Shelly Bay hits stumbling block

The dawn of a new era at Wellington’s Shelly Bay has hit a speed bump. Initial papers have been filed for a judicial review of the council’s handling of the development.

A letter warning of the review arrived at Wellington City Council on Thursday evening – less than a week before councillors were expected to sign off on the sale and lease of council land, meaning the $500 million development would have cleared the final hurdle.

A judicial review, conducted by a High Court judge, considers the process an official has used to reach a decision. The judge can make a declaration, send the issue back to be reconsidered or rule that a decision was unlawful.

‘‘We got a letter last night from the Miramar Business Improvement District (MBID) in relation to Shelly Bay,’’ council spokesman Richard MacLean said yesterday.

‘‘The letter says the BID is planning to challenge the Shelly Bay project by issuing judicial review proceedings against the city council in relation to the resource consents granted for the development.

‘‘However, given that no formal legal proceedings have started, we’re carrying on with preparations for the council meeting on [Wednesday]. ‘‘In the event that the MBID does file a judicial review proceeding, we’ll address this in the usual way through the courts.’’

Possible outcomes of the judicial

‘‘In the event that the [Miramar Business Improvement District] does file a judicial review proceeding, we’ll address this in the usual way through the courts.’’

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean

review could include the council having to reconsider the designation of Shelly Bay as a special housing area, which could in turn overturn the non-notified resource consent, and leave the development back at square one.

If the matter proceeds to next week’s meeting, councillor Simon Marsh confirmed that, with some amendments, the vote would almost certainly give the nod for development.

That vote would mean council land at the Miramar Peninsula site would be sold and leased to developers Shelly Bay Ltd (SBL), committing ratepayers to $10 million-plus of infrastructure spending, and allowing the 350-dwelling development to proceed.

Marsh, who was speaking before news of the review broke, said there would be some amendments to the final proposal but it was too late to alter the decision to designate the land a special housing area.

Those amendments would probably be a council cap of $10m on infrastructure spending. This did not include a further estimated $4.5m for infrastructure for the wider Miramar community.

A further amendment would be about how Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust – a partner in SBL with The Wellington Company – would use profits from Shelly Bay to create affordable housing, probably in Wainuiomata or Strathmore.

While there were still details to iron out, Marsh, again speaking before news of the judicial review, could not foresee anything stopping development after Wednesday.

Council staff had already made moves to allay public concern around little blue penguins along Shelly Bay Rd, how the road would look, and the development’s design, he said.

The Integrated Masterplan for Shelly Bay recommends that the council goes ahead with the proposed sale and lease of land to SBL to ‘‘unlock the potential’’.

The development would also include hotels, apartments, townhouses, a rest home, a ferry terminal, a marina and a cable-car link to Mt Crawford.

Trust chairman Wayne Mulligan said design work could start before the end of the year, with the first aspect being the public spaces. He hoped to see sod turned ‘‘before Christmas’’.

Wednesday’s vote – assuming it’s in favour – would be ‘‘great for Wellington’’. ‘‘It’s a real milestone – and it is a progress milestone,’’ he said.