The developers who illegally demolished Carlton's Corkman Irish Pub and then promised to rebuild it, are fighting an Andrews government reconstruction order.

The developers had told Planning Minister Richard Wynne they would reconstruct the 159-year-old hotel they destroyed without a permit last October.

The Corkman Irish pub in Carlton, built in 1857, demolished last October.

But they have now told the state planning tribunal that "no minister acting reasonably" can compel them to replace it.

In an about-turn on their promise to rebuild the historic pub, the pair have filed a statement of grounds with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. In it, they reject outright Mr Wynne's order to rebuild.