More than a year after a massive mine subsidence in an abandoned coal mine beneath Fogo Street at Wallsend caused the ground to sink, residents in the local neighbourhood say they feel stuck between bureaucracies.
The agencies responsible for fixing the sinkhole appear at odds over who should complete remediation works in the quiet suburban area, leaving residents at a standstill.
Marianne Junchniewicz, a Fogo Street resident whose verge was damaged by the sinkhole, has been trying to get answers about when and how her property frontage will be repaired but has been left frustrated and at odds as her calls are passed from agency to agency.
She says a gas line on her property that has not been connected since 2008 is the cause of the impasse, as workers on the ground tell her they can't proceed until the line is inspected.
"[They] keep telling me that they can't do anything until the gas company has inspected it, and I asked who organised that, and they virtually told me to go away. I rang Newcastle council, and I was told that the case had been closed and I needed to talk to the [state government's Mines Subsidence Advisory Board]," Ms Junchniewicz said.
"It has nothing to do with Mines Subsidence; it has to do with preparation work for the road and driveway. I asked if there was anyone I could speak to and was told no one was available today.
"It's like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, or no one wants to take responsibility for anything.
"Nobody seems to be able to give me an answer."
A NSW Subsidence Advisory statement said the City of Newcastle was responsible "for carrying out this work as the project manager of repairs" and that the state department was providing funding under the Coal Mine Subsidence Compensation Act 2017.
Four days later, the City of Newcastle said the state government was "responsible for remediating the mine subsidence issue which occurred due to a historical coal mine in the vicinity of Fogo Street" and that after that remediation work was finished, the council was "close to completing repairs adjacent to private properties on Fogo Street on behalf of Subsidence Advisory NSW."
"Those repairs have included reinstatement of kerb and gutter, footpaths, driveways, fencing, and road pavement, removal and reinstatement of affected trees, and installation of new stormwater drainage," a spokesperson for the council said.
"Repairs at this specific location have been delayed because of the requirement to relocate a gas main to facilitate stormwater upgrade works."
The gas infrastructure company, Jemena, did not respond to a request for comment.
The council confirmed on Wednesday after it was contacted by the Herald that the gas main had been inspected and that repair work would be completed by September once the line was relocated.
Ms Junchniewicz said she had been frustrated for months, trying in vain to get answers as the work's timeframe stretched on.
"You can't tell me that in five months, you can't get anyone out to inspect (the main)," she said.
"I'm only going on hearsay and what I have been told. I've got nothing that says anybody has contacted the gas company or why the gas company can't schedule someone to come and do something about it. It's not going to be a massive job.
"I haven't got any authority to do it."
The subsidence, on a rainy weekend in March 2023, sparked a significant emergency response.
A massive stretch of the neighbourhood, mostly beneath the nearby Wallsend Diggers Sports Club bowling greens, sank nearly a metre when pillars supporting the abandoned Borehole Coal Seam mine failed, and the ground above collapsed into the excavated void beneath.
The subsidence, which affected about 110 metres of ground, forced the evacuation of some 40 residents of Fogo Street, who were put into emergency accommodation for three nights as engineers assessed whether the damage had reached the residential side of the street. The bowling club has remained closed indefinitely.
