Kellie and Nick Moran’s Penny Lane, McCrae home destroyed in landslide
The family whose McCrae home was destroyed by a landslide say they have been left “broken” by the traumatic event as they spoke publicly about the horror event for the first time.
South East
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The owners of a luxury Peninsula property destroyed by a landslide say they have been left “broken” by the traumatic event, telling an inquiry it was a “fluke” no one was killed.
It comes as residents give evidence at a Board of Inquiry investigating the cause of the January 14 McCrae landslide where a Penny Lane home — owned by Nick and Kellie Moran — was destroyed.
A Mornington Peninsula Shire Council worker — who was on the property at the time investigating a previous landslide — was hospitalised after suffering injuries.
Residents from 19 properties were forced to evacuate, with many still stuck in limbo and unable to return due to the area becoming part of a growing exclusion zone.
Eight houses still remain off limits to residents.
On Monday Mr Moran told the inquiry the January 14 landslide had severely impacted his family.
“We’re a pretty resilient family but this has broken us,” he said.
“It’s just a fluke that this hasn’t taken out my whole family and we weren’t there that day and we’re really thankful that we’re getting some answers.”
Mr Moran said he was notified by neighbours that they had “pulled (the worker) out when it came down”.
The January 14 disaster came just nine days after a previous landslide caused damage to the Moran home.
Last week the inquiry heard the property sustained structural damage on January 5 after about 25 tonnes of materials struck the house while Ms Moran and her daughter were inside.
Mr Moran told the inquiry the hallway had “essentially caved in” and narrowly missed their daughter.
“There was a lot of debris and dirt and water and then it hit me how where (his daughter) was standing it would’ve killed her instantly. It would have taken her out,” he said.
Mr Moran said there was “almost like a waterfall” running down the stairs by the time he arrived.
In the days that followed the first landslide Mr Moran said there was still water flowing through the house, with various theories — including a natural spring and burst pipe — on the source of the water being investigated.
Mr Moran said his neighbour, Paul Willigenburg, told him he had seen water in the drains despite there not being rain for “such a long time”.
Mr Willigenburg logged a ticket with the Mornington Peninsula Council in mid-December but
did not receive a response, Mr Moran told the inquiry.
The inquiry heard there had also been previous landslips at Viewpoint Rd on November 14 and 15 in 2022 after 80mm of rain fell in the area.
Some residents impacted by the 2022 events have still not been able to return home.
Before they bought the home, Mr Moran said he raised concerns with the real estate agent about those previous landslides.
Mr Moran said he told two real estate agents he “loved” the property but would not purchase it “until we had some confidence around it”.
Mr Moran was then told in an email back that “there had been a slip but it didn’t affect the property and it was all pretty much under control.”
The email, shown to the inquiry, said that after investigations the slip in 2022 was “most likely caused by a combination of some problems with the council drainage on View Point Rd and coincidentally a burst water pipe on the property (above the Moran’s)”.
Mr Moran was also informed the pipe had been repaired.
Additional property searches conducted also revealed “nothing out of the ordinary” before the family bought the home.
Earlier this year council said it expected to spend about $8m on the disaster, costing every Mornington Peninsula resident about $75 each.
Last week senior counsel assisting the board Mark Costello KC said too much water in the soil was the most likely potential cause being investigated, with a burst main near the Mornington Peninsula Freeway one theory.
The inquiry continues, with more impacted residents scheduled to give evidence.
