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Taranaki Whānui has encountered opposition to its call for a fast-track consenting process for its plan to build houses on the former Mt Crawford prison site.
The iwi has a right of first refusal over the 13-hectare site known as Mātai Moana, which is on the hill above the Marukaikuru/Shelly Bay development.
Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust Kara Puketapu-Dentice says it plans to build up to 700 houses and papākainga housing, which will be leased to tenants with Taranaki Whānui retaining the freehold title.
It’s also talking to the crown about turning the adjacent 72 hectares of Motu Kairangi (Miramar Peninsula) into a national eco-sanctuary.
A public meeting on Thursday organised by the Buy Back the Bay Coalition opposed the development of Mātai Moana and also called for the Government to buy back all land at Marukaikuru/Shelly Bay and it to a planned national heritage park covering much of the peninsula.
Former mayor Andy Foster told the meeting it would be wrong to fast-track the consent under the Covid-19 Recovery Act because the development did not fit the purpose of the Act.
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