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A Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust board member is dismissing a broadside from film mogul Sir Peter Jackson over the trust's plans for the former Shelly Bay defence base on Wellington Harbour.
Sir Peter has written to the Wellington City Council describing the development as Soviet-era apartment blocks dumped on the side of the picturesque Miramar peninsula.
He accused the council of concealing the true infrastructure cost of the development to ratepayers.
Neville Baker says Sir Peter was interested early on in developing a film museum on the site, but those plans fell through.
He says the development planned by the trust and the Wellington Company will be a major asset for the region and for Taranaki Whānui.
"It’s a community we're developing that's a new community and the cultural piece of that is very important. We're expressing ourselves and saying we are part of the capital city of this country. We actually are the landlords, we are the owners of real estate here and we need to be respected for that," Mr Baker says.
Port Nicholson bought the land with a large chunk of its treaty settlement, and it has an obligation to get a return for its beneficiaries.
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