Their determination that the grain silos were in fact just two storeys high, rather than eight, was one such blind spot for the developers.

“Ultimately, we have found that the permit application in its present form would hit a dead end on more than one occasion,” they said.

Nearby resident Mark Trescowthick said the entire community was pleased the project was not going ahead. “It was a gross overdevelopment,” he said.

Mr Morris, a former Justice of the Supreme Court and president of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal between 2004 and 2007, was in the news three years ago after he sold a $30 million development site made up of 14 East Ivanhoe homes that took 26 years to amalgamate.

The company pushing the development, Burnley Maltings Pty Ltd, is majority owned by the late Frank Costa, a former Geelong businessman, and the Sydney-based Ross family, who live in Dover Heights, along with other minor syndicate parties.