Casey council, where riches are made with the stroke of a pen

When John Woodman visits Casey council in Melbourne’s sprawling south-east, he parks his red Ferrari wherever he pleases.

At the grand new civic centre in Narre Warren, where the council oversees more than a billion dollars in building approvals a year, Mr Woodman has been known to leave his car for long periods in a short-stay parking bay.

Mr Woodman is a multi-millionaire planning consultant, developer, and head of Mornington-based consultancy Watsons.

John Woodman.Credit: Gary Sissons

His who’s who client list has included, or includes, the Fox, Ansett and Baillieu-Myer clans, as well as Tony Madafferi, the man police have alleged to be Melbourne’s mafia boss.

And at the last state election, Mr Woodman was the single biggest property industry donor to the Liberal Party.

He is renowned for getting what he wants on the city fringe, where the stroke of a pen can turn paddocks into housing estates, and humble farmers into squillionaires.

With Melbourne under unprecedented population pressure, planning is big business – especially in burgeoning Casey, which takes in swelling suburbs such as Cranbourne, Berwick, Clyde and Hallam.

It is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia.

In any one year, Casey will say yay or nay to hundreds of Watsons planning applications.
There’s been rumblings for years at Casey about the influence of favoured property interests, especially Watsons and its many clients.

The Casey council centre 'Bunjil Place' in Narre Warren.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

But this year the rumblings gave way to incredulity and exasperation from senior council insiders and some local residents who say developers have inordinate influence and councillor decision-making shows a flagrant disregard for proper process.

The situation has not been helped by a revolving door of senior bureaucrats, with seven people holding or acting in the chief executive position through the year.

“It’s all nudge-nudge, wink-wink between certain developers and some councillors,” says Cranbourne resident and council-watcher Brett Hudson. “They’re mates and it’s way too cosy.”

Casey resident Brett Hudson believes developers have too much influence in the area.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

‘Unlawful’ decision-making

Some calls made by councillors this year have been so questionable that the council received legal advice warning it about “unlawful” decision-making.

In April, former mayor and Liberal party member Cr Sam Aziz surprised many at Casey when he moved to delete a requirement that developer Wolfdene provide open space and road between the council’s Casey Fields sports complex and the developer’s Pavilion housing estate in Cranbourne East.

Woodman’s son Heath is a business partner of Wolfdene director, Michael Goldthorp.
Cr Aziz’ motion ignored repeated staff advice and was at odds with three separate legal opinions from senior planning lawyers. It allowed Wolfdene more land to build on, and shifted costs to ratepayers.

Casey councillor and former mayor Sam Aziz. Credit: James Taylor

Clearly troubled, acting chief executive Steve Dalton asked staff for an urgent assessment of the cost. The Sunday Age understands the decision will cost Casey hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Senior insiders have queried the provenance of Cr Aziz’s motion, noting that it appeared to be worded by someone expert in planning law.

In an interview with The Sunday Age, Cr Aziz denied his motion was written by an outsider. But The Sunday Age, understands that Woodman associate, Mornington-based planner and lawyer Megan Schutz, or her office, had a hand in drafting the motion.

In September, Cr Aziz again shunned the advice of council staff, and demanded progress on the construction of an intersection in Hall Road, West Cranbourne.

Lawyer Megan Schutz.

Two developers, Wolfdene and the Chinese-backed Dacland, are developing estates on either side of Hall Road and were to share the cost of the intersection. Cr Aziz cited legal advice but would not reveal where it came from. He successfully moved a motion that penalised Dacland to the benefit of Wolfdene.

Council staff sought their own official legal opinion. It was scathing, and warned that the council was in breach of the Local Government Act. Confidential legal advice in September slammed the council’s “capricious” decision-making and warned it risked losing public and state government confidence “with respect to planning matters in particular”.

It seemed to be a warning that council risked being sacked.

The Sunday Age unsuccessfully sought the legal opinion cited by Cr Aziz under Freedom of Information laws. Cr Aziz refused to provide a copy of the legal advice or identify who had written it. He would only say it was provided to him by the Save West Cranbourne Residents Action Group, who were concerned about traffic safety on Hall Road and surrounds.

But even resident activism isn’t always as it seems in this part of Casey.

‘Astro-turfing’

The Save West Cranbourne group was set up in 2014 when residents started to agitate against Casey’s plan for an industrial/employment precinct – for much need local jobs – on neighbouring land.

