Jackson backing new mayor candidate
Sir Peter Jackson is throwing his support behind Wellington’s latest mayoral hopeful, putting the Shelly Bay saga firmly on the agenda for this year’s local body elections.
The filmmaker is aligning with Andy Foster, who yesterday confirmed his run for the capital’s mayoralty.
An email was sent to Weta Workshop staff, asking those who are “passionate about the Shelly Bay issue” to join Jackson in support. Jackson is a co-owner of Weta.
Jackson said he wasn’t personally giving Foster money, but that companies he was associated with — including Weta and Park Road Post — were. He could not say how much money was being put into Foster’s campaign.
“I don’t know whether Andy’s left, right, or going around in circles. I’m just supporting him because he seems to have moral integrity.”
Jackson’s battle with Shelly Bay developers and Wellington City Council has been aired several times this year. In March an email, provided to the Herald, showed Jackson and partner Dame Fran Walsh were invited to a meeting with prominent property developer Ian Cassels and the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust to talk about how they might “be involved” in the development.
“As you know, we’re loyal Wellingtonians who care deeply about our city, and we want to see it prosper. However, we see little point in having this meeting at the moment,” Jackson said in the email.
“Fran and I are not, and never will be, interested in associating with a team who seem determined to turn Shelly Bay into something that has been described as ‘Sausalito’ — but which, in reality, will invoke blocks of Soviet-era apartments dumped on Wellington’s picturesque peninsula.”