By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A “dodgy” Cranbourne West rezoning proposal – the subject of an anti-corruption inquiry – has been quashed by Planning Minister Richard Wynne.
Casey Council had sought to rezone 133 hectares of industrial land to residential at Hall Road and Western Port Highway as part of Amendment C219.
IBAC’s ongoing Operation Sandon inquiry has examined alleged corruption between Casey councillors and property developers over C219.
On 6 April, Mr Wynne rejected the amendment, citing a shortage of industrial land supply in parts of the South East.
According to his department’s Melbourne Industrial and Commercial Land Use Plan, precincts in Cranbourne West and Casey Fields South were vital for future jobs in the council area.
“This is the first plan of its kind and will guide and protect the future use of our industrial and commercial land across Melbourne – supporting jobs and attracting new investment.
“People need jobs close to where they live – that’s why industrial and commercial land is critical for our growing communities.”
Mr Wynne said any IBAC recommendations would be considered after the inquiry.
“The appalling behavior of Casey Council is exactly why the State Government takes responsibility for rezoning decisions – we’re now looking at how the planning process relates to councils and what we can do to improve it.”
Opposition planning spokesperson Tim Smith accused Mr Wynne of “throwing out the trash” in the “middle of the country’s worst health emergency”.
“Dick Wynne has sat on this dodgy planning application for two years and has cowardly released it when he thinks he can avoid any questioning.
“This tainted and dodgy planning scheme amendment should have been rejected by the Andrews Labor Government years ago.
“Is the reason Dick Wynne didn’t reject it outright back in 2018, because of the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars dodgy developer John Woodman gave to Labor in the lead up to the 2018 election?”
Developer Leightons stood to make a $120-million-plus windfall from the rezoning and partner John Woodman a $2 million success fee, the IBAC inquiry has recently heard.
Councillors Sam Aziz and Geoff Ablett, two persons of interest to the inquiry, were allegedly paid $1.2 million by Mr Woodman in return for support on issues including C219.
IBAC was also told that in the lead-up to the 2018 state election, the ALP was said to have received more than $150,000 from Mr Woodman.
At that stage, C219 had been recommended by a Planning Panels Victoria panel, and was under consideration by Mr Wynne.
After reports by The Age on Mr Woodman’s dealings with Casey councillors, Mr Wynne deferred the decision for more than a year.
IBAC heard that an “angered” Mr Wynne “cut off” a Woodman associate’s approach to him, telling people to “keep that girl away from me” at a Progressive Business event in October 2018.
According to the department’s industrial and commercial use plan, 328 hectares of industrial land had been rezoned for other uses in the South East between 2000-’18.
The largest loss was in Casey, which included 28 hectares for residential development.
“While the region has significant land set aside for future industrial purposes, it is increasingly under pressure for other non-industrial purposes.
“Reduction in land available for future industrial purposes will further reduce employment opportunities in the region, but particularly in growth areas.”
The plan stated that the Southern State Significant Industrial Precinct in Dandenong was likely to exhaust industrial land supply by the mid-2020s.
“The exhaustion of industrial land within the Southern SSIP within the next decade will likely direct future demand for large-format, regionally-significant industrial uses into neighbouring areas, such as Braeside and Cranbourne West.”
