By Sophie Aubrey, Adam Carey and Lachlan Abbott
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has demanded the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council take back responsibility of the McCrae site where a landslide crushed a house and forced the evacuation of 19 other homes last month, accusing it of inaction.
Allan announced on Tuesday she was establishing a board of inquiry to investigate the January 14 landslide to determine whether it could have been prevented.
Home owners had been locked in a legal dispute with the council over who should pay to stabilise the cliff before the landslide destroyed a home.
The Age revealed last month that after a smaller landslip in November 2022, the council had ordered a couple to foot the bill for remediation works, estimated to cost $1.25 million.
Following the cliff’s latest landslide – the third in three years – Allan said Victoria’s State Emergency Service had been ready to hand the site back to the council for about a week.
“The Mornington Peninsula Shire has had the opportunity now for a week or so to accept the transfer of the site back because it’s part of their responsibilities,” Allan said.
The January 14 landslide in McCrae resulted in the evacuation of 19 surrounding properties.
“We need that formal transfer back to the shire to occur so we can get residents on a pathway to return home. It is frustrating to the residents and it’s frustrating to me that the council have not accepted that formal transfer.
“We don’t want different levels of government and different authorities looking at each other. We need them to take action.”
Late on Tuesday, Mornington Peninsula Shire Mayor Anthony Marsh accused Allan of making “misleading statements”.
He said the council had met with senior SES representatives on January 24 with the intention of taking over responsibility for the landslide site.
“We have since made several attempts to reach agreement with the SES and will continue to reach out in the hope we can complete the transfer soon,” he said.
“It’s important to note that the transfer of responsibility for the landslide site will have no material impact on the recovery process for residents. Everything that needs to happen is already happening.”
The January 14 landslide destroyed a $2.1 million three-storey house on Penny Lane and injured a council worker who was inspecting the property at the time.
Nineteen homes near Point Nepean Road have since been evacuated because the cliff has been deemed unsafe and likely to move again.
Paul and Denise Willigenberg have twice been evacuated from homes in McCrae since 2022.Credit: Simon Schluter
Allan said too many people had been let down and too many questions had been left unanswered.
“This is about getting to the bottom of the cause of this landslide and support further measures around mitigation and remediation,” she said of the inquiry.
Marsh said the council had carried out extensive investigations and had engaged experts to try to understand what had happened. He said the council was keeping residents informed via community meetings, daily communications and updates on its website.
Residents of the evacuated properties have been meeting twice a week since being issued with evacuation notices from the council, and are seeking legal advice about the council orders barring them from their homes.
The evacuation notices, seen by The Age, require residents to show cause as to “why entry, use, or occupation of any building or land should not be prohibited until such time the landslip-affected land has been made safe to the satisfaction of the municipal building surveyor”.
McCrae resident Josh Heath, who is yet to return to his home after being forcibly evacuated in November 2022, said “a lot of people have been technically made homeless”, so any action to help people return home was welcome.
Another McCrae resident, Paul Willigenberg, also welcomed the state government’s intervention.
“We need to understand what the cause of the landslip is, and when we will be able to go home,” he said.
Willigenberg and his wife, Denise, have been evacuated from two homes in the landslip area: firstly from the house they own after it was affected by the landslide in November 2022; then last month from a rental property they were living in at the base of the cliff.
He said they had been unable to enter the rental house since being evacuated.
“I’m anxious at this stage because we have been evacuated twice. We want a little window of opportunity to get in and get some key documents like our passports, and some clothes. At this stage, we’re being told it’s not possible.”
Local Government Minister Nick Staikos said residents were angered by a lack of information and faced legal roadblocks in trying to find out when they could return home.
Staikos will oversee the inquiry’s terms of reference and appoint a chair, with a final report expected this year.
Marsh said the council supported the inquiry and was ready to engage.
“I would welcome a conversation with the state government on what technical and financial resources it can offer to help us support our community,” he said.
Several geotechnical reports have investigated the cause of the first landslide in 2022.
The cause of last month’s landslide has not yet been determined. Some residents fear they may never be able to safely return home.
The council undertook major drainage works in the area following the 2022 landslide, including installing a large drainpipe under the road.
Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.