$130m New Lambton landslip report prompts council push for state recovery funding

newy.com.au – City of Newcastle has released a peer-reviewed geotechnical report finding the New Lambton landslip on Friday 23 May 2025 was triggered by extreme rainfall and geological conditions, and remains unstable.

The report describes the event as the largest residential landslip in Australian history and says restoring the site to its pre-landslip condition would cost more than $130 million, with 16 properties still evacuated and nearby homes and infrastructure inside an ongoing danger zone.

According to the report, two days of intense rainfall preceded the slip, with 198mm recorded on the night it occurred, and evidence the slope moved previously in 2015 and 2022. City of Newcastle said the findings show the landslip was a natural disaster and “not caused by former mining operations or any other action by third parties”.

The investigation included 20 boreholes as well as inclinometers, piezometers and downhole imaging, and found “severe and ongoing damage” across the area. It reported a head scarp about 2 to 3m high that continues to migrate upslope and eastward, along with widespread impacts on essential services including sewer, water, stormwater, power and telecommunications.

Survey and inclinometer data in the report showed initial surface movements of 0.4 to 0.8m on 23 May, with further movement of up to 2.1m during July and August rainfall. Total displacements of up to 2.9m were recorded near the toe of the landslide, with ongoing creep of up to 14mm a day, while Russell Road was reported to lie above and outside the landslide with minimal movement observed.

City of Newcastle said the peer review by Transport for NSW and NSW Public Works cleared the way for the report to be made public, and that it concluded the site could not be remediated through isolated works. The report said any effective response would require a whole-of-slope intervention and long-term monitoring, likely involving staged drainage, retaining structures and stabilisation earthworks.

Newcastle chief executive Jeremy Bath said residents and neighbours were “reporting increasing concern regarding potential expansion of the landslip, damage to their properties, fear of future evacuations, rising insurance premiums and significant reductions in property values”. City of Newcastle met affected landowners on Monday 23 February 2026 to outline the findings and said another meeting is planned for next week to answer questions about what the report means for the future of the site.

Two reports are due to go to council on Tuesday 24 February 2026 seeking urgent assistance from the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA), including a request for the RA to submit a Category D Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements application for long-term recovery. A second report calls for urgent financial support for residents who need rental assistance, with insurance-funded temporary accommodation expected to end from Monday 1 June 2026.

Bath said the council was seeking about $750,000 in collective assistance for housing-related costs over the next 12 months and that City of Newcastle had already spent more than $1.3 million on unbudgeted costs including site management, monitoring, security and resident engagement, which he said should not fall to Newcastle ratepayers.