November 04, 2019
Mau Whenua wants to turn clock back on Shelly Bay
A group opposing Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust's sale of the last of its land at Shelly Bay says developer Ian Cassels' The Wellington Company doesn't have secure ownership.
Spokesperson Andrew Mepham says Mau Whenua has put caveats on the land as it goes through the High Court to argue the trust representing Taranaki Whānui claimants had no right to sell the land.
The trust spent the bulk of the cash from its 2009 settlement on the former Air Force facility on the Miramar Peninsula with the intention of developing it, but it did not have any money left to complete its plans.
Mr Mepham says that means it came to rely on Mr Cassels as it sold the land in stages to fund other developments, sidestepping a vote where it failed to achieve the 75 percent support it needed to sell the whole block.
"Ian I think is putting on a brave face in spit of this all but the reality is the land is in dispute and he doesn't have secure ownership because we believe it was an unlawful sale to start with" he says.
Mau Whenua believes Taranaki Whānui should hold on to all its land, and the developer should give Shelly Bay back and allow the iwi to decide what should be done with it.
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