AN "overwhelming sense of satisfaction" is what came out of Friday's ICAC hearing for the campaign group Voice of Wallalong and Woodville (VOWW).
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Port Stephens MP Craig Baumann took the stand, admitting to concealing two donations from developers Hilton Grugeon and Jeff McCloy during his 2007 election campaign.
Both McCloy and Grugeon are behind the Wallalong Landowners Group involved in a proposal for a large-scale residential development for 3700 houses at Wallalong.
The development was rejected by the state government in June, but the Wallalong Landowners Group has previously said it will continue to pursue approval for the site.
VOWW campaign group has long been fighting the Wallalong development, wanting to keep the area rural and promoting the farming lifestyle.
"We knew that there was something fishy going on and had been for some time," John Redman from VOWW said.
"The revelations justifies the actions we have taken against the development and gave me an overwhelming sense of satisfaction."
He said the group members would not rest on their laurels, knowing the development was still in the pipeline, but was glad that everything is now in the open.
"It means they will have to do it the right way now," he said.
The VOWW group is also supporting an ICAC investigation into Port Stephens Council with Mr Redman saying an "investigation is overdue".
"Everything that has happened is because of Port Stephens Council," he said.
"The mayor has been very supportive of Wallalong and I daresay local government is next on the ICAC agenda."
