THE Ranch Motel in Mornington, that has been operating as crisis accommodation, will close for redevelopment on 17 April.
A joint venture between Mornington Community Support Centre (MCSC) and Southern Peninsula Community Support (SPCS), the crisis accommodation was only made possible due to the developer allowing it to be used while finalising plans for redevelopment of the site.
“For the past five years Mornington Community Support Centre (MCSC) has operated The Ranch, a 12-room former motel generously provided by a local developer, to support people experiencing homelessness with crisis accommodation. It has done so without any government funding,” said MCSC CEO Ben Smith.
“MCSC are calling for urgent state and federal government intervention to address the growing homelessness crisis in our region. The Ranch has supported approximately 250 people in that time, along with our partner agencies, to provide accommodation and wrap around supports.”
There are 11 people currently residing at The Ranch who were previously experiencing homelessness and that now face the prospect of going back to their cars or a tent unless an alternative is found.
Facing the prospect of zero crisis accommodation on the peninsula, MCSC and SPCS jointly announced the establishment of new crisis accommodation, dubbed “Ranch 2.0”, last year (Peninsula crisis accommodation saved with ‘Ranch 2.0’ The News 3/6/25).
The new accommodation is now fully operational, but only has seven units, all of which are currently full, leaving nowhere for the 11 residents of The Ranch to move.
Smith told The News “The loss of this accommodation resource is devastating, especially given the homelessness crisis we’re in. We’ve lost five lives to homelessness in the past 18 months on the Mornington Peninsula, how many more deaths are needed before we get some help down here? The numbers are off the charts, and our workers are losing hope that anything can change”
With no funding announcements forthcoming, local agencies are struggling to deal with the surge in homelessness numbers on the ground.
“This crisis is the equivalent of a bushfire emergency, and yet we’ve barely been given a watering can to put it out” said Smith.
Melbourne Zero, which tracks homelessness across the Mornington Peninsula, states that as of February 2026 there were 138 active homeless on the Mornington Peninsula. That figure is up from 114 in December 2025.
First published in the Mornington News – 31 March 2026
