John Wylie and wife waging war against development near multimillion-dollar Elsternwick home

Melbourne business heavyweight John Wylie has launched action a multistorey development a stone’s throw from his multimillion-Elsternwick dollar home.

John Wylie is waging a war against a development near his home. Picture: David Caird

Melbourne business identity John Wylie is waging a war against a multistorey development near his luxury million-dollar home.

Wylie AM and his wife, Miriam Boisbouvier-Wylie, the Honorary Consul General of France in Victoria, are fighting Glen Eira Council in the Supreme Court after they approved a permit for a five-storey complex of apartments and shops on Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick.

The proposed development is a stone’s throw from the Wylies’ stately home.

In a statement of claim filed to the court, they say the permit is invalid and of no legal effect as it gave permission for construction of a building that exceeded two storeys in height, was not of low intensity and was in excess of existing building heights.

John Wylie and Kate Torney at the farewell to John Wylie are fighting Glen Eira Council. Picture: Fiona Byrne

The Wylies say owners or occupiers of residential land nearby to the development should also have been given notice of the permit application.

Wylie, an investment banker who was the former chairman of both the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust and the Australian Sports Commission, said the council’s approval was inconsistent with the Glen Eira Planning Scheme and a 2002 Housing and Residential Development Strategy for the area.

The former President of the board of the State Library of Victoria said he was not given notice of the original application in June 2019, leaving him without an opportunity to object.

He said the land at 590-596 Glen Huntly Rd was identified as a “Local Centre” in the Elsternwick Framework Plan, which states residential development, except in Patterson and Gardenvale local centres, must not exceed two storeys in height.

“The 2002 Strategy required … that the development of dwellings on top of shops be of ‘low intensity’ and ‘generally not in excess of existing building heights’,” the statement of claim states.

When contaced for comment Mr Wylie said:

“Council governance has broken down and the result is a terrible planning outcome made by unelected officers that adversely affects dozens of residents.”