Crown-iwi partnership puts 300 new homes on the table for Wellington

A Crown-iwi partnership could help relieve some of Wellington's housing woes with 300 new homes being mooted by a Crown-iwi partnership.

The houses are being proposed for an 11.7 hectare piece of surplus land at Mt Crawford on the Miramar Peninsula by Taranaki Whānui Limited, the commercial arm of Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust, and the Government's Land for Housing programme. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two parties.

As part of their Treaty of Waitangi settlement, the trustees of the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust (Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika) have a right of first refusal over the site and all scheduled Crown land within the rohe (territory).

"Taranaki Whānui Limited approached the Ministry in late 2018 with the intention to meet the needs of their members and all Wellingtonians for more affordable housing," Land for Housing Development manager Phil Stroud said in a statement.

"The Ministry is willing to explore the development potential of Mt Crawford, particularly its potential for housing, including affordable KiwiBuild homes. We look forward to working together towards an outcome that makes the best use of this land. "

Taranaki Whānui chair Wayne Mulligan says that it is still too soon for any concrete details to be agreed upon.

"Step one is to agree we will work together with a no-surprises approach and we have signed and sealed that with this MoU," Mr Mulligan said.

"There are a wider group of stakeholders that we need to work with, including The Wellington City Council."

The Ministry and iwi will be working towards completing the due diligence process by the end of September, building on some initial planning works already undertaken by iwi and others in late 2016 to determine what is possible to be delivered at the site.

"The potential development of the Mt Crawford site marks an important milestone for Taranaki Whānui aspirations to restore, revitalise strengthen and enhance the cultural, social and economic well-being of Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and to deliver much needed affordable housing solutions to our members and community," Mr Mulligan said.

He says the, "preservation of cultural and historic aspects of the site are top of mind".

The site is currently made up of surplus Corrections and Defence land.