New Shelly Bay owners, filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson and his partner Dame Fran Walsh, say the community response to their plans for the prime Wellington real estate has been “heartwarming”.

In a shock announcement on Friday, Shelly Bay Taikuru Ltd and The Wellington Company said they would not be going ahead with a planned $500m housing development at the bay.

Instead, Jackson and Walsh are the new owners of the private landholdings.

In a post on the Miramar Peninsula Facebook page this morning, the couple thanked everyone who had reached out to them with messages of support for the restoration of Shelly Bay.

 “We are committed to saving this beautiful piece of coastline for the benefit of everyone and the positive feedback from so many has been heart-warming.”

Jackson and Walsh have said their immediate goal is to start landscaping and replanting work to return Shelly Bay to its natural state.

Longer term, they are keen to look at ways it could be used for arts and recreation.

The site has been cordoned off for months due to an asbestos risk caused by a suspicious fire at Shed 8, also known as the Sawtooth Building.

In the Facebook post, Jackson and Walsh said they unfortunately would not have access to the site until it has properly been decontaminated by Wellington City Council.

“Once that process has been finished, we look forward to taking up your kind offers of help with replanting.”

The Chocolate Fish Cafe has been caught up in the fire cordon and unable to open which owners John and Penny Pennington have described as “soul-destroying”.

Jackson and Walsh said landscaping will take a while but they hoped to get work under way on North Bay before summer to help the Chocolate Fish cafe reopen as soon as possible.

They said access to South Bay will take longer due to the restoration required on the old Officers Mess building.

“We ask for your patience while we get this done.

“We’d like to acknowledge the importance of the three pouwhenua, the kaitiake which will continue to be overseen by iwi.

“We are proud of everyone who stood up to help save this whenua for future generations.

“He aha te mea nui tea o? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata!.”

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.