A REVIEW into Kingston Council planning applications involving people implicated in the corruption scandal which brought down Casey Council has been completed.
The probity review, completed by Holding Redlich, was presented to Kingston councillors on Monday. A summary prepared by Kingston Council officers read that “no evidence of improper conduct was found and thirteen recommendations were made to improve practices that were identified during the review.”
The report cost ratepayers nearly $250,000, excluding officer time. The summary prepared by council officers read that the “report is privileged and confidential communication between Kingston City Council and Holding Redlich for the purpose of providing legal advice”. A copy has been provided to the offices of the state’s peak anti-corruption body IBAC, and the Victorian Ombudsman.
Among the suggestions provided to council within the report were to maintain a register of councillor meetings with lobbyists, develop or review a political donation policy, document all meetings with external parties and lobbyists with “contemporaneous” file notes, develop adequate mechanisms for officers and councillors to report suspected misconduct, and to adopt a policy on election campaign return forms.
The probity review was ordered in response to corruption allegations at Casey Council. IBAC had heard allegations that developer John Woodman had financial ties to Casey councillors. Casey Council was sacked in response to the scandal.
Kingston mayor Steve Staikos said “we took a proactive approach and looked into any planning applications involving people who were part of the Casey investigation plus a number of other contentious items.”
“I’m pleased to report that the review found no evidence of improper conduct. We take these issues very seriously and wanted to ensure our community had full confidence in local planning processes.”
More than 20 planning matters were set to be investigated as part of Kingston Council’s review, including applications for Waterways, 44 First Avenue, Peninsula Kingswood Golf Club, the Pompei’s Landing precinct, dwellings on Woods Avenue, Chicquita Park, the second stage of the Bay Trail, and the Alex Fraser Group (“Scope of planning probe widens”, The News, 10/6/20).
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 24 February 2021