mepham thanked him for the contributions he made to help clarify the issues behind the sale of the land.
“That is an unreserved thank you to the man. The door is always open for anyone to enter into strategic alliances with Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and obviously, the chief motivation is the wellbeing of our uri.”
Jenkins-Mepham accepted there were challenges ahead but he was confident in the strategic direction of the PNBST board, which he described as visionary and deeply rooted in tikanga Māori.
“I’m content with the fact that the waka’s back in the water and we’re all paddling in the same direction.”
