By Lachlan Abbott
Eight homes evacuated after a landslide on the Mornington Peninsula last month were burgled early on Friday.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, Victoria Police said it was investigating a series of burglaries in McCrae.
The January 14 landslide in McCrae resulted in the evacuation of 19 surrounding properties.
“It is believed unknown offenders gained access to eight vacant properties on Point Nepean Road about 3.30am,” police said.
“Officers are currently ascertaining what property was stolen.”
Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Anthony Marsh said it was “obviously devastating” for the home owners affected. Alongside small “replaceable” items being stolen, windows were smashed and doors were kicked in, he added.
“It’s just quite sickening, really,” Marsh told radio station 3AW.
“The houses are sitting there empty, sitting ducks, and those people have been displaced, and these people thought it would be a great idea to take advantage of that, not only steal things, but just make a mess of the place …
“It’s society at its lowest, really.”
Marsh said CCTV cameras had been installed and private security was hired to patrol the vacant homes.
“But unfortunately, they can’t be everywhere at all times. So the people [who] do this, they probably know when to sneak in and where, so they’ve gotten around that,” he said.
But Josh Heath, who manages a house within the evacuation zone for his grandparents, said he wasn’t surprised to learn other homes had been robbed given the publicity around the event.
“I went down the other week and could only see one security camera,” he said.
This month, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced a board of inquiry would investigate the January 14 landslide, which crushed a house and forced the evacuation of 19 homes. The premier accused the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council of inaction and demanded it take back responsibility of the McCrae site.
But on Friday afternoon the mayor fired back at the state government, pointing out that police surveillance of the temporarily abandoned homes had been recently withdrawn.
“The most disappointing thing, from my perspective, is ... the state [government] coming out, pointing fingers, but the one thing that they could do to help us, they’ve walked away,” Marsh said.
“I get policing resources [are] tight, but then they should be putting in private security and funding that, not just hand-balling that to council.”
The burglaries overshadowed what was supposed to be a good day for residents affected by the landslide, as the council announced emergency orders had been lifted on eight homes after “additional ground stability monitoring equipment” was installed.
Marsh said some of the eight households returning now had to deal with bandits’ damage.
“We’re trying to see if we can assist them getting that repaired on a Friday night, which is always tricky with trades,” he said. “But that’s a massive step for them. So they’re really excited.”
In an earlier statement, Marsh said the lifting of evacuation orders meant more residents would be allowed temporary supervised access to their properties early next week.
An exclusion zone remains as geotechnical engineers examine the remaining 11 properties deemed uninhabitable.
Home owners had been locked in a legal dispute with the council over who should pay to stabilise the cliff before last month’s landslide. After a smaller landslip in November 2022 the council ordered a couple to foot the bill for remediation works, estimated to cost $1.25 million.
Anyone who witnessed the burglaries, has CCTV, dashcam footage or any information that could assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
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