That industrial land is owned by property giant the CIMIC Group, formerly known as Leighton.
In 2014, Leighton and market gardening neighbour the Kelly family had also started to lobby for rezoning of the land to allow much more lucrative housing.

Early in 2014 the council flatly rejected the rezoning push. Then in 2015, soon after the 2014 state election, the councillors stunned senior staff and others by backflipping to support the rezoning. One of the arguments for the u-turn was an unusually well-resourced protest campaign by the resident action group. In state government circles the campaign is being viewed as classic ‘‘astro-turfing’’.

Group president Ray Walker defended the integrity of his group but confirmed it had been funded in part by Leighton, a Woodman/Schutz client that stands to make tens of millions of dollars if the rezoning is approved by Planning Minister Richard Wynne.

The group’s website was officially registered in March 2015 by Ms Schutz.

Cr Geoff Ablett.

The Sunday Age does not suggest that Cr Aziz and other councillors have personally benefited from these controversial decisions. Nor is there evidence of Cr Aziz receiving donations from any of the developers or companies involved.

However, developer donations, especially from Watsons and their clients, are a major issue more broadly at Casey.

Four years ago current mayor Geoff Ablett and former mayor Amanda Stapledon were the Liberal candidates for, respectively, the state seats of Cranbourne and Narre Warren North.

Leaked Liberal party documents show that their state campaigns were financially supported by property interests, notably Woodman and Schutz, and key clients including Wolfdene, Leighton and the Kelly family, Botanic Ridge Pty Ltd, which has big estate in Cranbourne, and Peter and Sandy Carpenter from the former Brompton Lodge egg farm, also in Cranbourne.

The Carpenters have made a $50 million-plus windfall in recent years after Casey successfully pushed the Baillieu government for approval for their farm to be developed for housing.
As far back as 2011 The Age revealed that the Carpenters were donors to the Liberal party, including to Cr Ablett.

Cr Susan Serey.

A third councillor Susan Serey, was the Liberal candidate for Narre Warren South. She is running again at the November state poll. Liberal insiders insist she has received Watsons donations. There is no public evidence of this, however, she refused to confirm or deny it when asked by The Sunday Age.

Donations and other in-kind support – such as Mr Woodman donating helicopter rides – have long been a key part of the Watsons strategy for planning success. At times it has contributed to Labor at state and local government level.

In the 2014 state campaign Watsons donated $80,000 to the Liberal party, the single biggest property industry donation to the party that year.

The money was disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commission as a general donation to the Victorian Liberals.

However, in a 2015 investigation Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass summonsed Liberal Party accounts to find that Watsons had earmarked the bulk of the $80,000 specifically for the Ablett and Stapledon campaigns.

Since 2014, Cr Ablett, Cr Stapledon and Cr Serey appear to have been increasingly conscious of declaring conflicts of interests and not voting on matters involving Watsons or their clients.
Cr Ablett only appears to have declared joint ownership of a horse with a Watsons employee, not donations.

Bullying claims

Behind the scenes Cr Ablett and Cr Aziz in particular are renowned for pushing staff on planning approvals.

Cr Amanda Stapledon,

Documents seen by The Sunday Age include an email from Ablett last year complaining about the time taken to process planning approvals and asking “Is there a major problem with the Casey planning department?”

He appears to have been echoing developer complaints, including by Woodman and Schutz who are well known for pressuring staff.

A memo from former chief executive Steve Dalton notes concerns from staff about “bullying and harassment” by Woodman and Schutz. He imposed a temporary ban on Woodman communicating with some council staff.

In July the council appointed a new permanent chief executive, Glenn Patterson, formerly from the Yarra Ranges Shire. He declined a request for an interview.

It remains to be seen whether the new chief executive will be able to rein in the more “capricious” of Casey’s decision-making.

In a written statement Cr Amanda Stapledon said: “I have always acted with strictest probity in my decision making, ensuring that I conduct myself with integrity, adhering to the local law and the local government act.”

Also in writing Cr Serey said: “My (state election) campaign is in full compliance with all Victorian electoral legislation, including donation disclosure requirements. I have declared conflicts of interest on record in the Council chamber whenever I perceived that a conflict existed.”

Cr Ablett did not respond to calls and emails. Mr Woodman and Ms Schutz also did not respond to calls and emails. Nor did Leightons (CIMIC) executive Tom Kenessey return calls.

Casey resident Brett Hudson has long wondered about the sway of developers and the murky confluence of property, planning, and political money in the south-east growth corridor. “Why else would developers give money,” he says “other than to buy a little bit of favour”.

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