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Collaroy’s Oldest Heritage Listed House Remains at Risk Following Catastrophic Failure of Development Excavation

Announcement posted by Sapphire Communications 28 Nov 2014

Warringah Council Slow to Respond to Residents’ Concerns About Safety and Ongoing Instability at Failed Site, Threat to Local Heritage Asset

Sydney, 28 November 2014 … Following the catastrophicfailure of a nine-unit development site at 19A Frazer Street, Collaroy on 19th August 2014, Warringah Council has yet to issue a Work Order on the company responsible for the collapse. The catastrophic failure during excavation forced residents in surrounding properties, including the 100 year old heritage house, to be evacuated for up to a week. 

The development site has been largely abandoned since the catastrophic failure over three months ago.  Requests to Warringah Council from residents for Work Orders to be placed on the site owners have resulted in little action to date.  Residents are asking, why doesn’t the Council simply order that the developer fill the excavation in completely to provide the same support to other properties as before the excavation started?   

Meanwhile the developers have placed the property at 19A Frazer Street on the market.

Since the catastrophic failure of the site on 19 August, developerEHS Holdings and registered land owner “19A Frazer Street Collaroy Pty Ltd” have still not shored up adjoining properties against further site failures or land-slip, breaching the Development Consent Orders, Section 3(e), page 61, issued by the Land & Environment Court on 20 December 2012 (case no.: 10983 of 2012).

 “This is a known land-slip area which needs to be properly secured to protect adjoining properties, and to stabilize the site itself,” said Chris von Hinckeldey, a Frazer Street resident. “We need Council to step in and help residents by issuing a Work Order to ensure the developers comply with the Development Consent Orders and properly shore up the site and adjoining properties.”

The unit block at 17 Frazer Street was severely affected when part of the carriageway collapsed into the site, leaving more than 30 residents with no driveway access for five weeks.  While temporary repairs have been completed to make the driveway safe, permanent works and proper shoring of the carriageway are yet to be started.

Heritage listed “Chez Nous” at 19 Frazer Street*, Collaroy’s oldest remaining beach house built in 1917, remains under threat of further damage due to lack of soil retention structures necessary to prevent further land -slip.

Residents said that Warringah Council has shown a lack of interest for their concerns and appears reluctant to fairly represent residents’ interests both prior to and following the disaster. Residents have now formed the Frazer Street Action Group to lobby Council to issue Work Orders against the developer and site owner. 

“Council appears to be dismissive and not as helpful as we would have expected when it comes to listening to residents’ concerns in regards to this development,” said Robert Ford of Jenkins Street, whose property adjoins the site’s western boundary. “We had grave concerns about this development from the start due to the bulk and scale of the building in a known land-slip area.  It’s the elephant in the room that Council can’t bring itself to see.”

Warringah Council was first alerted to a potential site collapse on 5th June 2014, and invited to attend an on-site meeting with the builders, the Private Certifying Authority (PCA) and engineers to assess the risk.  No one from Council attended that meeting nor obtained a briefing from the PCA or site engineers as to the outcome.

Warringah Council was again warned of the high risk of a catastrophic failure of the site on 13th August, and again on 17th and 18th August as the site continued to deteriorate, yet didn’t conduct an independent risk assessment or take an active role in response to the warnings.  Rather than send an experienced senior manager or appropriately qualified structural or geotechnical engineer to fully understand the imminent risk to residents, Council managers instead sent a junior staff member to onsite meetings on 13th and 18th August.

The site collapsed at 5.00am on 19th August 2014.

Mr Ford said:  “The Council was slow to act even when the situation was clearly dire, and despite being repeatedly advised there was a high risk of site failure. Instead, residents were consistently told that due to regulatory requirements, there was nothing Council could do on our behalf.”

David Dickson, a senior geotechnical engineer who has been consulting on the project, said that because the developer has now lodged new designs with the PCA which meet the requirements of the relevant Australian standard (AS4678- Earth Retaining structures), there is no impediment to remedial works being expedited to stabilise the excavation in a permanent condition.

“With this in mind, the only reason for delay is cost, which in this case is not a relevant or compelling reason to delay the works, given that trying to minimise the cost is why the developer is now in this position,” he said. 

On 5 November, Mr Dickson recommended that Warringah Council make immediate orders on the developers to undertake all works necessary in order to reinstate original support to all properties affected including the heritage listed house at 19 Frazer St Collaroy;  that the developer obtains an inspection report  from an independent – appropriately qualified engineer verifying that the works have been completed in accordance with the approved design;  and that support has been provided to all properties affected  and 19 Frazer St, Collaroy in accordance with the conditions No.11 and No.13 of the Development Consent.

Meanwhile, the Frazer Street Action Group hopes that heavy rain isn’t on the radar anytime soon while they wait and wait and wait for Council to issue Work Orders against the developers.

 

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