Allan Myers KC family and former Hawthorn star Brad Sewell in legal stoush over Grampians tourism development

The family of law richlister Allan Myers KC is taking Hawthorn dual premiership player Brad Sewell to court over a planned luxury Grampians tourism venture.

The children of mega-rich Melbourne lawyer and businessman Allan Myers KC will drag former Hawthorn champion Brad Sewell and his wife to the Supreme Court as part of a long running legal saga over plans for four “modest” luxury tourist cabins near the base of the Grampians.

Mr Myers’s children — Clare, Cecilia and John Myers — will take Sewell and his wife’s company, and the Southern Grampians Shire Council to the Victorian Supreme Court next month to appeal the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal’s decision to approve the cabins.

Sewell and his wife, Louise Smith, live in Brighton and have a large investment portfolio, focused heavily on cryptocurrency.

They have been trying to get approval for the Dunkeld development since 2020.

The Myers family argue the development will ruin their views.

The Myers family has significant business interests around Dunkeld, including the renowned Royal Mail Hotel.

Clare, Cecilia and John are all directors of the Myers family company.

The Myers’ appeal involves a highly technical legal dispute about the jurisdiction and procedures of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

If the Myers are successful, Sewell and Ms Smith’s development plans will be sent back to the tribunal for another round of hearings about whether the cabins, and a sauna, would ruin locals’ views of Mt Sturgeon and Mt Abrupt.

Last year, VCAT rejected the Myers’s case that the cabins were “not sited, scaled and designed acceptably” for the area, and that any buildings in the area should involve a “minimal and unobtrusive visual presence across the extraordinary view lines from Dunkeld towards the Grampians”.

Myers, one of Victoria’s largest landowners, grew up at Dunkeld.

Sewell (right) wants to build luxury tourist cabins near the base of the Grampians.

VCAT member Joel Templar said the cabins would intrude far less on the landscape than existing buildings, which include the Myers family estate, Mount Sturgeon Homestead.

Planning expert Craig Czarny has described Sewell and Ms Smith’s plans for cabins as “discrete in their siting, height, profile and materiality” and said they “will not affect and appreciation of the significance of the setting”.

Sewell and Ms Smith’s development application attracted 10 objections from just over 600 local residents when it was most recently before council.

Among the most significant concerns were the potential cost the council’s legal dispute with the Myers family could end up costing taxpayers.

Other local residents argued the cabins, if built, would mean only a “few entitled guests” would be able to enjoy the best views of the Grampians, while everyone else would have their view interrupted by the cabins.

The Supreme Court hearing is listed for hearing in August.