Fines cut in half for developers who demolished Corkman pub

The developers who illegally knocked down Carlton’s Corkman hotel have had their penalties for the demolition cut in half by the County Court from almost $2 million to $1.1 million.

The state opposition has demanded the Andrews government compulsorily acquire the site and also appeal Friday's decision. Planning spokesman Tim Smith said the decision let “these cowboy developers get away with the heist of the century”.

Raman Shaqiri and Stefce Kutlesovski in October 2016 bowled over the historic Corkman Irish Pub without planning or building permission.

Developer Raman Shaqiri whose Shaq Demolitions razed the historic hotel.Credit: Joe Armao

The pair bought the pub for $4.7 million in 2015. Savills state director Clinton Baxter said the empty site was now worth between $8 million and $10 million.

Having knocked down 80 per cent of the 159-year-old pub on a Saturday in October 2016, they were ordered to cease demolition that night by Melbourne City Council. They ignored the orders and finished off demolition works on Sunday.

Stefce Kutlesovski, one of two developers who had his fine for demolishing the Corkman Hotel cut in half. Credit: Clay Lucas

"The community was outraged by the audacious manner in which the hotel was demolished," Judge Trevor Wraight said in his ruling on Friday morning.

"They made a commercial calculation," Judge Wraight said, which would allow them to build a 12-storey tower on the site once the historic pub was gone.

"They weighed up the potential penalties ... with the potential profit that would result from development of the site, before going ahead," he said.

"Indeed, despite the litigation, delay, and any loss of reputation, ultimately, the development will go ahead."

He found the men had displayed no remorse for the loss of heritage on Carlton.

The pair were appealing fines levelled against them by the magistrates in Sunshine and Melbourne courts; they said the amounts they had been fined were too severe.

Judge Wraight agreed that the fines against the men by the Sunshine Magistrates Court, over charges brought by the Environment Protection Authority on asbestos dumping, had been "excessive". So too were fines levelled against the men over charges brought against them by the Victorian Building Authority and Melbourne City Council on the illegal demolition.

He reduced the financial penalties from just under $2 million to $1.1 million.

The Environment Protection Authority, the Victorian Building Authority and Melbourne City Council - which had separately brought prosecutions against the two developers and their company - all said they were extremely disappointed by the decision.

Opposition planning spokesman Tim Smith called on the Andrews government to "appeal this decision which sends entirely the wrong message to the industry".

The rubble of the Corkman Irish Pub the day after it was illegally demolished.Credit: Eddie Jim

He said Planning Minister Richard Wynne must also respond to calls from the Opposition and Melbourne University urban geographer Dr Kate Shaw to compulsorily acquire the Corkman site.

Mr Smith said this would mean "these cowboys do not profit from their unlawful behaviour".

Mr Wynne has previously said compulsory acquisition would require the government to buy the site "at the market rate for its highest and best use" - which would see "taxpayer’s money to pay top dollar directly to these developers, which is hardly a just outcome".

Both Dr Shaw and Mr Smith question whether this is in fact true.

Two weeks after the Corkman was demolished, Mr Wynne launched legal proceedings to force Shaqiri and Kutlesovski to "replicate the site immediately prior to demolition" if they wanted to redevelop.

"Any application for a permit for buildings and works on the site will require the restoration and reconstruction of the [pub] in its entirety in the form it was in prior to demolition," he said.

But in May this year, Mr Wynne backed down and allowed the site to be developed with a tower on it up to 12 levels high, in return for the remaining wreckage there being cleared and turned temporarily into a park.

On Friday, Mr Wynne labelled Shaqiri and Kutlesovski "cowboy developers" and said the demolition had been "unforgivable and the community has a right to be outraged by it".

He said the government would review the court decision and look "at what options are available to government".

He said the government would not compulsorily acquire the site because it "would mean using taxpayer’s money to pay top dollar directly to the developers, which is hardly a just outcome".

In 2017 in direct response to the Corkman demolition, Mr Wynne brought in tough new laws ramping up penalties for anyone who demolishes a heritage property.

Shaqiri, 37, was not in court on Friday; he did not attend last month’s court hearing because he was in Spain getting married. Kutlesovski, 43, declined to comment after the court case finished.