McCrae landslide update - 4 February 2025
Published on 04 February 2025
Statement from Mayor Cr Anthony Marsh
At this morning’s announcement of an inquiry into the McCrae landslide, the Premier made a number of misleading statements about Council’s response to the incident. It is important for our community to know the truth.
Council is wholly focussed on the needs of our residents. We have held two community meetings to keep residents informed and allow them to ask questions. We are communicating daily with all those affected, and each resident has a direct contact at Council who they can talk to at any time. We have also written directly to the surrounding community and set up a community recovery committee with community representatives. Our website is updated regularly to keep the broader community informed.
Council met with senior SES representatives on 24 January 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. 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.
Council is ready to engage with the inquiry and I would welcome a conversation with the State Government on what technical and financial resources it can offer to help us support our community.
Since the landslide occurred on 14 January, we have carried out extensive investigations and have engaged all relevant experts to try to understand what happened. This includes:
- Trace dye testing and CCTV of our storm water drainage network
- Surface water testing
- LIDAR (aerial) surveys
- Monitoring and testing of ground movement.
On 21 January 2025 we formally wrote to the Minister for Emergency Services and Natural Disaster Recovery requesting urgent technical and financial support. Despite this morning's announcement, we have not received any response from the State Government regarding the McCrae landslide.