Sydney is in a housing crisis. So why did the planning minister block 1700 new homes?

Planning Minister Paul Scully intervened to block fast-tracked approval for almost 1700 new Sydney homes against the advice of senior public servants, a decision that could benefit Ingham Property, a major client of former NSW premier-turned-lobbyist Morris Iemma.

Developer giant Walker wrote to the Minns government in September expressing serious concern at delays to a greenfield site in Appin, saying the project had been “slowed” after the minister deferred a recommendation to streamline it.

Ingham, the former chicken giant-turned-property developer, has been a client of Iemma’s firm, Iemma Patterson Premier Advisory, since July 2023.

The letter, obtained by the Herald, reveals that planning officials told Walker its project had been delayed because of an intervention by Scully, which could benefit rival developer Ingham, which wants to build homes on an adjacent site.

It states department officials told Walker that Scully had deferred a recommendation to give the first stage of its project state-significant status because he wanted part of an existing dwelling cap — which limits the number of new homes that can be built in Appin until infrastructure is delivered — “preserved” for Ingham.

The department told Walker that Scully “considers that there needs to be an equitable distribution of the dwelling cap”, it says.

Scully’s apparent intervention raises fresh questions about the links between influential figures in NSW Labor and the property development sector. The Herald has previously detailed Iemma’s close relationship with senior figures in the NSW government, including Premier Chris Minns, raising questions about his dual role as a Labor Party elder statesman and as a lobbyist and as an adviser for property developers.

Last month, the Herald revealed that Iemma was petitioning senior staffers in Scully’s office on behalf of major property developers around the same time he was offering personal advice to Scully about planning laws.

It also appears to contradict Labor’s push for increased housing supply because Ingham’s neighbouring site at North Appin does not have rezoning approval. In its letter, Walker said it was “difficult to understand why housing delivery in Appin should be slowed” for the “notional capacity” of its competitors.

“A free and competitive housing market should reward readiness and capacity to deliver,” Walker wrote.

But it also raises questions about how and why the minister intervened.

In August, the Housing Delivery Authority, the three-person agency set up by Scully to help speed up approvals for major housing developments, recommended the first stage of Walker’s greenfield development in Appin be given state-significant status.

The recommendation for 2499 homes followed agreements between Walker and agencies such as Transport for NSW.

However, unlike the vast majority of the authority’s hundreds of previous recommendations, the minister did not sign off on the decision. Instead, it was quietly deferred. Then, on October 10, the authority made a new recommendation which lowered the number of homes declared state significant to 824.

The Department of Planning did not answer questions about the dramatic reduction, or whether the authority’s advice changed after a request from Scully. Instead, in a statement, a department spokesman said Scully had asked for further information from Walker and further advice from the HDA.

The NSW Ministerial Code of Conduct says ministers must not ask agencies to give advice “with which the agency does not agree”. Ministers can make decisions contrary to advice, and an agency can change its advice “if its own view changes”.

Scully did not directly answer detailed questions from the Herald. A spokeswoman said he requested further information on how much of the Walker project could be “assessed and delivered quickly”.

The spokeswoman said the authority rules “require a proposed housing project to be assessed and constructed quickly”, and only a small proportion of Walker’s project would be delivered during the National Housing Accord.

“The proponent clarified in its response that 1500 would be delivered after the National Housing Accord period,” the spokeswoman said.

Walker’s Appin development is a 1284-hectare site that could supply 12,900 homes.

It neighbours Ingham Property’s Appin North development is a 300-hectare site where the developer hopes to build 3000 homes.

However, Walker’s project is more advanced than Ingham’s. It was Scully who approved the site’s rezoning in July 2023, despite concerns from environmental groups and Wollondilly Council.

Ingham’s North Appin development, on the other hand, is yet to receive approval for rezoning. In a submission to the state government over the rezoning proposal, Wollondilly Council raised a series of concerns about the project and called on the government to focus on building homes in Appin on already rezoned land.

The Herald last month detailed how Iemma’s lobbying firm has gone from strength to strength since Labor was elected in 2023, becoming a lobbyist for dozens of major property developer clients.

He has frequently petitioned senior levels of government, while also providing personal advice to Scully on planning issues. The Herald also revealed Minns had not disclosed meeting with Iemma on at least one occasion.

Documents obtained by the Herald show Ingham’s North Appin project was on the agenda of a meeting between the company’s chief executive Matthew Ramaley and Minns in June this year.

A one-word description in a ministerial diary disclosure meant to increase transparency described it as about “planning”. But the agenda, obtained by the Herald via freedom of information laws, shows Ramaley wanted to discuss the greenfield site among other issues.

In a statement, a spokesman for Minns said the premier “met with both Walker and Ingham about this project, as he does with many housing stakeholders”.

Iemma did not attend, but a month later, in July, he emailed a senior adviser in Minns’ office saying Ingham Property had been invited to attend a meeting with the Department of Planning “in relation to Appin”.

In a statement, Iemma confirmed “representations have been made” in relation to North Appin, but not on the distribution of the dwelling cap.

Its “resolution or otherwise” had been negotiated between Ingham and government agencies, he said.

He also said he had been on leave and overseas for part of September and all of October, the period in which the HDA’s recommendation changed.

The Herald is not suggesting Iemma has in any way acted improperly. Rather, the breadth of his lobbying stable, coupled with his status as a Labor elder statesman with close personal ties to senior government figures such as Minns, has placed a spotlight on the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s repeated calls for changes to lobbying laws in NSW.

After the Herald’s previous reporting, the government said it would introduce a bill to reform lobbying, probably in 2026.

Among the ICAC’s concerns is the ability for lobbyists to have secret meetings with ministerial staff.

When the Herald first asked Scully whether Iemma had lobbied him or his office over North Appin, his office said: “There has been no correspondence from Mr Iemma on the Appin plan.” Scully’s office also said Iemma did not represent Ingham Property, despite the NSW Lobbyist Register listing Ingham Property Development Services as an IPPA client.

ASIC records show the company is wholly owned by Ingham Property Holdings. Iemma also confirmed he acted for Ingham Property.

Scully’s office did not answer follow-up questions about why it had made that statement. When asked whether Scully or his staff had spoken with Iemma about North Appin, other than through formal correspondence, a spokeswoman said: “The minister and Mr Iemma have not discussed any projects relating to the Appin and North Appin Precinct Plan.“

The government announced the dwelling cap in September. The cap, which is also 2499 homes, limits the number of new homes that can be built in Appin until road and water infrastructure is delivered.

But the cap is based on an agreement between Walker and Transport for NSW struck after Walker was granted rezoning approval. Walker said in a statement that it allowed it to deliver 2499 homes “without the need for government expenditure” because the necessary infrastructure would be “funded and delivered” by it.

Ingham Property, for its part, agrees the dwelling cap is “directly applicable” to Walker, and Iemma said it came as a “surprise and disappointment” to the developer when it was imposed on them.

Ramaley, the Ingham Property boss, told the Herald the company learnt about it in May, when it was “just kind of sprung on us” during a meeting with government agencies. He said he did not have a view on whether the cap should be equally distributed.

Ramaley declined to comment on the HDA’s changed recommendation, other than to say Walker was “entitled to put their hand up” for the entire 2499 cap.

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