RPP FM News

Mornington Peninsula Shire Mayor, Anthony Marsh, has clarified the source and purpose of a recent $250,000 funding boost from the state government, dispelling initial assumptions that it was linked to disaster recovery efforts for the McCrae landslide.

The funding, as explained by Mayor Marsh in an interview with RPP FM News, relates to storm damage that occurred over a year ago.

“It’s actually funding relating to a prior storm some 12 months ago,”

he said.

“A little bit of confusion there with the narrative in the letter. But, you know, money is hard to come by from the state government.”

While the allocation does not directly address the current costs associated with the McCrae landslide, Mayor Marsh expressed gratitude for the funding, acknowledging its importance in reimbursing expenditures from the earlier disaster.

“There’s a lot of things to be done at the moment on this event, but also reimbursing the costs that would have been spent in that prior event back in February last year,”

He added.

Despite the mix-up, Mayor Marsh remains hopeful that additional financial support will be forthcoming to tackle the mounting expenses linked to the ongoing landslide crisis. He confirmed that a formal request for relief funding for the McCrae landslide has already been submitted to the state government.

“This current event is becoming a bigger and bigger problem and obviously coming with a lot of expenses with it,”

He said.

The McCrae landslide, which has caused significant disruption and raised public safety concerns, continues to challenge the shire’s resources as they navigate recovery and mitigation efforts.