By Parker McKenzie
If Knox City Council rejects two planning permits on Monday night for the controversial development of a man-made dam known to locals as ‘Lake Knox’, it may not be an end to the long-running battle between the Victorian government’s developmental arm and the local community, with the spectre of a lengthy VCAT fight looming.
Ahead of the council’s strategic committee meeting on Monday 12 December, Knox City Council officers have recommended in the meeting’s agenda that the council reject the two planning permits integral to the development of 621 Burwood Highway, Knoxfield by Development Victoria.
Officers recommended that the committee “issue a notice of refusal to grant a planning permit for the subdivision of land in stages, removal of native vegetation, creation of access to a road in a tarsport zone, and associated and buildings,” and “issue a notice of refusal to grant a planning permit for a utility installation, removal of native vegetation and associated buildings and works at 521 Burwood Highway, Knoxfield.”
They gave seven grounds for recommending the rejection, including that it was inconsistent with “environmental objectives and the relevant decision guidelines of the environmental significance overlay,” because the proposal has the “potential to detrimentally impact habitat of species which are protected,” particularly the blue-billed duck and dwarf galaxias.
The second permit was recommended to be rejected based on five grounds, including the same environmental concerns.
“The proposal will not provide an appropriate balance between the need to develop the site, and respecting the existing ecology, the surrounding area, and the Blind Creek Corridor,” the recommendations on the second permit reads.
President of the Knox Environmental Society Richard Faragar said if the council votes to reject the permits, he sees it as vindication because the concerns that the public has been voicing are shared by the council to some degree.
“I don’t know why the government doesn’t sit down the community, they always talk about listening to communities but obviously they don’t,” he said.
“We’re always happy to sit down and talk. There may be a way forward, but they’ve had the same design and position over the last five or six years. They’re happy to have meetings but expect us to be fine with whatever they want and we’re not prepared to do that.”
During Knox City Council’s consultation period, it received 587 objections to the first permit and 586 to the second, and one letter of support for each.
Development Victoria is a statutory corporation operating on behalf of the Victorian government to “deliver government policy through property development and urban renewal,” and describes itself on its website as the government’s developmental arm.
A Spokesperson for Development Victoria said the recommendations being presented to Knox City Council for consideration at the December 12 Strategic Planning Committee meeting had been noted.
“We will await the formal outcome from the meeting before assessing the next steps for the project.” the spokesperson said.
The development of the site — which is located at the corner of Burwood Highway and Scoresby Road in Knoxfield — is controversial and has seen widespread community opposition because of several hatchings of the vulnerable blue-billed duck being found at the dam, with concerns that the proposed wetlands will not create favourable environmental outcomes.
The site was formerly the Knoxfield Horticultural Research Facility, where the dam is believed to have been built in the late 1950s or 1960 to be used for crop irrigation.
