WEDNESDAY, 13 MAY, 2026
No rescue for sinking house By Cade Lucas A Newport woman has to shower in a dog bath, put up with mouldy walls and fears that her bedroom ceiling will fall on top of her, all because of drainage problems she claims are caused by repeated road resurfacing. Vanessa Moyser bought her home on Melbourne Road, between Wilkins and Paine streets, in 2009. However, it wasn’t until 2015 that Ms Moyser began to notice water pooling out the front of her property whenever it rained. It was around this time that she also began to notice the possible cause. “It kept getting worse every time they did resurfacing [on Melbourne Road],” Ms Moyser recalled. As the inner-west’s major north-south arterial, Melbourne Road is managed by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) and is regularly resurfaced and repaired. According to Ms Moyser, this has resulted in the surface of Melbourne Road now being higher than her property. “The side of the road is huge as in the elevation of the road from the re-asphalting over the years that I’ve been there.” Combined with the lack of storm water drains along that section of Melbourne Road and any water run-off has nowhere else to go, she said. “When it rains I’m in a swimming pool. Out the front, it’s a pond,” she said. “It blocks my stormwater pipe which is on the curb and fills it up so that when it rains it backs up the gutters on my roof and I’m in a waterfall.” Ms Moyser said the excess water has sunk the concrete stumps the house sits on, with its south-eastern corner subsiding below the rest of the property. “My house is tearing itself apart,” was how Ms Moyser described it, saying that some of the walls and ceilings, along with being covered in mould, were unstable.
“I was told a few years ago to get out of that room and sleep in a spare room because if bedroom thatt falls on you, you’re gonna be dead.” Thee room most impacted though is the Th hroom, which hasn’t been functional for a bathroom, mber of years, forcing Ms Moyser to resort number n unconventional alternative for her daily to an wer. shower. “I use a dog bath,” she said. t’s a collapsible bath with a temporary “It’s hosee that goes into my shower pipe and that’s the way I’ve been living for the last few years.” nable to sell and knocked backed by her Unable urers, Ms Moyser said she’d been left with insurers, no choice but to remain in her home and in appeal to local and state authorities for again stance. assistance. mong them is Williamstown MP and Among mer Roads Minister Melissa Horne, who former has visited the property. “I understand and sympathise with the concerns Vanessa Moyser has raised arding water issues affecting her regarding perty,” Ms Horne said in response to property,” uiries from Star Weekly. inquiries owever, after seeking advice from However, P, who then conducted extensive DTP, veying and assessments on the surveying tion of Melbourne Road near Ms section yser’s property, Ms Horne said Moyser’s she was satisfied that resurfacing was not the cause. These works did not identify “Th ks or drainage infrastructure works as the cause of the property es,” she said of the advice the issues,” artment provided her. department A spokesperson for Hobsons Bay ncil said multiple reviews of the council issuee has been conducted, but with bourne Road managed by the DTP, Melbourne ncil was limited in what it could do. council Council is currently advocating to “Council P on behalf of the resident for a review DTP he matter,” the spokesperson said. of the TP was contacted for comment. DTP
Vanessa Moyser claims her Newport house is sinking due to water run-off from Melbourne Road. (Damjan Janevski) 551579_02
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