The view looking west at the rear access point to the prison: Evans Bay and Matairangi. Photo: RNZ / Harry Lock
Hundreds of Wellington people opposed to a housing development on the site of an old prison on are demanding to have a say in the project.
Local iwi through the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust want to build 700 houses on Mt Crawford Mātai Moana and set up an eco sanctuary.
Three hundred people packed into a conference room at Ākau Tangi Sports Centre on Thursday worried the housing project was going ahead without public consultation.
Former Wellington mayor Andy Foster was not happy the consent application has been fast-tracked, because it meant public submissions could be made on the project.
He told the meeting the land at Mt Crawford on the Miramar Peninsula was too locally significant for people not to have a say.
"Please can we all sit down and work out what we want for the future of this really, really precious place. It deserves it and we deserve it".
The meeting at at Ākau Tangi Sports Centre on Thursday. Photo: RNZ / Jemima Huston
The consent application for the scheme is being fast tracked under the Covid-19 Recovery Act.
Foster said the development did not fit the purpose of the Act and the government should reject it.
Meeting chair Mary Varnham agreed.
"The Covid Act expires in July. It's meant to provide work for the housing industry - but actually they've got lots of work now".
She said many locals wanted the area to be a regional park.
"Wellington City hasn't got a single regional park, Auckland has twenty-eight. So we're saying we really need this open space land".
The road leading up to the prison. Photo: RNZ / Harry Lock
There is already opposition to a housing project for nearby Shelly Bay Marukaikuru which also involves the iwi trust and developer The Wellington Company.
Shelly Bay sits just below the Mt Crawford site, and climate change scientist James Renwick said the next big storm could cause extensive damage to the area.
"There'll be slips on the hillsides above Shelly Bay so there's a real hazard there in terms of damage to infrastructure and potential harm for people living in that area".
Local iwi grouping Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika is divided over what to do with the land.
Ihaia Puketapu said there should be homes on the maunga, but exclusively for iwi.
Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust chair Kara Puketapu-Dentice said the project would include papakainga houses, which are built under a leasehold model to ensure the land is retained by iwi.
"To create spaces we can have a kōhanga, where we could have a kura, where we could have māra kai, where we can reconnect with our environment and our place".
But he said houses in the development would be available to anyone.
"We will have a priority for our own people but it will be for all New Zealanders".
The Wellington Company supports the Mt Crawford project saying it is good for the city.
Mary Varnham acknowledged the capital needed more housing.
"We totally support housing development. Our argument is there are much better sites. These are not good sites, they haven't got good access [and] have lots of environmental issues around them".
The old Mt Crawford Prison. Photo: RNZ / Harry Lock
Joakim Liman of Te Motu Kairangi - Miramar Ecological Restoration's Joakim Liman was worried about the impact on the maunga's native bush and stream.
"This stream is basically the lifeline to the bush we have around there and the aquatic wildlife in it as well. So the question is, if this area gets developed, what's going to happen to the stream? Is it going to dry out, is it going to be polluted by runoff?".
The development still needs sign off from the government.
Environment Minister David Parker's office said although the application has been submitted, the minister had not yet been briefed.
