A landslip that destroyed two homes in Western Australia's south is continuing to cause problems, with a solution unlikely to be found this year.
The ground beneath properties in the Albany suburb of Mira Mar began sliding down the hill more than a year ago, destroying two homes and threatening three others.
Since then, multiple geotechinical surveys and months of groundworks have been done to determine the cause and stop the flow of tonnes of mud, boulders and debris.
Meanwhile, ground movement issues continue occurring with every heavy rainfall.
Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington, who has lived in Albany since 1949 and served in local government since 2001, said it was the toughest problem he had ever faced.
"It's the worst one I've seen. It's just not going to go away, and it's not going to be an easy solution," Mr Wellington said.
Still looking for a solution
He said despite numerous surveys, consultants are still unsure how to proceed.
"I don't think the consultants know what the final solution is, and that's the problem.
"It was originally thought that taking out a lot of the soil would alleviate the problem, but what it did do in the first instance is increase the speed of the movement."
Albany winter is notoriously wet, presenting major issues for the planning and implementation of a solution.
Mr Wellington said the timeline had blown out and a solution was not expected until late 2024.
"The problem we have is that you can't put the solution in place while it's raining, so you've got to wait until the end of winter," he said.
"We don't think there will be a solution found until it's too late to complete it in the next summer, so it might be the year after before it's completed."
He said it was unlikely the land would ever be suitable for housing again.
"My personal belief is that the blocks of land where the houses have been taken away will end up as some sort of reserve, like a garden with retaining walls placed across it to secure the whole hill.
"I don't think there will ever be houses built on there again."
'Big plan' for site to cost millions
Minister for Regional Development Alannah MacTiernan has been working with the city to provide a solution.
Ms MacTiernan said funding was also an issue, with the estimated cost in the millions.
"We have some funding to do some remedial works in the short term, but then there's the question of the big plan that we're looking at commissioning," she said.
"But then we've got to be thinking about how many millions of dollars [a solution will cost] … and we definitely know that this will be a figure in the millions, then what is the best outcome for all involved given the amount of money that would be necessary to keep that going."
