15 May 2019

New consent attempt for controversial Shelly Bay development

7:49 pm on 15 May 2019

A fresh resource consent application for the controversial Shelly Bay development has been lodged with the Wellington City Council.

An artist's impression of the Shelly Bay development.

An artist's impression of the Shelly Bay development. Photo: Photo / Supplied

Previous consents were quashed by the Court of Appeal, which found the council had got the law wrong when approving the project.

The application will need to be heard by three independent commissioners - Gary Rae, Helen Atkins and Ray O'Callaghan.

Lawyers for the developers say it's an updated rather than entirely new application, so large parts of the project - such as the infrastructure and roading plans - are already good to go.

They say the commissioners will only need to scrutinise the elements that were quashed by the court.

"The Court of Appeal's findings on all of the other causes of action in the judicial review ... were in favour of the Council," wrote Finn Collins, a partner at Gibson Sheat. "Accordingly, the hearing commissioners need not reconsider other aspects of the Council's 18 April 2017 decision."

If consent were granted, the development was expected to take about 13 years to complete.

However, an iwi dispute over the way the land was sold to the developers may yet lead to legal action.

The consent application can be found here.