Residents on a road to no where

BY MICK ROBERTS

RESIDENTS of Elizabeth Bay were woken by the thundering crash of a laneway collapsing into a next door building site in early February.
The already simmering tensions between the developer of historic Ashton House, and neighbours over the removal of a heritage listed sandstone wall have reached boiling point after a private lane that services residential apartments Karingal and International Lodge fell into the excavation site on the night of February 8.
Over 340 residents of three apartment blocks woke the following day to find their electricity and water- as well as road access to their homes- cut off as a result of the collapse.
Karingal resident Marilyn Eccles believes it was a miracle no one was hurt when the two-metre wide right of access lane collapsed into the development site, where Southern Cross International is building a $14 million residential complex.
‘It was like an earth quake, we heard the roar of the landslide and then I got a call from a neighbour to say the laneway is gone.
‘This is the latest in a string of stressful situations the developer has put the community through,’ she said.
Residents were outraged when Southern Cross removed a heritage listed sandstone wall last year.
‘I’m no engineer, but the removal of the wall would have lead to the lane collapse,’ Ms Eccles said.
According to the managing director of developer Southern Cross International, Andrew Box, the road collapse was due to heavy rain and not the removal of the 130-year-old dry-stone wall.
‘We had an exceptional amount of rain that night that undermined the shoring. The wall’s removal had nothing to do with the lane collapse.
‘The road will be restored, and will be better then it ever was. Parts of the sandstone wall will be incorporated as a feature in the new development, and the money raised from the apartments will help restore historic Ashton,’ he said.
‘I honestly believe when this is completed we will have a fantastic looking development and we’re looking forward to its completion,’ he said.
Ms Eccles said she wanted Council to place a stop work order on the site.
‘What I want is for Council to stop the work immediately until we are out of danger and we are satisfied nothing is going to happen,’ she said.
Kings Cross and Potts Point Heritage Society spokesman Andrew Woodhouse echoed those calls saying all work on the site should halt until an investigation is undertaken and he wants the wall re-instated in situ.
A City of Sydney spokesman said while they are monitoring the situation, because it is a civil matter and being rectified, Council ‘is unlikely to have further involvement.”
The developer said depending on weather, the road should be repaired in about two week.