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January 12, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A shallow Sorrento bay that was once an unhappy home to almost 500 convicts and settlers in Victoria\u2019s first, failed colony has become a beach house battleground between brother and sister in one of the state\u2019s wealthiest families.<\/p>\n Celia Burrell and Richard Shelmerdine, siblings in Australian retailing dynasty the Myer family, are fighting in the state planning tribunal over Burrell\u2019s plans to build a $3 million, three-storey beach house next door to her brother\u2019s beach house, facing Sullivan Bay in Sorrento.<\/p>\n Both properties occupy an exclusive row of beachfront homes on land that was part of the historic Collins Settlement Site, where the British established a doomed colonial outpost in 1803.<\/p>\n Shelmerdine sold his sister the undeveloped property for $3.4 million in 2011, but is attempting to thwart her plans to build there, even though the dwelling has been approved by the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council.<\/p>\n Shelmerdine is seeking to overturn the council\u2019s approval by an appeal in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.<\/p>\n He has been joined in his cause by property developer Martin Strode, who also owns a multistorey beach house next door to Burrell\u2019s land, on a property that he also purchased from Shelmerdine.<\/p>\n Court documents show that Shelmerdine and Strode both argue that Burrell\u2019s approved beach house is too bulky, exceeds the approved building envelope, is unsympathetic to the landscape and would require unacceptable destruction of coastal moonah vegetation.<\/p>\n Shelmerdine has also argued that the plans would enable people to look into his house.<\/p>\n His objection states: \u201cAs a result of the topography of the land, if the driveway is built as planned, pedestrians and people arriving in cars will look directly into my private open space \u2013 including my children\u2019s bedrooms and my dining room. Car lights at night will also cause significant disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n His objection also details the loss of a \u201csignificant moonah tree\u201d, which has already been \u201caggressively and extensively pruned\u201d, the removal of a section of shared driveway fence without approval and excavation for a staircase that is \u201ccontrary to retaining the flowing & continuous nature of the 1803 Parade Ground\u201d.<\/p>\n Strode\u2019s objections mostly mirror Shelmerdine\u2019s.<\/p>\n The pair\u2019s joint tribunal appeal has forced Mornington Peninsula Shire Council to defend its decision to approve Burrell\u2019s beach house.<\/p>\n Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is arguing in VCAT that Burrell\u2019s planned beach house \u201cis consistent with the character and form of nearby housing\u201d, and will not cause unreasonable overlooking, overshadowing or building bulk.<\/p>\n It said it weighed up the objectors\u2019 arguments but found the house should be approved, including consent for works outside the building envelope.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe applicants for review seems to be applying and seeking a very high bar test to be applied in this instance,\u201d the council\u2019s submission states.<\/p>\n A three-day hearing was held in December, with a decision expected this year.<\/p>\n The Sullivan Bay foreshore has been disputed turf since Europeans first set foot there.<\/p>\n A British party composed mostly of convicts arrived at the Sorrento beach in 1803, displacing Boon Wurrung people who regularly camped there, according to a Heritage Victoria citation.<\/p>\n The settlers found conditions difficult, with poor soil and no running water nearby, and within seven months they abandoned the settlement for Tasmania.<\/p>\n The Heritage Victoria citation records the site as \u201cone of the few Australian \u2018founding\u2019 sites that have survived two centuries of change\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cLike The Rocks in Sydney and Risdon Cove in Tasmania, the landscape of Sullivan Bay has revealed evidence from its founding period. More evidence may survive to be revealed as a result of future investigations,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n Shelmerdine bought the 1.2-hectare site in 2008<\/a> for a then record $18.4 million. He later subdivided it into five properties, successfully appealing to VCAT after Mornington Peninsula Shire Council did not grant approval to do so, amid a heritage and conservation campaign to preserve the site as public parkland.<\/p>\n He has retained ownership of the original home on the site and a jetty that extends into Sullivan Bay.<\/p>\n Burrell\u2019s property is currently undeveloped, other than an old boat shed. Burrell, who founded the El Questro outback resort in the Kimberley region of Western Australia with her husband, has sought to use her brother\u2019s tribunal win in 2010 as a key argument for why her own development plans should not be blocked.<\/p>\n She argues that the development proposal \u201cis not contrary to the tribunal\u2019s decision in Shelmerdine v Mornington Peninsula SC\u201d: the 2010 decision in which her brother won the right to subdivide.<\/p>\n Burrell has submitted to VCAT that the proposed three-storey house \u201cwill not unreasonably impact on amenity of surrounding properties and is appropriately respectful of the immediate neighbourhood character\u201d.<\/p>\n Her statement of grounds argues that the removal of a moonah tree and the landscaping outcome are acceptable, mirroring the council\u2019s arguments for why it approved her plans.<\/p>\n The Age attempted to contact Burrell and Shelmerdine.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Sullivan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/72f8b7936f2e8db015cafa46abbe2be34b272632.jpeg\")
Sullivan Bay, in Sorrento, with the house and tennis court of Richard Shemerdine, Celia Burrell\u2019s undeveloped property, and Martin Strode\u2019s beach house side by side in the foreground.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/bbf7c0c2b46218731b537c9085db660c2116e6a8.jpeg\")
A render of the proposed beach house at 3080A Point Nepean Road, which has council approval but is being contested in VCAT by neighbours on either side.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/b30e8de1dbef8da11f8cf07441160873431378e6.jpeg\")
The Sorrento properties of Myer siblings Richard Shelmerdine and Celia Burrell share a driveway, which has become contested turf.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6e38acdf9687508d3d5dfa707b1d6e87e364a342.jpeg\")
The Collins Settlement Site at Sullivan Bay has been compared to The Rocks in Sydney for its links to Australia\u2019s first European inhabitants.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/932761d363e7de6eaa20a9c245243239f6200958.jpeg\")
A plaque commemorates Victoria\u2019s first, failed colony at Sullivan Bay in Sorrento. Justin McManus<\/p>\n![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768307726_770_7e21ff54d48d8efecb64eb5ec71560bc31781fde.png\")
Adam Carey<\/a> is senior city reporter (suburban). He has held previous roles including education editor, state political correspondent and transport reporter. He joined The Age in 2007.Connect via Twitter<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners