By Tanya Faulkner
It’s D-Day as a decision is disputed for Knoxfield Lake.
Earlier this year Development Victoria lodged an appeal against Knox City Council’s refusal to grant two planning permits at ‘Lake Knox’ to the Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
As of Monday 28 August, the hearing is underway at the Melbourne City courtroom, where interested parties will seek resolution over the rejected permits to remove parts of the beloved lake, and build 60 residential properties on the site with the creation of a new wetland site.
Represented at the hearing included Development Victoria, Knox City Council, the Knox Environmental Society, and local objectors having their say in the procedure over the coming weeks.
At the time of lodgement, Council stated they had 1170 objector to the development proposals at Knoxfield, which supported their decision, alongside the site’s biological significance, the proposed removal of native vegetation and Development Victoria failing to provide an appropriate or active interface to Scoresby Road and the extent of the residential subdivision encroaching into the designated Mixed Use area of the Comprehensive Development Plan.
Although Development Victoria brought a revised plan for the Knoxfield site to the table in the preliminary discussion of the hearing, the oldest part of the lake remains at risk of removal should the permits go ahead.
Before the commencement of the hearing, a petition started by the Knox Environmental Society saw approximately 37,000 signatures to “Save Lake Knox”.
Day one of the hearing kicked off this week with Development Victoria lawyers coming in strong, requesting that evidence in relation to the dam site be excluded due to irregularities in the evidence and reports, and questioning its validity in relation to the permits.
This was disregarded by court chairs Member Bennett and Member Bilston-McGillen and the hearing will continue as normal, which is expected to take approximately eleven days.
Member Bennett and Member Bilston-McGillen ruled that they will participate in a site visit at Knoxfield Lake, to support the hearing over the coming weeks and see the site in question for themselves, which will be done unaccompanied.
Over the coming days the tribunal will hear from numerous experts, and the opposing parties before hearing arguments from Development Victoria and a potential rebuttal from the opposers before coming to a decision.
The decision is anticipated to come from the hearing on Wednesday 13 September.
