Then-MP Daryl Maguire with Louise Raedler Waterhouse.Credit: NSW ICAC
The family business belonging to the Waterhouse racing dynasty has mounted a legal challenge against the NSW Planning Minister over unfavourable zoning decisions for the same site embroiled in a corruption investigation into disgraced MP Daryl Maguire.
The Herald can reveal the Waterhouse Group has demanded the NSW Land and Environment Court strike out legislation that has seen most of its vast landholdings next to the future Western Sydney Airport zoned for environment, recreation and conservation purposes.
It comes as the corruption commission on Monday begins public hearings into the conduct of former premier Gladys Berejiklian during her secret relationship with Mr Maguire. Ms Berejiklian is not accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the Waterhouse land.
The zoning decision has thwarted the company’s plans to transform the site into a “world-leading fresh food precinct”.
In court documents obtained by the Herald, the company has argued there was “no logical basis” for the decision because the land is “not of sufficient ecological or recreational value”.
“The decision ... was unreasonable and an error of law,” the company claimed.
The company has also argued the Planning Minister Rob Stokes had “acted unreasonably” and did not follow mandatory consultation requirements.
“The minister failed to engage, in accordance with the law, with the submissions made by the applicant,” the company said.
“There is no evidence that the minister was provided with the applicant’s submissions.”
The government’s defence is yet to be made public.
The court battle represents a fresh chapter in a long-running controversy over the future of the 233-hectare parcel, which has been in the Waterhouse family for five decades.
With the desired zonings in place, it has been estimated the land could be sold for as much as $330 million.
However, the family’s attempts since 2015 to have the land rezoned - spearheaded by racing heiress Louise Raedler-Waterhouse - have so far proved futile.
Mr Maguire’s attempts to “grease the wheels” for Ms Raedler-Waterhouse in Parliament have been in the spotlight as part of an ongoing ICAC investigation into whether he misused his position as an MP for his own financial gain.
Zoning and road access changes were crucial to allow the land to either be sold off or redeveloped into an innovation, logistics, employment and tourism enterprise park known as “Smart West”.
Mr Maguire gave Ms Raedler-Waterhouse the private email address of Ms Berejiklian, his then secret lover, promising she could give the issue a “tickle from up top”.
Ms Raedler-Waterhouse and her family have not been accused of any wrongdoing as part of the probe and deny paying Mr Maguire any commissions. Nor has Ms Berejiklian been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the deal.
However, the ICAC heard Mr Maguire hoped to net up to $1 million in fees if the sale of the land went ahead.
The watchdog heard the sale never eventuated because planning officials refused to concede to Mr Maguire’s requests before he resigned in 2018.
That year the proposal was reborn by the Waterhouse Group as a fresh food and agribusiness precinct, featuring agricultural land, an agri-port, freight and distribution hub, food production, processing and packaging, and biosecurity and quarantine facilities.
For the project to go ahead the land had to be rezoned and included within the boundaries of the “Western Sydney Aerotropolis”.
Daryl Maguire (right) gave Louise Raedler-Waterhouse the private email address of then-Premier Gladys Berejiklian (left), his then secret lover.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer, Nick Moir
However, when the State Environmental Planning Policy (Western Sydney Aerotropolis) 2020 was released the eastern part of the Waterhouse land was zoned primarily for environment and recreation, with only a small section zoned for agribusiness.
The western section was excluded from the Aerotropolis completely and part of the land was designated for conservation.
The Waterhouse family company, Clifton Gardens Charles Pty Ltd, is seeking a judicial review of the decision on the grounds it has been “denied procedural fairness”.
The company still lists the late family patriarch Bill Waterhouse, his widow Suzanne, and children Robbie and Louise as its directors.
It has urged the court to find that the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) which contained the zonings is “invalid and of no effect” as it applies to the Waterhouse land.
It argued “insufficiently detailed” information was released during the public exhibition period as to why the Waterhouse land was being zoned for environment and recreation.
“Maps were of insufficient scale and detail to allow the applicant to gain a proper understanding of the environmental quality and attributes of the land,” the company said.
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