Box Hill sinkhole: Hills Council confirms homes are safe
Work has finally started to repair a massive sinkhole that opened up metres from homes in Sydney’s northwest three weeks ago, but residents have hit out at the move — considering it as a publicity stunt to “stop bad press”.
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Residents living with “weeks of fear” that their homes would be destroyed by a growing sinkhole in Box Hill have been assured by The Hills Council that no dwellings are at risk.
A massive downpour on February 9 saw an old farm dam at a new residential estate at Limerick St break its banks — creating a massive sinkhole — and had residents avoiding driving up the street and preventing owners of a new home from moving in.
But three weeks later, the council has responded to residents’ concerns after they shared their anguish with the Times, telling residents the area was being monitored with restoration work “expected to be finished in the coming days”.
A council spokeswoman said the downpour caused the dam on Limerick St to “fill and then overtop”.
“The dam overflowed and the stormwater run-off caused damage to the footpath, a small section of public road, the stormwater pipe under the road and the front yard of the adjacent dwelling under construction,” the spokeswoman said.
“The affected area was cordoned off immediately and the developer responsible for the works on the property containing the dam upstream was directed by council to dewater the dam to stop further run-off, and to also fix the damage to the stormwater pipe under the road and backfill the affected area.”
But Limerick St resident, Suzanne Phillips hit back at council.
“We don’t feel like this has been done for our safety, this is just an attempt to stop bad press about not fixing the problem in the first place,” she said.
“If there is no risk to residential dwellings then why haven’t our neighbours been allowed to move into their new home?”
The council spokeswoman told the Times the builder responsible for the adjacent dwelling under construction was also contacted.
“The affected portion of the road was cordoned off and remains cordoned off,” she said.
“The road itself remains open and safe for all road users.
“There are no dwellings at risk.”