Some San Francisco style for Shelly Bay?
PLANS to inject a bit of San Francisco style into Wellington’s worn-out Shelly Bay are creeping closer to reality.
Wellington City Council staff have come up with a fresh proposal to include the rundown area of Miramar Peninsula in the Wellington Housing Accord, signed with the Government in June 2014.
Doing so would designate Shelly Bay a ‘‘special housing area’’ with fast-tracked consent conditions, no public notification and limited appeal rights.
That would make life easier for property developer Ian Cassels and the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, who are keen to reshape Shelly Bay in the mould of Sausalito – a wealthy and artistic enclave across the bay from San Francisco.
Art galleries, restaurants, boutique shops, a craft brewery and a cable car have all been tipped for the area. A regular ferry service from Wellington’s central business district is also being investigated.
Cassels remained tight-lipped yesterday about what his actual plans were for Shelly Bay. But if the council’s proposal went ahead, it would remove a lot of the red tape and make developing Shelly Bay much more attractive, he said.
‘‘There’s a huge amount of cost involved in doing something like this, and if you can reduce the amount you have to spend on the actual consenting process, then you’ll get a much better development at the end of it.’’
The council’s Transport And Urban Development Committee will decide tomorrow whether to add Shelly Bay and four other sites in the suburbs of Newtown, Newlands and Tawa to the housing accord. Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith will have the final say.
Getting past the council stage is no certainty though. Shelly Bay was one of 13 areas the committee considered adding to the accord in March, but the entire list was rejected after councillors could not agree which to green light.
A special housing area already exists around some of the groundlevel buildings in Shelly Bay. The council’s proposal would expand