Victorians who lost their homes in storms caught in ‘horrendous’ waiting game

A year on from the storms that ravaged the Dandenong Ranges, some residents are still waiting for work to rebuild their homes to begin.

Kalorama resident Natalie Guest’s house was completely destroyed by the storms.

She has builders lined up to begin rebuilding in September, but that can’t happen unless she gets an answer from the local council.

“That’s all dependent on an agreement and the legal team at Yarra Ranges Council actually getting an agreement to us to say we won’t take any legal action should our property slide down the hill, because we’re in a landslide area,” Ms Guest told Neil Mitchell.

“This is just a bit of a major hurdle for us and we know that we’re not alone. The decision that this legal team makes affects quite a lot of us.”

Ms Guest says “there’s more help that should be being offered”.

“A year ago we thought we would have been further ahead than we are,” she said.

“We know that the council, they want to help us, they do genuinely.

‘This waiting game is just horrendous. It’s just awful.

“We’re still paying our mortgage, we’re still paying our rates … but we’ve got nothing on our spot and the positivity is diminishing.”

Press PLAY below to hear about Natalie’s situation

In a statement, Yarra Ranges Council says the Victorian Planning Scheme only allows for properties to be built on ‘very low’ or ‘low’ landslip risk land, and Natalie’s property is a ‘moderate’ risk.

“Council is exploring a number of options to assist Natalie and sought legal advice a couple of weeks ago on whether a resident can wholly take on the risk themselves and obviate any risk for Council when they issue a planning permit, by entering into a Section 173 Agreement to the property,” the council said.

Cockatoo resident and SES Emerald member Ben Owen was out helping others affected by the storms when his home was destroyed by a falling tree.

Work to rebuild his house is also yet to begin.

He says insurance company delays have set progress back.

“They sat on it for three months and said ‘No we’re going to pay you out’ so we’ve wasted three months there,” he told Neil Mitchell.

Press PLAY below to hear about Ben’s situation