Developer and family members submit letters in support of own project

Directors and employees of Mbark and some of their family members also wrote letters to the ACT government in support of the development proposal.

A community group opposing the Red Hill project, Friends of Federal Fairways, said any submissions that showed a conflict of interest should be disregarded by the ACT planning authority.

However, an ACT government spokesperson said anyone can submit a representation, including people living outside the ACT.

Mbark, in partnership with the Federal Golf Club, submitted three development applications to the ACT government in February.

The group is proposing to build 125 retirement homes on a portion of the Red Hill golf course.

The ACT government received 326 representations for the three development applications, a spokesperson said. In approving one of the applications, the planning authority noted 101 submissions supported the plans.

Mbark directors Adam Somerville and James Robinson, based in Sydney and Berry respectively, submitted representations without disclosing their positions in the company.

In Mr Somerville's submission from a personal email account, he said the proposal was "necessary to ensure the viability of the golf club to remain as the custodian of the land".

Relatives of Mr Somerville, including his parents, also submitted individual representations but did not disclose their links to Mbark.

Mr Robinson wrote to the government from a Hisway email address - a company he is also a director of - and said he supported the redevelopment based on Hisway's "working experience with Mbark".

At least four other employees of Mbark wrote to the government in support of the development, some from Mbark email accounts.

Mr Somerville said the submissions made by him or other people involved with Mbark were not made with an attempt to hide their identities or involvement with the company.

"Being a director of Mbark and other entities is a matter of public record and anyone that has had any involvement with this long running project knows exactly who we are, including the ACT government, and especially those government representatives in receipt of these submissions," he said.

However he said all future submissions from Mbark directors would be disclosed as such "to remove any perceived doubt or uncertainty over who we are".

Mr Somerville said his family members have no direct involvement with Mbark but have seen "the benefits of what we do and believe in it strongly".

"In the case of my parents, they are seeking a well-designed village community to prepare for their later years," he said.

Several other submissions were made from Sydney residents, including some who are understood to be friends of Mbark employees.

It's the latest in a string of controversies surrounding the decade-long redevelopment plans.

Friends of Federal Fairways, which fiercely opposes the development, said comments from people with no "reasonable connection to the community" should not be considered.

The group itself raised eyebrows when it launched in late 2023 with little information initially about who was involved.

FOFF public officer Jane Seaborn said the group understood the purpose of public notification was to hear from those "directly affected by a development".

"We expect it is highly unusual for an applicant to participate in the public notification process - they have had the opportunity to have their say through lodgement of the actual development application," she said.

Ms Seaborn said the current system allowed for a high level of transparency about who was commenting on an application.

"If that open and transparent process reveals representations which have no reasonable connection to the community and are conflicted, such as having a direct association with the applicant, then perhaps consideration could be given to disregarding those representations," she said.

An ACT government spokesperson said any individual or organisation could make a representation during the public notification process.

"The authority does not exclude any person from making a representation within the statutory process, including persons from outside the ACT," they said.

The spokesperson said the planning authority was assessing all representations received during the notification process.

"Through its assessment process, the authority identifies and assesses key issues and concerns raised through public representations received," they said.

"All representations received are therefore considered equally in the statutory process."