Mt Eliza: Fight to stop Vic gov selling endangered species’ habitat

Local environmentalist Steve Karakitsos.

A decade-long campaign in Melbourne’s south east to keep a former reservoir that’s home to endangered species in public hands is still running hot.

Advocates including South Eastern Centre for Sustainability president Steve Karakitsos have been calling on the Victorian government to reverse a decision to sell the ex-South East Water reservoir at 57 Kunyung Rd, Mt Eliza, since 2015.

At the time, moves to sell the land to housing developers stalled following a community outcry.

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Since then, it has gone through a lengthy consideration for sale with the state’s treasury taking close to a decade to add it to its forthcoming sales list after it was considered by multiple government agencies.

Mr Karakitsos said the open space “must be protected at all costs”.

“It been something that’s been on the agenda for a very long time, we’re very keen to save that property so that it’s prevented from being developed,” Mr Karakitsos said.

“The whole site’s vulnerable insofar that it’s got significant wildlife, it’s got a lot of animals that are on the endangered species list.”

The former South East Water reservoir at 57 Kunyung Rd, Mt Eliza. Picture: Google Maps

A report by leading Australian ecologist, Malcolm Legg, written when the site was first proposed for sale, found the former reservoir was an important habitat for several including local, regional, state and nationally-threatened species such as the Grey – headed flying fox.

“The reserve should remain and be incorporated into a public open space reserve servicing the biodiversity that remains and allowing the public to use it,” the report stated.

An existing walkway around the former reservoir’s periphery would allow the public to access the site and enjoy nature, Mr Karakitsos said.

Grey-headed flying foxes are a threatened species, mostly due to destruction of their habitat, according to the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Picture: Ofer Levy.

Last year, he visited the site with Mornington MP Chris Crewther and shadow treasurer James Newbury, with the politicians calling for the land to be transferred to Parks Victoria and preserved for community use.

In 2023, the Victorian government offered Mornington Peninsula Shire Council the opportunity to purchase the land and received no expression of interest in response.

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