Sir Peter v the council

Development battle rages on

Awkward: Movie mogul Sir Peter Jackson continues to support Wellington Mayor Andy Foster, even as he is threatening to take his council to court.

The legal threat – in which Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh ask for urgent confirmation that a decision to sell and lease Wellington City Council land at Shelly Bay goes back for another council vote – plonks the council in a quagmire.

If Jackson et al get their way, the council will once again vote on selling and leasing its land there, where a $500 million development is planned.

This vote would likely – but far from definitely – be against the sale as not one member of the new council was in favour of the development before last year’s election.

However, the project already has consent and can arguably proceed, while passing on the land could mean ratepayers having to pay for upkeep without getting the purchase price. If they don’t vote the sale and lease through, the council will be backing down on a pre-election promise.

If they take the Jackson route, they could be sued by developers, including mana whenua. If they go against Jackson, they could end up in the High Court against him.

But adding to the murk was Foster’s assertion yesterday that nothing had changed with Shelly Bay and the council would still make the final decision ‘‘as it sees fit’’.

Jackson yesterday sent a message to Stuff, reiterating his continued support for Foster.

‘‘In my opinion, he was a mayoral candidate with integrity and honesty. However, there is no ‘quid pro quo’ . . . of any sort, between mayor Foster and myself. I did not give him my support in return for political favours regarding Shelly Bay or any other contentious topic.

‘‘Obviously, I was well aware of his own concerns about the Shelly Bay development (which preceded mine) – but that was not the only reason. I felt he would make a better mayor than the one we had. I just hoped we would get someone who was well equipped for the difficult role of Wellington’s mayor.

‘‘I am delighted my high opinion of Andy Foster is clearly shared by many other Wellingtonians.’’

A long road here

The stage was set for the latest round in August 2019 when Foster – a longtime councillor – announced his mayoral bid. The site he chose was Shelly Bay, beside Wellington Harbour.

There, with financial and moral support on that blustery day, was Jackson. Foster had tried and failed to get the mayoral chains twice before. But this time, with the razzmatazz and deep pockets of Wellywood behind him, he scrambled in past incumbent Justin Lester.

If the issue of Shelly Bay – which Foster had long spoken against and which Jackson has virulently opposed – was not an election issue before August it was after.

A month earlier, Foster had filed paperwork arguing that an earlier court decision meant the development no longer had resource consent. This forced council chief executive Kevin Lavery’s hand and he said a 2017 decision to sell and lease council’s 3.5 hectares of land at Shelly Bay would go back to a council vote.

City councillors met behind closed doors last week to discuss the development and soon after the council released a memo.

‘‘Councillors have been advised that with the consent granted in October 2019, work will progress as agreed to in September 2017

and will be reported back to councillors later this year,’’ the memo said.

Stuff has obtained a copy of the legal letter, written on behalf of Jackson and Walsh, addressed to incoming chief executive Barbara McKerrow and copied to all councillors on Saturday.

It asked for confirmation, by this Friday, that the 2017 vote to sell and lease land linked to the controversial development would be put back before council and the council would take no further action until this had taken place.

‘‘In the absence of confirmation, we will recommend applying to the High Court urgently for orders preserving the status quo and that any steps taken after this letter are void.’’

Developer Ian Cassels would not say yesterday whether he would take legal action if a new vote was taken but said it would be ‘‘rather unusual and spectacular if council reneged’’ on its 2017 decision.

Cassels said it was disappointing Jackson was ‘‘once again using his status as an international celebrity to engage his fan base in regard to a highly-localised political issue’’.

‘‘This is an abuse of celebrity power by a private citizen who thinks their political opinions should hold more sway than any other private citizen in Wellington.’’

People who had signed the petition had not signed as ‘‘active participants in Wellington issues’’ but as fans of his films, Cassels said.

‘‘This is not the kind of democratic environment New Zealand tends to operate in. There has been negative backlash in the past when individuals attempt to use celebrity and power to influence our democratic systems.’’

Troubled bedmates

This stoush is the latest in a long and sometimes bitter relationship between Jackson and the council.

He wrote a 1270-word email to then-mayor Justin Lester in 2019, accusing him of spreading misinformation and slamming the council’s handling of the project.

Lester denied the accusations. Jackson then took his gripes public with a series of long posts online.

A joint movie museum and convention centre plan was launched by the council with much fanfare in December 2015. But by 2018 the dream had died and documents obtained by Stuff show how dissatisfied Jackson became with the project.

If Jackson does force a second Shelly Bay land vote, it will go back to a more philosophically-divided council, under Foster, than when it was first voted through under Lester.