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Mike Baird, Alan Jones and the $100m development

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Outgoing Premier Mike Baird ordered the fast-tracking of a "planning pathway" for public parkland at Cooks Cove after broadcaster Alan Jones wrote to him about a push by prominent property developer John Boyd to develop the area.

Fairfax Media can reveal Mr Jones emailed Mr Baird on September 9, 2014, just months after he became Premier, about an "unsolicited proposal" by Mr Boyd, whose $60 million Sydney penthouse apartment was the site of a rapprochement between Mr Jones and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during the 2016 federal election campaign.

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$100m move secures Kogarah Golf Club's future

Developers are planning to relocate the Kogarah golf course to make way for a sprawling 100-hectare development featuring 5,000 homes and a new sports stadium.

The unsolicited proposal from Mr Boyd – a friend of the late Kerry Packer – was to develop 80 hectares of the Cooks Cove precinct by building housing on Kogarah Golf Course, which would be relocated to nearby Crown land under a long-term lease with the government.

Under the government's unsolicited proposals guidelines the government may agree to deal exclusively with one company if it has a unique project.

Mr Baird responded by letter on September 22 saying that a high-level government steering committee had found Mr Boyd's proposal "did not meet the criteria for an unsolicited proposal and did not warrant direct dealing with Mr Boyd or Kogarah Golf Club".

However, in the letter, obtained under freedom of information laws, he told Mr Jones he had written to the government developer, Urban Growth Development Corporation, about plans for the area.

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Mr Baird said he had "asked them to work expeditiously with the Kogarah Golf Club, WestConnex Delivery Authority, Rockdale Council and other stakeholders to finalise a planning pathway to ensure that the optimum future use of the site is achieved in a timely manner".

Mr Baird hand wrote on his letter to Mr Jones: "Let's catch up on return" – a reference to the Premier's return from a trek with disadvantaged youths in northern Australia.

The following February Mr Baird met with John Boyd Properties, Kogarah Golf Club and then Liberal MP for Rockdale John Flowers for an "update on Cooks Cove", ministerial diary extracts show.

In December last year, Cook Cove Inlet Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of John Boyd Properties, lodged a $100 million development application with the Bayside Council, which has been formed from the merger of Rockdale and Botany Bay councils.

GIPA - Release Deferred Record - DPC Letter to Mr Nicholls - 20161208 by Anonymous FNHAnuh on Scribd

It proposes to reconstruct the 18-hole golf course on a 99-year lease across 52 hectares of parkland in the southern precinct of the Cooks Cove site.

Under a deal, the club will hand ownership of its 18.4 hectares – about half the site – to the developer in exchange for John Boyd Properties footing the bill for the new course and clubhouse.

This paves the way for John Boyd Properties to build about 5000 new apartments on the northern precinct, along with a new football stadium, cycleways and improvements to wetlands, subject to approvals.

For more than a decade, Mr Boyd has attempted to redevelop the Cooks Cove precinct, but the plans have been thwarted.

The rejection of Mr Boyd's unsolicited proposal in 2014 was preceded by a 2009 development attempt abandoned due to the global financial crisis.  

The club, whose course has recently been heavily impacted by the WestConnex project, has long wanted to relocate to south of the M5 where it believes its tenure will be more secure.

Asked why Mr Baird – who last week announced his retirement from politics – wrote to Urban Growth despite the rejection of the unsolicited proposal, a spokesman said: "Encouraging Urban Growth to work expeditiously to finalise a planning pathway for the site does not suggest a preference for any proposal."

He said there is "no suggestion" Mr Baird has interfered in the planning process and added that he "has had no involvement whatsoever in that process".

The spokesman said the handwritten note "was a courtesy extended to Mr Jones, indicating a willingness to discuss the content of the letter".

"The Premier can't recall the offer being taken up, but in any case would simply have reiterated the content of the letter itself."

Mr Boyd did not directly address questions about whether he asked Mr Jones to raise his development proposal with the Premier, or whether the trio had met to discuss the development.

But he said in a statement: "The Cooks Cove project has wide support from many people who have, over the years, written many letters of endorsement sent to a wide range of people.

"Ultimately, it's about creating 5000 new residences, including affordable housing, for the people of Sydney, building over $100m of community sporting facilities, and dealing with the ongoing management of heavily contaminated land in perpetuity in a positive and cost effective way."

Mr Jones' assistant said he is out of the country on holiday and unable to be reached for comment.