Wellington mayor 'hasn't asked' Sir Peter Jackson for campaign cash

Wellington mayor Andy Foster says he hasn't asked famous filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson for any money heading into this year's local elections.

In 2019 Jackson gave Foster $30,000 for a campaign that would eventually win the city's mayoralty.

Electoral returns showed the money was given to Foster through Jackson's companies - Weta Digital, Park Road Post and Portsmouth Rental.

Asked whether Jackson was funding his campaign again this time around, Foster told Newstalk ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills he hasn't actually asked him.

Both Foster and Jackson are opposed to a controversial $500 million housing development planned at Shelly Bay.

The land is on Miramar Peninsula, where Jackson owns several properties.

"He [Jackson] obviously said 'Andy you're doing the thing that I support on Shelly Bay' and supported me accordingly," Foster said.

"Of course, that's not really an issue at the moment."

Since the 2019 election, fresh resource consent for the development has been granted by independent commissioners, further legal action has been unsuccessful, and the council decided to sell and lease its land at Shelly Bay.

A long-running occupation by an iwi group called Mau Whenua was also brought to an end earlier this year.

This has all paved the way for the development to finally go ahead.

Foster said his biggest failure was Shelly Bay.

Andy Foster. Photo / Mark Mitchell

"People wanted to have a say, they wanted to be able to shape the future of an important part of their city."

He criticised councillors who changed their minds and voted to sell and lease council land there.

Foster joined Mills for an hour on air this morning as the race for the city's top job heats up.

Fellow contender Tory Whanau talked cars, election hoarding drama, and the Greens on the show on Tuesday.

Labour Rongotai MP Paul Eagle, who is also vying for the mayoralty, will chat to Mills tomorrow.

Asked by Mills to give his mayoralty a mark out of ten, Foster gave himself an 11.

"In all seriousness it's been a really tough gig."

He said challenges included Covid-19, parliamentary reforms, protests, pipes breaking, and a difficult political group around the council table.

Foster has previously said he is committed to Wellington.

"I've been privileged to be the mayor for the last two and a bit years. It's been an extraordinarily tough time. We've got an enormous amount done in that period of time and I don't think we've necessarily been given the credit for doing it."

He said the council has delivered more in recent months than most councils would deliver in three years.

This included signing off on the year's budget, the proposed district plan, a sludge treatment option, agreeing to create a community housing provider, and opening the St James Theatre.

Referring to his fellow councillors, Foster said he hasn't always had the team to back him, but he thought they were now working reasonably well together.

"We've done a lot for the city and I'd really like to take that forward."