Frustrations continue to fester among the members of the damaged Wallsend Diggers Sports Club at the centre of ongoing works to fix a massive sinkhole that opened under the club's greens in late March.
More than 100 members attended a meeting at the parent establishment, the Wallsend Diggers, on Monday night with hopes of finally learning the fate of their club as work to fix the mine subsidence that caused the ground to fall one rainy Saturday stretches on.
But two members who attended the meeting and put questions to CEO John Hume, who chaired proceedings, said they were once again left with more questions than answers.
A spokesperson for the NSW Mines Subsidence Advisory, the organisation that took the lead on the remedial works to fix the site, said they were unaware of the meeting and were not extended an invitation when asked whether representatives had attended.
In a brief statement on June 3, an advisory spokesperson said works were progressing at the site though they could not estimate when they would be completed or how much they were likely to cost, except to say that plans would firm up "in coming weeks".
On Tuesday, there was little further update available, they said.
The Newcastle Herald contacted the club's CEO, Mr Hume, but he declined to comment.
Meanwhile, The Sporties members say their feelings of being left in the dark are only growing as they wait to learn the club's fate, which the Herald understands has been emptied of its gaming machines and other equipment since the incident.
On June 4, it was reported that the club's indefinite closure occurred so quickly at the time of the incident that many members could not retrieve their bowls and other belongings from their lockers. On Tuesday, long-time member Troy Halligan said the club had arranged to have members' belongings collected the following day.
The Diggers Club estimated in March that the cost of damage to the Sporties would run into the millions after an extensive emergency response was triggered on Fogo Street on March 25 when it became clear that the sinkhole, impacting roughly 100 square metres of land, had caused great stretches of the greens and roadway to sink.
Residents were evacuated for as many as three nights as emergency crews assessed whether there had been any damage to neighbouring residential properties. Members of the club, meanwhile, were taken in by the nearby Water Board Bowling Club at New Lambton, where they continue to bowl and compete.
Work to remediate the site, which has now stretched into their 13th week, involves applying a remedial grout into the underground subsidence to stabilise the area, the Herald understands, but it has yet to be determined how long it will take.
One member who attended the meeting on Monday night, which ran for little more than half an hour, said they were not told anything they didn't already know.
"I didn't learn anything out of it," Mr Halligan said, "They can't give us a solid answer until they have a solid answer."
Long-tenured member Ray Pritchell shared a similar sentiment, adding that the Diggers Club delivered a brief presentation on the state of the works but had limited further information on the club's future.
"Not one thing," Mr Pritchell said when asked if he felt he had taken anything of value from the meeting, adding that he had not seen any representatives of the Subsidence Advisory or contractors undertaking the works.
"It could be this long. It could be that long," he said.
"We were just told what we knew."
Works to remediate the site are understood to be ongoing, with expectations that further details will be available in the coming weeks.
