Documents show how ex-NSW planning head was involved in fast-track rezoning for developer he later worked for

FoI documents show Michael Cassel was on first-name terms with Walker Corp CEO and pushed for meetings on his behalf

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New documents reveal in detail how the head of the New South Wales planning department was involved in fast-tracking the rezoning of land for a multibillion-dollar housing development on Sydney's fringes before he left the department to work with the project's developer, Walker Corp.

The documents, released under freedom of information laws, detail the involvement in 2022 of the former department secretary Michael Cassel in both developing a fast-track process and then shepherding the plans to rezone land at Appin through the new process.

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