38,800+ people say NO to bulldozing in Lake Knox.

90 species recorded. 1 chance to stop this...

...But we need your help to do it! 

We are currently at VCAT presenting our case to protect Lake Knox. 

To make this possible, we have engaged lawyers to assist us and experts in ecology to present at the tribunal. 

Unfortunatly this will cost us over $100,000 and we need your help to pay our consultant fees. 

If you are able, please donate online or via one of the other methods listed on our Membership page.

Please see our Updates page for current campaign progress and information.

What is Lake Knox?

Lake Knox is a naturalised wetland in the heart of Knox, affectionately named by the many locals who value this large, deep-water body. 

Acting for the State Government, Development Victoria intends to fill in Lake Knox for a new blank canvas on which to meet stormwater requirements so that they can build medium-density housing developments onsite. The proposal would disturb and destroy the home of endangered species, for the mighty dollar once again. 

The current proposal is to build a wetland next to where Lake Knox is now. This is great in theory, and it will provide a lot of habitat, however the plans do not provide suitable habitat for two very important local species; the Blue-Billed Duck and Eel Grass. These two species are rare and endangered in Victoria and losing Lake Knox means that these two species will loose another of the few remaining suitable habitats locally, putting even more pressure on their survival.

Please see our Updates page for current campaign progress and information.

The best place to see Lake Knox is via the Blind Creek Trail

*Please note that there is no public access to the lake as it is on government land.

Photo by Nalini Scarfe

Selling Off Threatened Habitat

The current proposal will see crucial deep-water habitat for the Blue-billed Duck lost. This duck is listed as endangered in Victoria, and the governments own action statement for the duck recommends ensuring important breeding sites are secured from further environmental degradation, and the protection, enhancement and restoration of key sites in parks, reserves and private land.

The planned wetland area to replace Lake Knox will see the current ecology trashed. The Blue Billed Ducks  will not return to the site as they require a deep large body of water for their habitat requirements. The area of the lake will expand, but it will lose 10million liters (or 1/3) of its capacity. The deep water body that it is, will not be recreated, and what you'll end up with is just another “wetland”. 

Further reading: 11 Key Points in the Case to Save Lake Knox

Planned development areas.

Crowd-funded Professor Paul Boon Report

This report reviews the ecological values of Lake Knox and the likelihood that the new lake/wetland complex will adequately replace the foregone biodiversity and ecological values if Lake Knox were to be destroyed.  Two expert reports now state that the Development Victoria proposal essentially seeks to ‘engineer’ away a problem through off the shelf design options that do not stand up under even limited scrutiny from an ecological/biodiversity/urban design point of view. 

We wish to highlight that over 132 people contributed to a crowd funding campaign in order to pay for this report.  

 Review of proposal to drain Lake Knox & replace it with a constructed stormwater lake/wetland complex: ecological considerations by Professor Paul I Boon, Dodo Environmental, 18 September 2020.


Community ecology surveys after State Government failed.

The State Government failed to conduct proper ecology surveys. So what happens when over 140 members of the community focus on Lake Knox? They…

·         Identify 76 different species using Lake Knox! (as of 3/7/21)

·         Make over 450 wildlife observations! (as of 3/7/21)

·         Record evidence of the endangered Blue-billed Duck breeding onsite, which the State Government denied!

Read more about the communities findings here. 

The iNaturalist project ‘Wildlife of Lake Knox’, which recorded the community findings, can be here: www.inaturalist.org/projects/wildlife-of-lake-knox

The iNaturalist project ‘Wildlife of Lake Knox’, includes up to date observations by the community at Lake Knox. 


More about the Ecology of Lake Knox

Conservation status of Fauna and Flora living at Lake Knox

State (Victoria): 

Locally (in Knox):

Source: Flora, Fauna and Native Vegetation Assessment 609-619 & 621 Burwood Highway Knoxfield by ECOCENTRIC Environmental Consulting dated 4th August 2017.

For more information  on the conservation values of the site, please view the Ecological Assessment by Dr Graeme Lorimer. 


For more information on the Blue-billed Duck, please see the Flora and Fauna Garuntee Act Action Statement. And the SWIFFT - State Wide Integrated Flora and Fauna Teams - Profile of the Blue-billed Duck.

Together we can stop this development!

Here are some of the other ways that you can help!


Donate


Show your support at VCAT

Where: VCAT tribunal, 55 King St, Melbourne

When: 10am Mon 28th Aug

Join the Facebook event


Sign the petition


Posters

Help spread the word by printing off one of these posters and popping them up:


Social Media


Further Reading

Updates

Letters Sent

Letters of Support

Other

Videos

Photos

Lake Knox

A Blue-billed Duck mural by Jimmy Beattie, aka Dvate in Knoxfield 2020. 

Photo by Nalini Scarfe

Photo by Nalini Scarfe